(Picture supply: Mina Le on YouTube)
Interact with Catholic-labeled content material on TikTok for a couple of hours and also you’ll see all the pieces from honest devotional posts to ex-Catholics lambasting the church. You may discover humorous skits by savvy monks or movies of women displaying you find out how to veil at Mass. However the one factor you’re assured to come across is a lot of discuss “aesthetics.”
Such posts characteristic cathedrals, rosaries, veils, and crucifixes with captions that learn “Catholicism is a vibe, truthfully” or “my fave aesthetic.” Social media platforms, particularly TikTok, have popularized (or appropriated) language from drag tradition, so Catholic custom is usually “giving realness” or “slaying”— the caption of 1 TikTok filmed inside a Spanish cathedral reads “catholicism actually used to serve cunt” (a phrase meant to painting confidence or fierceness). Any means you set it, Catholic “custom” is having a second on social media.
Some influencers join the recognition of Catholic aesthetics to the style world, citing the 2018 Met Gala’s theme of “Heavenly Our bodies: Trend and the Catholic Creativeness,” or current traits just like the fraught “Catholic Mexican Woman” fashion. Others focus extra on sociopolitical context as the driving force, explaining the draw to conventional Catholic practices like Latin Mass and rosaries on disillusionment with trendy capitalism and consumerism. On-line content material producers invoke Catholicism, particularly that of medieval and early trendy Europe, to assemble concepts of “custom” for all kinds of functions.
One particular stream of this Catholic social media content material is “Coquette Catholic,” which adopts a “girly” Catholic aesthetic typically that includes pink rosaries, bows, and classic allure. Coquette content material, created and consumed principally by girls, supplies a primary instance of a tradition-fueled Catholic aesthetic assembly a completely trendy second formed by digital hyperconnectivity.
(The creator’s Pinterest board. Pinned photos had been tagged or titled with “coquette Catholic.”)
The speedy unfold of this aesthetic affords a compelling case examine in how algorithmically pushed platforms, particularly Instagram and TikTok, should not merely locations the place folks “do” faith, however are actively redefining how folks conceive of themselves as non secular. Opposite to the notion that Gen Z dismisses custom in favor of New Age spirituality, the Coquette Catholic development demonstrates how younger girls strategically make use of conventional parts for their very own functions.
And, importantly, traits like Coquette Catholicism spotlight how the fixed state of on-line connection is reshaping how we conceptualize faith and ourselves as non secular topics.
What’s “Trad”?
The coquette second matches inside and alongside different “TradCath” content material. “Trads,” or traditionalist Catholics, are Catholics preferring the liturgy and social educating from earlier than the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Some affiliate Trads with an affinity for the Latin Mass and Gregorian chant, whereas others give attention to their typically right-wing political leanings. Well-known Trads embody folks like Kansas Metropolis Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and Vice-Presidential candidate JD Vance, in addition to right-wing media persona Candace Owens, who introduced her conversion to Catholicism in April 2024.
Some Trads on social media share photos of medieval martyrs and cathedrals, and valorize white “Western” civilization. Trad media geared towards males typically options Crusader knights and fivefold crosses, whereas content material geared to girls typically falls into the oft-contested “tradwife” class. Shorthand for conventional spouse, this kind of content material options girls performing “conventional gender roles” (nevertheless conceived).
(“Trad” content material)
However Trads aren’t any monolith. Along with knights and tradwives, we additionally see traditionalist Catholics espousing political concepts from monarchism to libertarianism, from socialism to anarchism. From the U.S. to Brazil to Germany, on-line “Trads” draw upon totally different objects from the archive of Catholicism’s previous, typically held collectively in stress with each other, a few of that are approved by the Church’s management whereas others should not.
Much like however very totally different from the “tradwife” development, younger girls on-line are drawing on photos of medieval saints, Catholic objects and costume, and the present recognition of coquette vogue to create a unique type of trad lady. Whereas the coquette Catholic is decidedly not a tradwife, the content material does characteristic conventional Catholic piety, occasional mentions of Latin Mass, and ostentatious performances of “conventional” femininity.
