the answer I've always heard is that supposedly corruption comes from the woman's form, so to minimize the corruption and temptation they should cover themselves for modesty
did it ever occur to you that it gets really fucking hot in the middle east, and the covers are used to protect people from the sun
That's not why they do it though. They do it when they reach puberty as a rite of passage into womanhood. They have 'matured sexually' in their eyes so it's about keeping the eyes of other men off their bodies. Sometimes they stop after menopause. A somewhat disturbing trend lately is that even younger girls are being told to cover up; as though they are being viewed as sexual objects at an even earlier age.
out of context, everything about this post is applicable to US culture ---