AZE.US
Azerbaijan is once again discussing the culture of weddings, this time amid proposals to limit or remove alcohol from wedding celebrations.
The issue has come up alongside broader debates over wastefulness at public ceremonies, including funerals and weddings. Some argue that excessive alcohol consumption is one of the reasons behind fights and other unpleasant incidents at wedding parties.
MP Fazil Mustafa told Musavat.com that alcohol does play a major role in many violent incidents, but said the problem should not be reduced to weddings alone.
“For example, many people who kill someone, stab someone or get involved in a fight turn to alcohol to boost their emotions and feel more courageous. On the other hand, some people lose control over themselves after drinking. When the mind becomes clouded, it becomes difficult for a person to control their behavior consistently. But it would be wrong to link all of this directly to weddings,” he said.
According to Mustafa, banning alcohol at weddings is not the solution.
“If there is no alcohol, what will replace it? Are 10 or 15 types of food served over three or four hours more useful? This is also a separate problem. People are forced to consume excessive amounts of food in a short period of time, while countless dishes remain on the tables. This is also a serious concern,” he said.
The MP argued that the entire format of wedding celebrations needs to be reconsidered. In his view, guests should be able to choose and order what they want to eat, instead of being presented with dozens of unnecessary dishes.
“When people are forced to accept dozens of dishes they may not need, and the body is overloaded in a short period of time, this can create even more dangerous consequences. In this sense, alcohol should also be a matter of personal choice. Whoever wants to drink may drink, and whoever does not want to drink should not. Of course, not drinking is a better and healthier choice. But imposing this as a mandatory restriction on wedding hosts or guests is not the right approach,” Mustafa said.
He said the focus should instead be on more fundamental problems related to weddings, including wastefulness, high costs, harm to health and extremely loud music.
Mustafa recalled attending a wedding where a friend showed him a noise-measuring app on his watch.
“The device warned in English that it was necessary to leave the environment immediately because the noise level had reached a level dangerous to health. In such an atmosphere, it is difficult to speak of culture. An environment that irritates the nerves, negatively affects the brain and causes discomfort cannot convincingly be presented as a cultural event,” he said.
The MP also criticized certain practices seen at modern weddings, including throwing money toward performers.
“We often see videos on social media where a singer performs on stage and some people roll up money and throw it over the singer’s head. If someone wants to provide financial support to a singer, they can give the money directly. What logic or cultural tradition is behind throwing money on the floor? It looks neither aesthetic nor cultural,” Mustafa said.
According to the MP, the current wedding model in Azerbaijan is difficult to present as an ideal cultural tradition. He said the issue is not only alcohol, but the broader culture and format of wedding celebrations.
AZE.US