Masculinization of Women's Fashion: Subversion of Female Identity
Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, in his influential 1960 pastoral letter, warned about the masculinization of women's fashion. "The attempt to make women dress like men, with pants, jackets and ties, is not simply a fashion, but a subversion of the natural order that God established between the sexes," he wrote. Cardinal Siri explained that "when women adopt male attire, they are sending a message of rejection of their femininity, which inevitably leads to moral and spiritual disorder."
Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer, in his 1970 pastoral letter, stressed that "the woman who dresses like a man is rejecting her natural role as wife and mother. This masculine fashion has led to a masculinization of the feminine spirit, which not only affects her own dignity, but also destabilizes the family structure by confusing what they now call the misnamed gender roles." According to Bishop Castro Mayer, this subversion of femininity is one of the factors contributing to the deterioration of the family and, consequently, of society as a whole.
III. Feminization of Men's Fashion: The Erosion of Manliness
As women adopt masculine fashions, men have begun to incorporate elements that feminize their appearance, weakening their masculine identity. Cardinal Siri denounced this trend as an "attack on manhood itself, designed to weaken men and make them more susceptible to the corrupting influences of the world." According to Siri, "when men begin to dress in clothes that attenuate their masculinity, they are engaging in a process of self-degradation that leads them away from their natural calling to be protectors and leaders within the family and society."
Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical Sacra Virginitas, also addressed this issue, warning that "the feminization of man is not only an offense to his God-given dignity, but also undermines his ability to fulfill his role as head of the family and defender of the faith." Pius XII made an urgent appeal to men to "recover their dignity and reject fashions that seek to weaken their virility and confuse their identity."
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