Polite Company | Keturah Hickman | Substack

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They have social anxiety about the real world. Their anime is their virtue porn: they feel helpless to do anything noble in the real world, so it feels good to pretend that virtue doesn’t exist anywhere but in Asia\ \ They have social anxiety about the real world. Their anime is their virtue porn: they feel helpless to do anything noble in the real world, so it feels good to pretend that virtue doesn’t exist anywhere but in Asia\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Charles Johnson

Additionally, it is easy to do well by comparison when the standard you’re competing with has fallen so low, as it lately has in the public school system.\ \ Additionally, it is easy to do well by comparison when the standard you’re competing with has fallen so low, as it lately has in the public school system.\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

The Tip Up 3h

There is much talk against organized religion, but I witnessed firsthand the horrors of unorganized religion.\ \ There is much talk against organized religion, but I witnessed firsthand the horrors of unorganized religion.\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Mary Eliza 3h

Homeschooling might be cool now, but back in my day it was absolutely rampant with child abuse. I’ve seen many articles similar to this lately (thank you algorithm), I knew many messed up homeschool families growing up, and my own parents used homeschooling as a form of abuse and control over me and my siblings. I get blank looks from pe…

Polite Company

How Homeschooling Became More Dangerous Than Public Schools

Keturah Hickman restacked

Alan Schmidt

This essay is all over the place, but it hits on a common issue of dads being far too uninvolved in the day-to-day aspects of homeschooling.

Polite Company

How Homeschooling Became More Dangerous Than Public Schools

Keturah Hickman 14h

Deconstructing from a cult can be a little like pathologizing water because you were waterboarded.

Which is sad and foolish because then you miss out on the ocean or get dehydrated. It takes a lot of soul searching to discern whether or not something is actually bad when it is misused by malignant people

Keturah Hickman restacked

Amy 17h

This is a great essay all the way around, perhaps especially the parts about the dark illiterate future that many homeschoolers usher in by nature of failing to protect their children from the current grotesque norms concerning internet usage.

I love Keturah’s work and will be reading this one again.

And for what it’s worth, I’m glad I’ve…

Polite Company

How Homeschooling Became More Dangerous Than Public Schools

Keturah Hickman restacked

Audrey 17h

social media never tampered with my pursuit for knowledge. However, this has not been the case for my siblings, cousins, and homeschooled friends. Most of them have had unmonitored access to video games, anime, and the internet. This undid the pretense for homeschooling, which was supposed to protect the children from bullying or exposure to drugs and pornography. \ \ social media never tampered with my pursuit for knowledge. However, this has not been the case for my siblings, cousins, and homeschooled friends. Most of them have had unmonitored access to video games, anime, and the internet. This undid the pretense for homeschooling, which was supposed to protect the children from bullying or exposure to drugs and pornography. \ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Grey Squirrel 18h

So Christian homeschoolers are becoming SJWs even faster than public school kids are drawn into gangs. Discord is social media. Reddit is social media. Reddit has a massive anti-homeschool forum that these people congregate on. From there, it’s a hop skip and a jump away to the famous r/atheism.

What Mariani describes here has become a default subculture in the homeschooling world. Parents maybe believed they were saving their children from locker room drama, but a greater monster has been unleashed on their children in the safety of their own homes. Social media might be prohibited, but Discord and Pinterest are not. Together these two apps along with graphic novels and video games have created a cartoonish nightmare in the lives of cloistered children. There’s a spectrum of results, but slowly the world of Christian homeschooling seems to be going woke through educational neglect: Everyone has a reading disability and self diagnoses as autistic or dyslexic. They may morally reject bestiality or furries, but will say they relate to animals more than humans and refuse to or are not allowed to read literary fiction. They exclusively read or watch anime, fantasy, and adventure novels. They draw digital art and write fanfiction. If they write original works, it’s almost always fantasy. They have soc…\ \ What Mariani describes here has become a default subculture in the homeschooling world. Parents maybe believed they were saving their children from locker room drama, but a greater monster has been unleashed on their children in the safety of their own homes. Social media might be prohibited, but Discord and Pinterest are not. Together these two apps along with graphic novels and video games have created a cartoonish nightmare in the lives of cloistered children. There’s a spectrum of results, but slowly the world of Christian homeschooling seems to be going woke through educational neglect: Everyone has a reading disability and self diagnoses as autistic or dyslexic. They may morally reject bestiality or furries, but will say they relate to animals more than humans and refuse to or are not allowed to read literary fiction. They exclusively read or watch anime, fantasy, and adventure novels. They draw digital art and write fanfiction. If they write original works, it’s almost always fantasy. They have soc…\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman 18h

My grandfather was pulled out of school when he was a boy and spent his childhood fleeing truant officers. He grew up and happily "homeschooled" his nine children. His son -- my father -- married a homeschooled woman, and together they homeschooled me and my eleven siblings.