(#coquette #catholic from Tiktok)
Coquettification of Catholicism
Whereas Coquette Catholic shares some similarities with Trad, it additionally differs in clear methods. In contrast to tradwives, for whom the thought of submission to a husband and having a number of children is central, these youthful, principally single girls are typically not fascinated by returning to the Fifties. Cigarettes, Amy Winehouse, and slinky silk nightgowns determine simply as prominently as rosaries, pocket altars, and holy playing cards of St. Catherine of Siena. Footage of the content material creator attending a Latin Mass may be adopted by a submit that claims “Oops! By accident slept with my Pilates teacher.” A bit extra irreverent however not all the time insincere, this content material doesn’t demand sexual purity within the type of abstinence and heterosexuality (although it’d cheekily apologize for being “unhealthy”).
Along with conventional Catholic piety, coquette Catholic content material can draw on the broader coquette aesthetic (bows, hearts, babydoll clothes), southern gothic imagery (moody, disturbing), darkish academia (New England prep with a contact of terror) and the web unhappy lady of 2010s Tumblr (extra on this under).
(Instagram)
Eliza McLamb, singer-songwriter and co-host of the Binchtopia podcast, explains her notion of this aesthetic in her Substack submit “Coquette Inclination: A Meditation on Knockoff Tabis, Household, and Coming Again to Custom.” Reflecting on her personal private journey of self-discovery whereas going to Mass together with her household, McLamb confesses:
“I put on bows typically. One time I noticed Lana del Rey at a diner in Hollywood and sat silently with tears streaming down my face, overcome with emotion and unwilling to method her. Whether or not or not the [Coquette Catholic] motion is “over” or “cringe” or “out” at this juncture is one thing that I’m unable to find out — I’ll depart that to the TikTok development forecasters — but it surely’s clear that this cultural fascination, and its intersection with conventional existence and hot-girl Catholicism, has been influential to The Girlies within the vogue realm and in any other case.”
McLamb’s description touches on the malaise that many ladies who contribute to this aesthetic categorical of their posts. This melancholy development, generally known as Unhappy Woman Tradition, emerged on Tumblr through the first half of the 2010s and has had a resurgence on TikTok and Instagram in the previous couple of years. Within the unique development, ladies shared images of their bruises, their tears and smudged eyeliner, and unhappy quotes coated in glitter. This content material picked up once more with the rise of the broader coquette development, romanticizing poor psychological well being, disordered consuming, and self-destruction (Fleabag fashion).
(Coquette Catholic aesthetic and the romanticization of the Unhappy Woman on Pinterest)
Searches on Pinterest that mix “coquette” with “catholic trauma” or “catholic guilt” end in images of women in mini skirts and knit tights broadcasting their struggling, their loneliness, and the upcoming doom of Twenty first-century life. In contrast to artists corresponding to Madonna or Girl Gaga who’ve used Catholic materials tradition subversively, this aesthetic is extra consistent with Lana del Rey and Ethel Cain — not very orthodox, but in addition not insincere. The truth is, the extra you point out philosophy the higher. Memes of this subgenre typically characteristic the struggling and torment (each psychological and bodily) of medieval feminine saints like Hildegard of Bingen or Catherine of Siena.
(Meme that includes Catherine of Siena)
What can this inform us about Gen Z?
Whereas some students and journalists have written about Gen Z rejecting custom and as an alternative embracing New Age spirituality, the Coquette Catholic development exhibits us how younger girls are utilizing custom for their very own social functions. Many categorical the will for one thing “actual” or “time examined” (which ought to give us pause for concern since White western civilization tends to imply “custom” whereas New Age stuff, typically invoking “Jap” cultures, are labeled as new-fangled).
Whether or not perceived to be real or ironic, the draw to “custom” is clearly positioned over and in opposition to a mix-and-match type of spirituality. The content material largely expresses a need to at the least faux to be ruled or not directly decided (very like the Quantified Self, decided by self-tracking and knowledge). Typically the creators themselves clarify this as a response to hyperconsumerism. Different instances they indicate an exhaustion with the thought of the neoliberal sovereign self. Even when imagined, “custom” stands in for constraint, not selection.
McLamb, in her aforementioned Substack, describes this sense. Wanting down throughout a Latin mass on the bows on her sneakers, she writes that she appears like “a lady” attempting to go “to the place the place [she is] imagined to get higher, to be good.” She talks about feeling aimless and overwhelmed in her twenties, musing that this may be why “the younger folks crave custom and construction, apparently.” Dasha Nekrasova, actor and host of the “Crimson Scare” podcast, put it extra plainly: “No hell, no dignity.”
However in fact, there’s selection. Regardless of being tied to what many describe as “a 2,000-year-old custom” imagined as a secure establishment throughout time and area, we don’t stay within the Center Ages. We’ve entry to an infinite stream of concepts, communities, and issues.
