Habits and Hijabs and Hats! OH MY!

This year at Saint Mary's College, I have had the wonderful opportunity of getting to know the Sisters at the convent on campus. Before this experience, my mind immediately conjured up the image of Whoopi Goldberg wearing a habit and nun garb in the movie Sister Act. Imagine my surprise when I waltzed into the convent for the first time to be greeted by around 100 nuns dressed in normal clothing! I even saw a nun wearing a tie-dye dress. The only two habits that I have seen worn at the convent were either worn by the eldest nun alive there, or a nun dressed up as Ms. Clavelle from Madeline for Halloween.  After this realization that not all nuns wore habits, I began to Google why not. The overall consensus is that with the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the habit became optional, limited in use, or gotten rid of all together, depending on the convent.  This was because the Medieval-esque habit was no longer in line with the 20th century. However, some orders still wear the traditional attire.

This reminded me about all the media ruckus that had been made over women wearing the Muslim Hijab head covering. Many people say that it is is a symbol of oppression in a male dominated society. However, it can also be viewed as a liberation from a male dominated society because if you are covering your hair and dressing modestly, you are free from being viewed as a sexual object. Not to mention free from spending hours to make your hair look good!

The decline in usage of habits also reminded me about how for centuries women wore hats in public at all times, and then suddenly in the 1960's stopped. The disappearance of hats and gloves from fashion is a horrible tragedy in my opinion, because religion and politics aside, I look forward to the day when I can wear the hat in this picture above in public and not be alone.