Now that I'm considering how I want my daughter's education to …

Polite Company

How Homeschooling Became More Dangerous Than Public Schools

Keturah Hickman 2d

When I was a girl, I remember my father pulling over whenever he saw a turtle in the road. He’d pick it up (especially if it was a baby turtle!) and give it to us children and we’d take it home. We’d feed the turtle and keep it for a few weeks, but always released it back out into the wild because our parents said it was mean to keep an animal in captivity.

We did this with all sorts of wild creatures. I think this curbed a desire to have pets, but also influenced my attitude toward house pets.…

Keturah Hickman 2d

What those from two-income households don’t realize about the SAHM/ tradwife, is that even if the wife rejects the path of the girl-boss and doesn’t contribute financially to the household, there are many ways a wife can lighten her husband’s financial burden simply by being frugal, thrifty, and creative.

I’m currently scheming up a work-trade that could potentially result in us acquiring plenty of grass-fed beef to get us through this next winter. It’s not a done deal, but I’ve already done si…

Keturah Hickman 2d

If you want to form meaningful connections, look to bond over values rather than aesthetics. I say this as someone who is often tempted to befriend another woman if I see her in a dress. Thing is we might be wearing dresses for different reasons. If she’s doing it out of a sense of legalism and I’m doing it because I am drawn to beauty, we’re going to find ourselves at odds about various things pretty quickly. I’m better off befriending women who are clearly inspired by beauty even if they aren…

Keturah Hickman 2d

Saying sex and gender aren’t the same thing is a little like saying humans and verbal/ written languages are the same thing. Yes, sex and gender relate to each other, but they serve different functions — the way gender relates to gender varies from culture to culture just as a language varies from people to people. Gender is a language o…

The Genderless Woman \ \ Note: After I wrote The Real Woman a friend recommended Ivan Illich’s essays “Gender”. The collection is short, although dense. The author, a Catholic Priest who was eventually defrocked for supporting contraceptives, writes a compelling history on gender drawing no conclusions but leaving plenty of room for the reader to do so.\ \ Polite Company

Lucy Beney

Thank you very much for this, but I disagree. When we talk about ‘gender roles’, we actually mean jobs traditionally done by one sex of the other. The same is true of clothing – it relates to garments usually worn by one sex or the other. If these observations – or ‘demarcations’ – were not based on sex, or biological anatomy, they wou…

Keturah Hickman restacked

Megha Lillywhite

I used to think this until I read Keturah Hickman article about this. Sex and gender are not the same thing. For all of human history, men and women have had different jobs, different ways of dressing, different roles in society that demarcated them before anyone knew their biological anatomy. As society removed gender, blurred the lines, this paved th…

Lucy Beney

‘Sex’ and ‘gender’ are, in fact, the same thing.

How we lost sight of this, on the basis of the deranged ramblings of a few fringe academics, is a mystery.

‘Gender’ replaced ‘sex’ on official forms, because it sounded more polite (and rather too many school boys just ticked the ‘sex’ box, and wrote “yes please”).

It is entirely possible –…

Keturah Hickman restacked

A.M. Hickman

I am putting an offer in on 100 acres.

Pray for us, if you would!

616

Keturah Hickman restacked

A.M. Hickman

It was raining an inch-and-a-half an hour.

We'd walked the hundred acres in the downpour.

My wife found a 4-leaf clover on the way into the land.

We found a roaring brook, a hemlock grove, a stand of hickory.

159

Keturah Hickman restacked

ChristinaLimsw 6d

This is an interesting read, and very in-depth

Polite Company

The Genderless Woman

Keturah Hickman 6d

Yesterday I hand wrote then hand typed a submission for an Amish publication. Might share to Substack in a few months!!