McLamb describes the dizzying activity of “discovering oneself” within the age of the web. “The traditional recommendation for folks,” she argues, “is to heart your individual expertise, give attention to creating your individual wishes, your individual tastes. Together with the web, this has led to a deathly identification soup.”
Then again, algorithmic curation could make a few of these selections for you. By analyzing knowledge on consumer preferences and content material efficiency, these algorithms prioritize content material that’s more likely to be participating and related. Upon looking out Coquette Catholic on Pinterest, the algorithm beneficial “concepts [I] may love,” together with “Southern Gothic,” “Catholic guilt,” and “Simply girly issues.” TikTok’s algorithm requires even much less selection, filling your feed with none lively intervention.
Typically it appears like “the algorithm” may know you higher than you understand your self. This sheer abundance of content material and selection could make the thought of the algorithm performing the work of fashioning a self really feel comforting. Coating this technodetermism with religious language comes naturally to some who’ve been wanting “custom” and “constraint” in a liberal world of abundance. God works by means of the algorithm.
Sincerely held?
Some media shops have characterised this and different Catholic content material as Gen Z “embracing Catholicism,” whereas others debate their sincerity. However quite than scrutinize church attendance or appropriate beliefs, this development exhibits that sincerity might now not be the usual by which “genuine” faith is measured (at the least for some).
Relatively than discovering a neighborhood (although some little question have), coquette Catholics have discovered a vibe—an aesthetic they join with. The democratization (at the least within the sense of the decline of gatekeepers) introduced on by digital hyperconnectivity has not solely challenged non secular authority, however has additionally decentered appropriate “perception” as the principle arbiter of spiritual authenticity. Coquette Catholics should not obligated to evolve to previously-authenticated aesthetics accepted by authorities to be heard.
For instance, “Crimson Scare” podcast host Dasha Nekrasova has defined that she is Catholic “like Any Warhol.” When requested if her Catholic observe was ironic, Nekrasova answered within the affirmative, but in addition quipped that “it doesn’t matter as a result of it nonetheless works.” Equally, creator Honor Levy argued that “you simply do the rituals, after which it turns into actual, even in case you don’t imagine in it.” Some corners of coquette Catholicism characteristic photos and quotes from Nekrasova or Levy, drawing on their coquette vogue and their transfer past the ironic-sincere binary.
(Nekrosova on Instagram)
To some, this self-conscious efficiency may replicate younger folks’s reliance on aesthetics and traits to create a way of self. However in fact, this has all the time been the case. Performativity and the social formation of the self should not new ideas—we’ve lengthy acknowledged how social efficiency and seeing oneself from the skin are central to identification formation. Digital hyperconnectivity has maybe made this extra apparent, but it surely has additionally intensified self-objectification. Sociologist Rogers Brubaker places it like this:
“[Digital hyperconnectivity] has radically remodeled how objects exist on the earth and the way one turns into an object to oneself, to others, and to suprahuman data programs. In so doing, it has created a wholly new techno-social infrastructure of selfhood: a wholly new ecology inside which selves are fashioned and reformed.”
Fixed self-objectification and consumption could make some folks query whether or not their identities are really genuine, since they’re typically digitally curated and mediated by know-how.
Then again, the ironic-versus-sincere binary has begun to crumble with a technology who has grown up with digital efficiency as part of on a regular basis life. This specific infrastructure of selfhood has challenged the widespread concept that authenticity means “unfiltered” or “unmediated”—it makes us hyperaware that all the pieces is mediated. This always-on, always-connected universe of digital content material is reshaping our selves and our social worlds, together with how we see ourselves as “non secular.”
Not all TikTok shoppers are on board with the thought of “vibes Catholics,” and naturally many condemn this presentation as impure, performative, or heretical. However coquette Catholic content material exhibits that faith is altering.
Maybe the query to ask, then, just isn’t whether or not these creators are being ironic or honest, however quite how platforms like Instagram and TikTok may be beginning to reshape the idea of faith itself.
Lauren Horn Griffin is assistant professor within the Division of Philosophy and Non secular Research and the Division of Historical past at Louisiana State College. She is the creator of Fabricating Founders in Early Trendy England (2023) and is writing a ebook about Catholic traditionalists on-line.
Nicole Phillips holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Historical past from Louisiana State College. Her analysis pursuits embody medieval piety and gender research.
