Opinion: AOC fulfilled its mission at the Met Gala, but those social justice performative gestures are still a problem
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez understood the task: to get people to talk.
In that, no doubt, the Democratic congresswoman from New York - known as AOC - was successful. By Tuesday morning she had become a topic of conversation after appearing at Monday's Met Gala in a long, off-the-shoulder white gown designed by Brother Vellies creative director Aurora James. On the back of her dress, in blood red, were stamped the words “Tax the rich”.
Unsurprisingly, critics from across the spectrum lashed out at her. How could AOC, an advocate for the working class, attend a gala where each table cost six figures?
Much of the outrage felt unwarranted, as is often the case with anything about AOC. She may have started her professional life as a bartender, but today she is an elected official and public figure in New York. She may be a progressive politician, but she wields enormous influence and has the ability to turn heads wherever she goes. As St. John's University professor Marissa Jackson Sow tweeted: AOC "had to be there."
Furthermore, AOC was not the only one who took advantage of the occasion to make a pronouncement. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-New York) wore a dress in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. Model and actress Cara Delevingne showed off a vest that bore the message “Peg the Patriarchy” (“Stake the Patriarchy”). Unfortunately, the queer artist who created and trademarked the phrase in 2015, Luna Matatas, did not receive any credits.
Thus, Delevingne's activist "statement" ended up reinforcing the inequality of the fashion world, in which powerful white people all too often erase the work of people of color and freelance artists. Similarly, a dress calling for "Tax the Rich" at a benefit gala where most millionaires in attendance will simply deduct their charitable contributions from their taxes did not convey rebellious irony. What it produced was a cognitive dissonance.
What actually causes the most unease is that with the help of celebrities, the people and institutions that help perpetuate an uneven and unsustainable status quo are trying to define disruption and commodify activism, while at the same time refusing to reform. .
We are in a very dangerous situation when our system defines social change as singular moments created by individuals rather than elevated consciousness and participation in popular movements. It is a definition that advocates charity rather than true structural change. One in which social change is measured by clicks and retweets.
This type of “social justice capitalism” has its epitome in The Activist, a new CBS TV show with a horrendous premise in which a group of activists will deal with celebrities who will act as judges in a competition where the prize is opportunities to fundraising. To further degrade the concept, activists / contestants will be judged on the virality of their social media campaigns. AOC's biggest mistake at the Met Gala wasn't her dress or her presence. It was his attempt to justify everything by posting a screenshot showing how Google searches for “Tax the Rich” had increased after his appearance at the event.
I have to say, AOC, that's not the way.
What also strikes me are all the statements that were not made about the United States on Monday. There was nothing about the draconian anti-abortion law in Texas, or about racial inequalities at institutions like Condé Nast and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As far as I can ascertain, no celebrity had the imagination and the courage to speak out on the failed and disastrous US invasion of Afghanistan and the unnecessary bloodshed by Afghans and the US military in the past 20 years. That would have been a direct accusation against the ruling class.
Also, considering that the United States has slumped to last among developed countries in vaccination rates, despite having acquired enough doses to vaccinate its entire adult population three times more, I wonder what it would have looked like to express that. at the Met Gala. After all, what is more American than excessive waste and a shameful distrust of authority?
There is also the question of who can make political pronouncements during these great cultural moments. In a way, it's an enormous privilege that AOC has the opportunity and the platform to wear her “Taxes on the Rich” dress during this “super bowl” of the fashion calendar, without fear of being excluded or banned from the competition, to Unlike, say, real Olympians. We need to be vigilant with those who have no access because of the gatekeepers.
True activism is dangerous and often life threatening. Luckily for us, AOC is someone who has fought hard for the privilege and power to implement policy changes for those in need. AOC didn't need that dress, and we don't need to be distracted by pompous institutions that, in the end, are trying to resist change. Let's leave the creative gestures behind and keep working.
