Virgin she might have been, but Mary still had breasts and Ricardo Oyarzun decided to take advantage of that for a new fashion display in Chile. The resulting fervor is unsurprising.
The Roman Catholic Church condemned Ricardo Oyarzun’s plans for a show featuring the models, and a conservative group tried unsuccessfully to block it in court.
Oyarzun said he had received telephone threats and had excrement smeared on his doorstep.
“There is no pornography here, there’s no sex, there are no virgins menstruating or feeling each other up,” Oyarzun said ahead of the catwalk show set to be held at a Santiago nightclub later on Thursday. “This is artistic expression.”
He said his designs — which include halos, look as though they come from a nativity scene and include religious icons — were inspired by the Virgin Mary but not intended to represent her.
And yet they wind up doing just that because people see what they want to see and the last thing they want is to be turned on by a fashionable, sexy, portrayal of someone who reminds them of their best friend Jesus’ mum. At least, that’s the Church’s official view:
“We look on with special pain and deplore those acts which seek to tarnish manifestations of sincere love toward the Virgin Mary, which end up striking at the dignity of womankind by presenting her as an object of consumption,” Chile’s Episcopal Conference, which includes Catholic bishops, said in a statement
I like the dignity aspect, mind you. I think there does tend to be too much objectification of women, as if all we’re good for is eye candy. I also think it’s exacerbated by women willing to be eye candy, who’ve bought into the idea that appearance is all that matters, and the sluttier/more revealing you can be, the more you’ll be appreciated. It’s flawed reasoning, but it still sells and will continue to sell. Although, I guess that’s what freedom and choice is all about isn’t it?
One Minion's Opinion 