In today’s social climate, fashion choices are often points of deep contention. Whether it’s a racial costume at a Halloween party, a headdress at Coachella, or a controversial prom dress, individual fashion choices often garner considerable attention online. Cultural appropriation, a very serious matter in itself, has unfortunately become a catchall phrase often used irresponsibly to play the ‘wokeness’ game.
I wasn’t surprised to see then that the recent Met Gala, with the theme of Catholicism, garnered plenty of online vitriol. On May 7th the Met Gala opened the exhibit titled “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” Attendees were asked to dress on theme in their ‘Sunday best’ and they did not disappoint. Suits and dresses incorporated elements of religious symbols, works of art, and clerical vestments. Rihanna even wore a dazzling beaded miter. While many Catholics were excited to see their faith brought into the public sphere in an unusual way, many others were not happy with the theme or attire finding the whole gala offensive.
Those who claim to be offended by the Gala’s theme generally fall under two categories: 1) Those who view the theme as an example of cultural appropriation and 2) those who are offended that the Met would associate with the Church at all. Many sensitive Catholics (and even many lapsed-Catholics) have taken to social media to bemoan the way the Met is appropriating their culture (or lapsed-culture). They claim that Catholicism is their private faith, that Catholic culture belongs to them, and that the Met’s theme is somehow an offense to all individual Catholics. Others outside the faith find the theme offensive because of their narrow view of the Church: a respectable institution like the Met has no business associating with a corrupt institution like the Church.
Those who claim offence by the Gala’s Catholic theme, although for very different reasons, are missing the same crucial point: The Catholic Church cannot be reduced to any one single explanation or understanding. The Church is far more than a private faith belonging only to practicing Catholics. It is more than a private belief system owned and known internally by individuals alone. The Church is also more than the sins of its past or present. To reduce the Church to the very real mistakes She has committed is to deny the very real ways in which She has helped build the wonderful traditions of education, healthcare, and social justice, to name a few.
The Church cannot be reduced to the sum of some parts. It is a deep and complex tradition with a history of social engagement with art, politics, economics, architecture, philosophy, literature, and yes, fashion. I don’t lend credence to the appropriation argument; it is almost impossible to take Catholic culture out of context since the Church is universal. Those who claim offense, from both inside and outside the Church, hold a severely limited concept of Catholicism. It appears to me as though the curators of the recently opened exhibit (who consulted with the Vatican extensively), and maybe even those who attended the Gala, properly recognize the expansive nature and reach of the Catholic Church in the world.
My hope is that this exhibit, and the interest in its Gala, will lead people to appreciate the enormity of what the Church has offered humanity. Exploring the relationship between fashion and faith could very well encourage people to look more deeply at the Catholic Church. It has certainly made this Catholic nerd more interested in fashion.
Both.And.Yet. 