"The low self-esteem of Facebook tradwives elucidates how patriarchal oppression doesn’t discriminate between the traditionalists who embrace it and the feminists who defy it: Under the patriarchy, inferiority is an inescapable condition of the female psyche. Traditional women cope with this patriarchal oppression by framing their subordination as self-sacrifice. This includes the denial of basic, emotional communication between themselves and their husbands. By coding their expressions of disapproval, anger and resentment as “controlling” and “nagging,” tradwives have programmed themselves to silence any criticisms directed toward their husband at the risk of sounding like a bad wife. In response to her husband’s financially abusive behaviors, one tradwife grapples with the limits of this emotional self-denial: “Am I being too much? Asking too much? Do I just need to give up control and let him have it all? Or do I deserve to be asking the questions I am asking?”
~ Bela Kellogg
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