history, never encountered any such objection. At the end of the day, even though this information may be confronting and uncomfortable, we are brought back to one of the points I mentioned when writing about the propriety of the veil: the female body is sacred, it is more sacred than the male, because it is the source and the guardian of life, and therefore needs to be protected by more ample clothing. This was seen across cultures around the world despite the modes of dress being so varied. It has little to do with culture and everything to do with the nature of reality. Ideological Issues If the first reason trousers are not advisable for women is anatomical, the second is more ideological; its effects are rooted, not so much in man’s carnal arousal as in the woman’s delicate and highly refined psyche. The one who, as far as I know, has given the most incisive considerations on this is Cardinal Giuseppe Siri (1906-1989).38 The overarching principle he explains this way: “The clothing a person wears conditions, determines and modifies that person’s gestures, attitudes and behaviour, such that from merely being worn outside, clothing comes to impose a particular frame of mind inside”. Based on this principle, he notes three main areas that are affected when a woman 75
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