Polish broadcaster challenges women to “dress like the Virgin Mary”

Abandon men's clothes and wear more beautiful, feminine and dignified dresses and skirts in May, the call of Radio Niepokalanów sounded. The broadcaster, run by Franciscan monks, challenges women to leave their trousers in the closet for 31 days and honour the Virgin Mary by dressing like her, Notes from Poland reports. They do so in cooperation with Only4women, a Catholic women's organisation and the online community Marianne spódnice & sukienki (Marian Skirts and Dresses).

The organisers advise women to prepare their whole wardrobe for the challenge. Appropriate shoes, tights and blouses should be in place so that the skirt-wearing is as easy as possible, they write.

Feminine piety

Not everyone is enthusiastic about the campaign, Notes from Poland reports. Some social media users are critical of the idea that "feminine piety is reduced to dresses" and ask whether "God really cares about clothes." One commentator states that such campaigns estrange young people from the Church even more in a time of secularisation. "The church is shooting itself in the foot with such actions", she writes, while another mocks that Joseph and Jesus did not wear jeans either, "so why don't we [men] all put on ankle-length robes?"