Fashion Miss-take

EEEEEWWWW!

From the Miss Universe Pageant:

Miss Mexico, Rosa Maria Ojeda, presented the dress March 29, showing off the billowing, hoop skirt adorned with sketches of Catholic rebels hanging from posts. Rosaries and scapulars hung from the bullet-studded, bandolier belt; a large crucifix necklace, black halter top and wide-brimmed sombrero completed the outfit.

¡Qué barbáro!

The dress was thought to be “politically incorrect,” given the present drug violence in Mexico, and the abortion issue. Yeah, there’s that, but current events in Mexico are always discussed in historical terms.

The dress reflects the “reactionary” view of the the “Cristero War”, of the 1920s.  Yes, maybe the dress has something to do with abortion or drug violence, but it has a hell of a lot more to do with support for the extreme right in contemporary Mexico.

Yes, indeed, Catholics were hanged — and a few became “martyrs for the faith”. According to the reactionary wing of PAN (which is descended from the Mexican fascist movement, “sinarchismo” that was taken up by the unreconstructed hristeros), the Christeros were the victims of the secular state.

It’s more the other way around.  The “Cristeros” were blowing up civilians, assassinating leaders (including Álvaro Obregón) and killing schoolteachers.   There were some genuine injustices in the state’s response (a few probably innocent men like the Pro Suarez brothers are recognized as “saints and martyrs” by the Catholic Church).  But, it’s not OUR interest in a change in Mexican abortion law that makes the dress outrageous.  It’s the not-so-subtle attempt to justify terrorism.  In U.S. terms it would be like Miss Georgia wearing a dress showing the burning of Atlanta, and having the press assume it had something to do with 9-11, instead of what it would be… nostalgia for a reactionary past.

Besides which, as Vivarlatina mentions, the dress is just plain ugly. Or at least really naco.