In this entry on modesty, shame and the future of resistance, a reader who has experienced the crass power plays of feminists at work wonders whether traditional women aren’t insulated from the worst of it. I reply:

Every committed housewife in America, unless she is Amish, Mormon, or an Orthodox Jew, lives in the heart of the beast. No one is more despised by our culture than the homemaker who believes in her vocation and does not support either outright careerism or non-committal, do-as-you-like, don’t-rock-the-boat feminism. Servant couldn’t be more wrong about traditional women being insulated from what he has seen and experienced. The only homemakers who have any kind of status are those who are wealthy, in which case people are generally willing to overlook their betrayal of feminism. Most women in my position experience serious passive aggression by other women and men, a thousand slights and cuts meant to marginalize them. Women who are powerful, who are callous to children and husbands, who neglect their homes, and who glorify their girlfriend gangs are openly celebrated both by popular culture and by family and friends. 

You couldn’t be more wrong about not understanding what you say. A housewife lives on the frontlines of this culture war. Only the strongest survive.

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