The Catholic Church is incensed over an ad that recently appeared in Boston magazine for the gym Equinox Fitness, featuring three nuns sketching a naked male model.
"It says a great deal about the perverse obsession in both the fashion industry and the advertising industry of exploiting and mocking and sexualizing Catholic religious imagery," C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts said.
Equinox fired back with the following statement: "The ads capture the energy and artistry of the well-conditioned body in a thought-provoking fashion, blending fantasy and impact."
What do you think? Is the image of three nuns painting a naked man a form of art or a form of blasphemy?
Nick Sabino, CBA '10, thought the ad was too controversial.
"The gym's trying to show that even a woman married to God is willing to cheat with a guy who goes to the gym, but despite how clever the ad may be, it's wrong," he said.
Amanda Albano, FCRH '10, agreed. "I've met some pretty crazy nuns during my 15 plus years enrolled in Catholic schools, but I don't think I can imagine dear Sister Barbara, Rose, or whomever else in that position, nor do I really want to," she said. "With all the scandal within the Catholic Church now-a-days, I don't think that it is appropriate to add more fuel to the fire just to get a cheap laugh or an influx of customers."
However, Dr. Franklin Harkins, professor of theology here at Fordham, felt that the fuss was a little trivial.
"I find it a bit silly," he said, going on to point out that it is merely a product of our society.
"Our culture often takes religious objects or images out of their traditional Christian setting and situates them differently and thereby gives them a new meaning," he said. (This is called the "Commodification of Religion," further explained in Colleen McDannell's Material Christianity.) "Our culture has for some time viewed Catholic objects as mysterious and exotic."
2008 Woodie Awards
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