Keturah Hickman restacked

K. Rose

🔥

A lot of girls boast of not having many friends, as if it speaks to a tenderness in their soul. And yet, a tender soul does not disparage friendship. To be truly sensitive is to love more wholly, completely — more like Jesus might.\ \ A lot of girls boast of not having many friends, as if it speaks to a tenderness in their soul. And yet, a tender soul does not disparage friendship. To be truly sensitive is to love more wholly, completely — more like Jesus might.\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Hormone Hangover

Gloating over how feminists will be lonely old childless ladies gives me the ick. Gloating about how tradwives will be left by their husbands and be destitute gives me the ick. I hate all kinds of lazy political strawwoman dunking. Just so boring and cruel

583

Keturah Hickman 7d

Now, I don’t like AI. But I’ve never been worried about AI hurting my writing just like I’ve never been worried about pirating. If one’s writing is any good, it will stand on its own. AI will never be able to replicate it (it has no soul). Pirating won’t be able to hurt your writing either … it only brings you more readers in the long ru…

Megha Lillywhite

The main people AI threatens are not actually artists. In fact artists are doing much better because people are realizing the value of human work in this area. The real people suffering at the hands of AI are vile bureaucratic administrative middle men whose sole purpose is to be a leech off of productive people.

Keturah Hickman 7d

Great essay on why it’s dangerous to live life ruled by envy.

Also appreciated the bit on “benign envy”. There is a time when envy can actually better your life. It takes a little humility, a little willingness to open yourself up to the person who has what you don’t have. But it’s worth it if you do! You might expand a skill or make a new friend or both!

K's Corner

Green-Eyed Girls: How Envy Sabotages Sisterhood

Keturah Hickman Jun 16

Many American women struggle with feeling feminine. We are bombarded by manufactured beauty that conflicts the intuitive femininity. Current “trad” circles contribute to the perversion of femininity by making it something of a kink or treating women as the “undignified version of men”. The girl boss world and feminism sees women as mostl…

Am I a Woman Now? \ \ For most of my life I have never felt like a “proper woman”. Sure, I looked like one, with my waifish build and long curls and taste for frilly dresses that was present from an early age, but I never felt like one on the inside. Looking back I understand why I felt that way. I was far less emotionally expressive than most of the women in my family or w…\ \ A diary from the trenches

Keturah Hickman Jun 14

So I know this family that is basically a cult, and they’re really into “parents are the supreme authority and you may never disobey them ever, because disobedience even when you’re 50 is dishonor, and I lived this out just like the Bible commands because I gave my father refuge even after he molested my children. BTW pray for that child, because they disowned me, and if they don’t repent to me they will be cursed, because the Bible says they must remain under my authority”

When asked what they …

Keturah Hickman restacked

St. Helena's Domain Jun 13

You don't have to live like they tell you …

The Girl Who Doesn't Exist

A Complete Guide To Living Without A Social Security Number

Keturah Hickman Jun 13

Threw a bunch of random ingredients together, and accidentally concocted the best baby food that even my husband says tastes good. It all started with a baby food jar of chicken that the baby wouldn’t eat because it has no flavor. Why is store bought baby food always so bland? Anyways, we now have something that the baby loves.

Here’s th…

Keturah Hickman Jun 13

Sewing from this last week:

Baby things are so much fun to make -- all of this is properly lined and French seamed, and the fabric and embellishments are thrifted and 100% cotton or linen.

Keturah Hickman Jun 10

The hardest part of deconstructing from one's family cult is having people tell you, "But you seemed to turn out just fine. Seems your family protected you from a lot.”

I’m almost thirty and I’m just learning some of the family secrets. The person who was my role model wasn’t the saint I believed him to be. While he preached attaining sinlessness he was secretly taking advantage of some of my cousins. I thank God I’d already began disentangling from the family traditions a couple years ago to co…

Keturah Hickman restacked

Madeleine

Jun 10

Modernity and globalism have allowed western people to believe they can “do it all” because it has subsidized things like food, clothing and household labour through a combination of technology and exporting labour costs and externalities to the third world. As this paradigm collapses, we are increasingly forced to make hard choices about where we put our energy.

Keturah Hickman

Jun 10

As my mindset shifts from a Protestant to a Catholic worldview, I’ve found myself slowly reframing how I think about some of these things.

There seems to be two main modes in Protestantism. The fundamentals believe that there is only one way to live through marriage and family while a more “woke protestant” may say, “Do whatever works for…

livingroomconversations.substack.com/p/how-to-b…

Keturah Hickman Jun 10

As my mindset shifts from a Protestant to a Catholic worldview, I’ve found myself slowly reframing how I think about some of these things.

Benjamin Scott

Jun 9

I’ve had this question based on your posts before: do you think Christian fathers should willingly take hard jobs? I’m serious about this. I’m going to be a physician soon and that is a job that takes time away from home and kids.

