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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026

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and then conclude that their own lack of happiness despite their freedom means that the movement clearly needs to keep doing more until morale improves somehow both greater freedom and greater happiness is achieved.

This is kinda true but in a different way. It's more possible for the average person to do a stereotypical "traditional life" of a working husband and stay at home wife than ever before, and it'd be far cozier since the women back then actually had to do hours and hours of meaningful domestic work. If you want to be the "loyal Christian wife who serves her husband instead of working" you could do that and get to watch soap operas or makeup tiktoks all day. Or at least it would be, if it wasn't for two things.

The main one of Housing. It's basically impossible to have the cheap and small homes people lived in back then, zoning and land use regulations saw to that. Owning a home on a single income is more difficult when you're competing against richer households on less stock. More freedom to build would allow for these one earner households to also get a home. This is where "we need more freedom" is true, just not of women's liberation.

And the second one of "keeping up with the Joneses". Obviously having someone sit at home watching Tiktok while the laundry machines and dishwasher do most of the domestic labor for them is less contribution to society than having them go out and do a job, so your household is gonna earn less money than your neighbors who have two working adults. You have to sacrifice somewhere else like not having fancy cars and new stuff for the kids as often or whatever if you want a one income life. Unhappiness here is just "waaah I want the same pay as someone who is smarter and works more than me" complaining.

But if you're willing to accept that one earner is obviously less money than two earners, and live in a smaller home with less stuff then freedom allows you to do that for yourself. You have no excuse for unhappiness there except for your own fault. There are no feminism police coming to break down your door because you're a wife without a job.