Dark and Dreary? Nunsense!!
Well we all know sistas can work the runway as well, if not better, than anyone. But then, we're usually referring to charming little numbers like Lakisha Jones when we use the term "sistas".
According to Silvia Evangelisti, author of the soon-to-be-released "Nuns: A History of Convent Life", 16th and 17th century sistas in the habit, ie nuns, were just as glam. Far from the pious, spartan, somewhat lonely lifestyles we usually associate with the cloistered, many of these ladies were fully torqued. They were independent, jolly, productive, and determined. They wrote, painted, put on theatrical shows, sang, and ran their own communities. Many enjoyed political influence through well connected family members and friends in the aristocracy. Others helped shepherd the commoners by giving lessons at school, conducting delinquent youth hip-hop/R&B bands, campaigning against the Kyoto pact, etc.
And, of course, they were fashionistas. Part of the reason young girls flocked to convents in Florence and Milan (half of all female elites in Florence lived in convents between 1500 and 1800) was because that was where all the best artisans lived. Although confined to habits and burqa-esque sackcloth most of the time, many were able to commission work from tailors and fashion houses in the city. They had tapestries on their walls, embroidered pillows, books and guitars. A Mother Superior in Milan even had her own set of designer hunting rifles!
Evangelisti argues that the modern, liberated female owes a huge debt of gratitude to the convents of old. As the only place a pre-industrial western European woman could avoid the yoke of a husband and family, get educated, and learn to bust a groove on the turntables, the convent was essentially the birthplace and repository of women's lib for centuries.
From this we can draw two conclusions, both somewhat paradoxical in nature:
(1) The proliferation of Christianity across the developing world may be working wonders for cultivating global gender parity.
(2) Westerners should both lament the fall in female vocations in their own countries and consider a law mandating that all militant dykes don some uber-glam sackcloth and join a convent.
posted by mcwads @ 7:55 PM
Comments: 5