I understand you have concerns about modern medicine, but if your kid developed something really horrible lik…

Keturah Hickman Jun 9

Every girl needs an ugly dress... with a bit of hidden lace under the hem.

I'm always being accused of looking like Amish, so I thought I'd try it for a change. This is still not authentic Amish garb, but I feel a little more plain when hanging out with my Anabaptist friends.

It's great for nursing, too.

My favorite feature is Maisie's mat…

Keturah Hickman Jun 9

A conversation between two tired moms (me and my friend Mary) who just want to dress with beauty and dignity!!

Mary Schlegel

Jun 9

Experimenting with a new format (and trying to resurrect my neglected public speaking skills and camera presence) in what I hope will become a new series of casual conversations with fascinating people sharing their interesting thoughts and ideas.

maryschlegelauthor.substack.com/p/rambly-chat-1

Keturah Hickman Jun 8

Once you have a crawling baby/ curious toddler, there's no more talk of whether the toilet seat goes up or down. It's a bowl of water and therefore a drowning hazard. The lid goes down.

Everyone must look before they sit, and consider before they leave.

Keturah Hickman Jun 8

A good friend of mine is Greek orthodox (cradle, not a convert). She recently had her baby baptized and told me that they can't bathe the baby for three days afterwards. This was somewhat complicated because the baby had a blowout, but she's devout and cleaned the baby up but didn't bathe it.

Curious if any of my other Orthodox friends follow this rule, or if they're even aware of it?

Keturah Hickman restacked

Amy Jun 6

I really loved this essay. Keturah takes something that should be a simple, common-sense thing and not only fleshes it out but highlights its profundity. I’ll be reading it again.

“Vibe with your husband” might be the single most important piece of marriage advice given to women, and furthermore, choosing to marry someone you want to vibe…

Keturah Hickman

Jun 2

A little write-up on why I go to bars with my husband even though it’s not really “my” scene

livingroomconversations.substack.com/p/vibing-w…

Keturah Hickman Jun 6

100% agree.I turned off all the notifications for all of these things long ago, because I don’t need to get emotional about who is or isn’t subscribing to what I write.

Phylicia Masonheimer

Jun 2

FYI writers, you don’t ever have to look at unsubscribes, unfollows, un-anything. I haven’t for years. I don’t know who follows, unfollows, refollows, or never followed. I don’t look at the stats of how people responded to what I post here or anywhere, unless our team needs data for a project.

When the responses of people aren’t a factor …

Keturah Hickman restacked

Whitney Aguirre Jun 2

Let's not hate the masculine just because it's not feminine…

what if a father’s natural masculine instincts towards parenting his children weren’t all bad?\ \ what if a father’s natural masculine instincts towards parenting his children weren’t all bad?\ \ Emily Phillips

Keturah Hickman Jun 3

Still thinking about this essay the day after I read it. I don’t make a habit of taking my child-rearing advice from Tik Tok, but I don’t feel exempt from the overall warning Emily Phillips offers.

If I am not seeing the results I expect when parenting, will I think to first question my parenting techniques, or will I automatically assu…

A Warm Hearth

The Not-So-Neurodivergent Cure

Keturah Hickman Jun 3

I love bloomers on little girls! Just finished these frilly linen bloomers for Maisie this summer. If you’d like to order a pair, they are $35 each shipped in the US.

A little trivia about bloomers: Did you know early feminists protested dress-wearing by shortening their dresses to expose their bloomers? When they were mocked for looking…

Keturah Hickman restacked

Whitney Aguirre Jun 3

💯

Nobody wants to be handed a piece of cake that has the icing licked off. This is what it’s like to live with a contentious wife\ \ Nobody wants to be handed a piece of cake that has the icing licked off. This is what it’s like to live with a contentious wife\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman Jun 3

You could nag your husband about his dirty underwear on the floor, or you vibe with him by throwing your own next to his. It’s your choice.

Keturah Hickman restacked

Alissabetta Rossi Jun 3

Teeheehee

if I’m feeling an urge to get my husband on the straight and narrow, I probably just need to have a few more babies.\ \ if I’m feeling an urge to get my husband on the straight and narrow, I probably just need to have a few more babies.\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Snow Forest

Jun 2

I truly believe that nagging is sometimes the primary, possibly even sole root reason marriages fall apart.

