“The beauty of woman is the greatest snare. Or rather, not the beauty of woman, but unchastened gazing! For we should not accuse the objects, but ourselves, and our own carelessness. Nor should we say, Let there be no women, but Let there be no adulteries. We should not say, Let there be no beauty, but Let there be no fornication. We should not say, Let there be no belly, but let there be no gluttony; for the belly makes not the gluttony, but our negligence. We should not say, that it is because of eating and drinking that all these evils exist; for it is not because of this, but because of our carelessness and insatiableness. – Chrysostom, Homily 15 on the Priesthood
Homily 15 on the Priesthood — John Chrysostom
Just the other day, I read about a mother who wrote to the University of Notre Dame newspaper complaining about the women students wearing leggings to class, to Mass, etc. While she carefully claimed that she was not against women wearing leggings, she warned about how this would distract men, and to consider the poor male students who had to gaze upon them. I find this interesting because she clearly wrote that she saw them being worn at Mass, but apparently, they caused no problem for the priest.
I find that a key statement. They caused no problem for the priest. This tells me that this may have been more an issue of scrupulosity or over-sensitivity for the mother than a real problem for the university. As well, despite her claim that the women could wear what they wanted, it was obvious that–in her viewpoint–the women could not really wear what they wanted as they were in danger of inciting men’s lust.
So, I thought it worthwhile to quote St. John Chrysostom. Read the quote above again. Notice that he makes it clear that it is not women that are the problem, but “unchastened gazing.” He comes out in defense of women, their dress, and their beauty so strongly that he leaves no doubt that he would be in agreement with many of today’s women that they are not the problem, but rather the victims. This is quite literally a case of the sin being in the eye of the beholder rather than in the person being beheld.
My favorite part of the quote is where he points out that the cause of gluttony is not the stomach, but our negligence. As he points out, it would make no more sense to blame a woman for her beauty than it would to blame the belly for obesity. Given our current obesity levels in this country, including my personal weight issues, this is a point worth remembering
It is worth noting that St. John is talking about women who are not deliberately trying to incite people into sexual activity. Thus, in other writings, he holds short shrift for those engaged in prostitution or attempting to incite an encounter. Yet, it is important that you notice that he does not spend one word on a standard of dress for the otherwise innocent woman. All his words have to do with the person gazing upon the woman and the glutton indulging to excess in food and drink. It is neither the woman nor the food that are the problems, but the person who is consuming the woman with his eyes and the food with his belly.
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