Gender roles in the postmodern era

I just returned from a wedding. It was one of the most fun weddings I've ever been to. Even my husband danced. I was hoarse at the end of the night from singing and shouting. It was great.

In addition to a soundtrack that included songs from my generation, there was a really interesting twist in the evenings obligatory speeches. Usually, the father of the bride is teary-eyed, the maid of honor (or bride's best friend in this case) is sappy and emotional, and the best man is funny, often making use of double-entendres. But not at this wedding. In this case, the father of the bride was teary-eyed, but it was the best man who could hardly get through his speech. And the bridesmaid/best friend was absolutely hilarious. The best man had to stop at one point to catch his breath and find his notes. The bridesmaid gave the new husband advice on how to live with his new wife, including telling him that it is really, really important to watch the Twilight Zone marathon with her.

There's a lot to criticize in our new postmodern era, particularly when it comes to gender roles. But I think it is great that a man can get up during a wedding and get choked up over his best friend's marriage and that a woman can make the jokes and the double entendres. We live in a good time.