“A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day.Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands.” Proverbs 27:15-20 NLT

I’m not qualified yet to give an abundance of marriage advice, but if there’s anything I’ve witnessed in my short life, it’s that no husband appreciates his wife beating him over the head with the Bible and her private interpretations. Most men want a partner to do life with, not someone to yuck their yum at every turn. \ \ I’m not qualified yet to give an abundance of marriage advice, but if there’s anything I’ve witnessed in my short life, it’s that no husband appreciates his wife beating him over the head with the Bible and her private interpretations. Most men want a partner to do life with, not someone to yuck their yum at every turn. \ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman Jun 2

A little write-up on why I go to bars with my husband even though it’s not really “my” scene

Polite Company

Vibing With Your Husband

Keturah Hickman restacked

Snow Forest

Jun 2

This is one of the best posts on here I’ve ever read.

Every single sentence is perfectly, exactly stated with acute accuracy.

And, what really appalls me is when followers of Christ still insist on thinking this way, still insist on thinking of themselves as the perpetual victim, even when they literally have everything, in a country tha…

Keturah Hickman

Jun 1

Philosophers have argued that slaves don't hate power. They don't dream of freedom. They fantasize of becoming masters ... of upturning the scales. They don't want to eradicate power. They want to pervert it.

I do not believe this is always true for all oppressed peoples, but it is observably true with feminism. Some women believe themse…

Keturah Hickman Jun 2

2.5 years of marriage, two years since our wedding day, and we've already done more in this short period than most ever do. Honestly feels like we've been married a dozen years or more already.

Here's some of what we've done already:

hitchhiked through Newfoundland, Canada (and other places)

Andy wrote for several large publications mult…

122

Keturah Hickman restacked

Megha Lillywhite

Jun 1

Being a girly girl is not about makeup and hair curlers and over the top, expensive and impractical clothes. Being a girly girl is not about a reluctance to work or do hard things. Being a girly girl is about being in touch with your emotions and those of others, having a soft heart and a cheerful disposition. Being a girly girl is about recognizing and enjoying wholesomeness and all things beautiful and lovely in the world, even if it is from a distance.

Keturah Hickman Jun 1

I’m not sure if I’m the Bubble Fairy Princess Mommy or the Braggart Mom, but either way I’m going to keep shouting my toxic positivity from the rooftops because I’m allergic to nihilistic misery

K's Corner

'Just You Wait' Motherhood

Keturah Hickman Jun 1

I do not believe this is always true for all oppressed peoples, but it is observably true with feminism. Some women believe themse…

Keturah Hickman Jun 1

The problem with thinking a career will bring you happiness, is it never does.

Women (and men) think they can fight against nature and that they will win. But you can't defy reality. It catches up eventually because biology is like gravity. You can't escape it. And then those who think they escaped the confines of nature are the ones pre…

Keturah Hickman May 31

This is how a dress makes life 100% better

stems from home

8 Unexpected Things I’ve Noticed Wearing Primarily Dresses and Skirts

Keturah Hickman May 31

We took Maisie to her first protestant church service recently.

Usually she loves church — she sings gleefully during the Priest’s homily and while the Eucharist is prepared. She is mesmerized by the stained glass, the murals, and the organ music. She smiles and waves to everyone around us in the pews. Mass is also just long enough so sh…

Keturah Hickman May 30

A silver bell with a wooden handle is the perfect, inoffensive noise maker, and it only cost $1

Keturah Hickman May 30

Some people will be like “single people” can’t have solid opinions about parenthood, and then act like Parenthood is this nihilistic journey with no answers and no solutions, just a really difficult path everyone has to do alone without guidance. There’s no way to prepare for parenthood. Everything about it is designed to humiliate you a…

Keturah Hickman May 29

Some people want to live off-grid because they are attracted to a self-sufficient lifestyle, I want to live off-grid because electric fires terrify me.

Keturah Hickman restacked

Mary Schlegel May 29

Because of this essay, I just booked a flight for a single, Christian young woman to come and spend a month with me and my family in Ireland. She’s a writer, like me—we first met through a writing conference—and we plan to spend the month talking about writing, sharing ideas, travelling Ireland for inspiration, and taking turns using my …

Polite Company

A Christian Girl's Guide To Leaving Home

Keturah Hickman May 28

I want to start sharing essays written by mutuals on my substack (one every two or three months) who I feel like are on a similar wavelength to me but saying something in a way I haven’t yet said it.

This is the first essay from a friend on twitter.

If you’d like to guest post for Polite Company, send me your ideas!

