Bridal celebrations are muscling in on the spaces created by queer and marginalized folks, effectively forcing them out and appropriating the safety therein. Researchers studying venues in Provincetown, Massachussets, report a process similar to gentrification—"hetrification"—where loaded white women trying to escape the straight world only succeed in bringing it back to the places from which it was evicted.
Even though the bachelorette party-goers only temporarily "invade" the spaces that were not created for them, the researchers said through the "incessant" visits, "hetrification weaponizes heteronormativity and breaks down queer spaces." The researchers said none of the bridal parties interviewed in P-town knew they were "hetrifiers." … "The women are displaced by rape culture and seek refuge in queer spaces, but the queers are faced with tolerating the heterosexual gaze or not showing up at all," the professors wrote. "We know the end of this story because we know how gentrification works. Follow the money."
The funny thing is that it's written up in such pretentious, prolix academic language that you'd think the anti-woke brigade would be all over it, but even they are quietly nodding in agreement today because everyone knows how horrible bachelorette parties are.
