On Sunday, Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker had their third wedding ceremony. Presumably, it will be their final one.
The lavish celebration took place at a historic home in Italy, making it the ultimate destination wedding.
Kourtney has now taken Travis’ last name — on social media, anyway.
But the celebration rubbed some the wrong way, and more people are speaking out. Was Kourtney’s wedding culturally offensive?
“Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Barker,” Kourtney Kardashian captioned one array of wedding pics.
The photos, which align closely with previous images shared on social media by her family, show off her wedding.
While the opulence of the photos is evident, many focused upon Kourtney’s apparent new surname.
“Kourtney Kardashian Barker,” Kourtney wrote in her Instagram bio.
We don’t yet know if she is making this a legal name change, or if it is simply something that she is writing on social media.
The one thing that we know for sure is that very few people will adapt to a new surname either way. Only Kim ever called herself Kardashian West.
“Happily ever after,” Kourtney captioned another sampling from the Italian nuptials.
However, as these photos give the world at large a clearer and clearer image of the ceremony, some have expressed concerns.
It’s not the display of wealth when millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet so much as the seemingly playful use of Catholic imagery.
Kourtney’s mini dress was accompanied by a veil that featured the image of the Virgin Mary, a key figure in Christianity as a whole but particularly in Catholicism.
Notably, Travis has a tattoo of the same — on top of his head, no less.
Travis has been open about his ties to Catholicism in the past, but Kourtney — though a Christian from a devout Christian family — is not known to be Catholic.
In fact, Kourtney has been seen leaving the extremely controversial megachurch, Hillsong, in the past.
With that in mind, some are find it odd that she would adopt a Catholic “aesthetic” for her wedding.
Is it a “mockery” of Catholicism, or are fans misunderstanding the intentions behind the imagery?
“Kinda weird that Kourtney’s weddig is like this catholic “aesthetic” like the Virgin Mary on her dress and her wedding vil??” one person tweeted.
Another wrote: “I just really feel like Travis & Kourtney’s wedding is mocking the catholic religion?” another suggested.
“They don’t symbolize religious people at all, just feels like mockery,” this second person wrote. “I’m not catholic but just doesn’t sit right with me.”
Another more formally affirmed being “happy” for the pair but felt that “liturgical garments used during mass are not something fashionable.”
“I’m just going to say it point blank. Kourtney Kardashian’s use of the Blessed Mother in her outfit(s) during her wedding weekend was extremely offensive to me as a Catholic,” another wrote.
That same tweeter continued: “I have a right to feel offended by it.”
Discussing Catholicism is complicated, because you’re sort of discussing three different things:
The Catholic Church (the institution), people who are themselves Catholics, and then Catholicism as a faith and theology.
We’re talking about a centuries old and controversial organization, over a billion people from all over the world, and then a set of beliefs.
The complex history of the Catholic Church and the extreme political power exercised by it across the planet make this a complicated discussion.
(If Kourtney and Travis had adopted a Jewish aesthetic, or worn Druidic garb, or done the seven clockwise steps of an Ojibwe wedding, it would be a simpler discussion)
But that does not change the right of Catholics to be offended. That said … there’s more to this.
From these tweets and similar posts, it seems like there is also some ignorance at work.
Kourtney is an extremely devout Christian. The Kardashian family is as a whole (even if individual beliefs vary).
The daughters grew up attending Catholic school, which has certainly had an impact on their worldview and theology.
Meanwhile, Travis Barker was raised in a Catholic household.
He remains a devout Christian, and believes that being the sole survivor of a 2008 plane crash was a miracle highlighting that he is alive for a reason.
With all of this in mind, some images of Mary at the wedding certainly are not intended to mock anyone or anything. Like we said, it’s complicated.
