Woman didn’t expect judgment in a Vatican Cathedral. Then she reveals she was singled out and slut-shamed: ‘We were the only people forced to wear’

The adage goes: when in Rome, do as the Romans. For TikTok influencer @samgbrady, this went a little overboard. In her post, where she says she was “slut-shamed” she wrote, “We were the only people forced to wear them even though other people where dressed the same” while she and her sister were wearing the church’s modesty shawls. And, as you’d expect, the debate quickly turned to modesty politics and whether religion is ultimately unwelcoming to women’s self-expression.

The fitness influencer usually spends her time posting high-utility wellness content and relatable, everyday lifestyle content about meal plans and workout routines. But in this post, she was with her family in the Vatican, and seemingly the plan was simply to visit a cathedral and attend a sermon.

Little did Sam know that her day would end up being a cross-cultural comedy of errors. And in the post itself, it seems that they found humor in the entire situation. Sam and her sister are seen snickering in their blue shawls as they dance on the multicolored marble floors of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Some users believe this has nothing to do with respect

That doesn’t mean everyone in the comments section took it quite as lightly. For years, debate has raged across Europe about various religions and how they treat women. Some users appeared unaware that the Catholic Church also requires “modesty clothing” in its places of worship — and that modesty requirements are not exclusive to other religions that some people believe don’t “align” with Western values.

One user wrote, “I had the exact same thing in multiple churches in Italy while all the men wore shorts and many women did not get forced to wear that trashbag. I asked them why I had to cover up while there were people that showed more skin than me. Crickets.” Another offered a rebuttal, writing, “It’s all about respect. Your shoulders and knees must be covered when entering any churches in Italy. Don’t wanna comply, then just don’t go.”

But another user disagreed with the idea that the dress requirements were simply about respect, writing, “The fact that you guys call it respect when, in fact, it’s really just sexism. The fact that a woman’s body is seen as disrespectful is crazy. Mind you, it’s not the clothes, it’s the body.”

Currently, the video has more than 800,000 likes, with comments still trickling in, so it doesn’t seem like there will be a universal opinion on this scenario anytime soon.

The Vatican communicated its clothing requirements

According to the Vatican Museums’ official website, clothing that is not allowed includes sleeveless and/or low-cut garments, shorts above the knee, miniskirts and hats. The website makes no mention of these rules applying only to women.

The Vatican says the dress code is also intended to ensure decorum is maintained within its walls. It also suggests that some types of tattoos might offend the church, although there’s no indication of what type of tattoo that might be.

So if you’re ever looking to visit the Vatican, it’s best to check the rules first. The cardinals that run the place clearly have very conservative and modest ideas about how someone should carry themselves in the holy city.