MET/GALA Ruby Marguerite Luxurious, extravagant outfits and theatrical pieces of wearable art were paraded up and down the red carpet at the Annual Met Gala on the 13th of September to the theme “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.” At the exclusive fundraising ball for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, where table prices ranged from $200,000 to $300,000, the rich and famous gathered to drink champagne, revel in the fashion spectacle before them, and talk about charity. It all seems a bit out of touch. We’re still in the middle of this deadly pandemic, with the Delta variant causing daily rates of infections and deaths to soar in the US and worldwide. Forbes magazine reports that US billionaires have become about $1.2 trillion richer during the pandemic, while the working class suffers with next to no financial aid. The Black Lives Matter protesters right outside the Met Gala were calling for the abolition of New York’s fundamentally racist policing system, only to be met with violent arrests. Not to mention all the other worldwide material manifestations of the failures of our current political and economic system. It’s eerily reminiscent of a Hunger Games Capitol-esque radically unjust class society. A notable Met Gala moment that has seen substantial contention was the outfit worn by the New York progressive congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC). As an interpretation of the dress code “American Independence”, she wore a white dress by 30
Canadian designer Aurora James emblazoned in red with the phrase “Tax the Rich”, sparking avalanches of both criticism and support. On the one hand, you’ve got the people touting ‘girlboss energy’ and praising it as a subversive act of rebellion. On the other hand, people see it as tone-deaf, misplaced, and ironic. Indeed, a lot of the backlash Ocasio-Cortez received was misguided. Those labelling the dress as ‘virtue signalling,’ ‘hypocritical,’ or ‘performative activism,’ pointing out the exorbitant $35,000 ticket prices, have missed the mark. AOC (who attended for free) isn’t “The Rich” and (most of the time) neither are a bunch of successful actors and artists. It’s those who systematically exploit the labour of the working class to line their own billionaire pockets towards which this sentiment is aimed – the likes of the ruling class wealthy elites, CEOs, and corporations. ‘The rich’ over here in Australia are the mining magnates who profit not only from the exploitation of labour but also the exploitation of stolen Indigenous land. For many, the political stunt symbolised the epitome of neoliberal capitalist ideology. All of this makes AOC an easy target for criticism from the left. Unfortunately, it’s easy to be overly critical of women in politics, especially women of colour, where others may get off the hook more easily. Yet it’s not an individual problem with AOC or her actions, it’s a systemic one that would require revolutionary action to solve and relates to broader discussions about the possibility of reforming capitalism. AOC is often deemed
