Womanless wedding

A womanless wedding is a traditional community "ritual of inversion" performance, popular in the United States in the early 20th century.

[4] Early modern Europe, and America prior to the 20th century, used womanless weddings as a way to safely express social strains between classes.

[2] Womanless weddings were performed throughout the United States, but most prominently in the upper Midwest and the South.

[2] Southern towns were already staging burlesque shows, and womanless weddings gave another opportunity to raise funds in the form of an admission fee.

[2] Common themes included opinionated women, premarital pregnancies, males who expressed more feminine qualities than societal standards, racial minorities, and “rural folk.”[2] Prominent male members of a community would typically be the actors of the womanless performances.