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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 2, 2026

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Why doesn't "what if the roles were reversed" ever work? I mean it works for me. I actually am convinced when people bring up that argument. But it never works when conservatives say it to progressives.

Why I'm bringing this up is that recently Abdul El-Sayed's wife appeared on stage wearing something not dissimilar to an outfit from "Handmaid's Tale".

https://x.com/FedPoasting/status/2118389760070725932

What if the roles were reversed? What if Mike Pence or Mitt Romney or J.D. Vance of Pete Hegseth showed up like this?

I have a hard time explaining why this line of reasoning just does not land at all with progressives. To me it seems like a slam dunk. What am I missing? And is there a conservative equivalent to this, i.e. a meta role reversal where conservatives are the one being hypocrites?

What if Mike Pence or Mitt Romney or J.D. Vance of Pete Hegseth showed up like this?

I'm sure Romney's wife was also wearing magic underwear, and I don't recall that ever being a serious debate during his campaign. I could maybe see some devout Christian woman who is also a public figure (ACB? She doesn't seem that trad) adopting the traditional-in-some-communities practice of veiling, but I doubt that it'd make much of a splash. For better or worse, I don't know that the leftists are wrong that concern about headscarves is from seeing Muslims (especially observant ones) as an outgroup. IMO face covering is a bit different, but I'd bet there are hair covering styles that wouldn't seem too out of place in everyday life from the Christian traditions: hats are pretty normalized.

I'm sure Romney's wife was also wearing magic underwear, and I don't recall that ever being a serious debate during his campaign.

  1. You can't actually see temple garments, so that seems obviously a reason no one talked about it. Which is also why Sarah Jukaku almost certainly having been subjected to female genital mutilation is also not readily talked about.

  2. Both male and female Mormons wear temple garments. Abdule get's to look "normal" while his wife does not.

Let me know when Sarah has this neckline or show this much leg.

Which is also why Sarah Jukaku almost certainly having been subjected to female genital mutilation is also not readily talked about.

Sarah Jukaku is an Indian Muslim. FGM is quite rare in that population, and she doesn’t belong to one of the groups of Indian Muslims (who are quite heterogenous) who practice it.