Polite Company

The Enlightenment Killed Cupid

Keturah Hickman May 28

Once you step outside of status, mind games, you begin to interact with the world in a different way. Every picture, every written word has an underlying message. It matters less what is said or what is shown and more that it is “cool” or being said by someone that is “cool”. The ideas and people that fit into the cool camp are arbitrary…

Megha Lillywhite

May 23

Instead of getting the Hungry Caterpillar for my children I got “A Butterfly is Patient”. Why? Because children deserve beauty rather than ugliness. It nourishes their spirit in a healthy way. Ugly art is junk food poison for your children. You were told to get Hungry Caterpillar by an insalubrious culture. Resist. Get your children book…

Keturah Hickman restacked

Patrick Neve

Apr 28

My daughter bit my wife yesterday

I said “Catholicism fulfills our natural desire to eat our creator.”

My wife did not find that observation funny

572

Keturah Hickman restacked

Megha Lillywhite

May 28

Good children’s literature prepares children for good classic literature as adults.

Poorly written children’s literature with abstract art prepares children for Marxist propaganda, gay race communism and romantasy smut as adults.

You cannot choose both. One precludes the other.

Keturah Hickman restacked

Sophhh🌻May 27

🤌🤌🤌

We love what is strange, but only to the extent that we glimpse within it the person that we once were in the most rapturous moments of youth, or in a superhuman, or even a godlike, previous life. All love is Eros of the distance. —Klages, Rhythmen und Rune\ \ We love what is strange, but only to the extent that we glimpse within it the person that we once were in the most rapturous moments of youth, or in a superhuman, or even a godlike, previous life. All love is Eros of the distance. —Klages, Rhythmen und Rune\ \ Keturah Hickman and Mitochondrial Eve

Keturah Hickman restacked

Ava Berlin May 26

I feel like a dud for not making this connection on my own

This is so good

Eve was tempted by Satan to become like God and received the curse of pain in childbirth as a reward. Satan tempts her still, now making her believe she can end the curse of childbirth once and for all simply by becoming a man.\ \ Eve was tempted by Satan to become like God and received the curse of pain in childbirth as a reward. Satan tempts her still, now making her believe she can end the curse of childbirth once and for all simply by becoming a man.\ \ Keturah Hickman and Mitochondrial Eve

Keturah Hickman restacked

Ava Berlin May 26

This is one of THE most interesting, well-thought-out and relevant articles I've ever read. This is such a good breakdown of the modern male-female relationship.

Read it please 🙏

Polite Company

The Enlightenment Killed Cupid

Keturah Hickman restacked

Jessica Wood May 26

I hate when I hear the phrase “it’s just aesthetics”, as if aesthetics are purely shallow, superficial and meaningless.

You’ll hear others criticize the trads’ preoccupation with aesthetics, ignorant to the importance of visual and tactile reminders of our femaleness and maleness. The critics mistake the trad wife’s dress as superficial, forgetting that for men, eroticism begins in the eyes and fuels their virility and life force.\ \ You’ll hear others criticize the trads’ preoccupation with aesthetics, ignorant to the importance of visual and tactile reminders of our femaleness and maleness. The critics mistake the trad wife’s dress as superficial, forgetting that for men, eroticism begins in the eyes and fuels their virility and life force.\ \ Keturah Hickman and Mitochondrial Eve

Keturah Hickman restacked

Nicole Ruiz

May 26

It really is lovely. Two of the formative families I briefly lived with had various open door policies and it dramatically shaped my view of the home coming from a home where we typically had guests once or twice a year.

The home as a resource that could serve people in my community completely changes my framing on how the household should operate at large.

Keturah Hickman

May 20

I love that they share their key code with others. We don't usually lock our house, but we've let plenty of people over when we weren't there --- sometimes we have company arriving while we're at, and we'll just tell them to make themselves comfortable until we're home. Another time, we were gone when a friend wanted to come visit, so we…

Keturah Hickman May 25

The world preaches a message of tolerance. “Come as you are.” Both conservatives and liberals promote this inclusive doctrine for their own.

But first one must dye their hair and wax their legs, or change their pronouns and birth name. One must downplay or dismiss their natural femininity or masculinity if they want status or to not be considered “gross” or “regressive”. Nobody is enough as they are unless they are virtue signaling that everyone else is also enough as they are. Nobody is enough …

Keturah Hickman restacked

Anthony B.

May 23

Excellent article written by a woman who was born without a SSN. I share many of her views and aversion to giving tribute to a genocidal government such as ours.

The Girl Who Doesn't Exist

The Problem With Paying Taxes

Keturah Hickman May 23

Sewed this shirt/ skirt combo last week. I’ve been inspired from all my husband’s talk of the desert. Further challenged myself by French-seaming everything, including the skirt godets and in-seam pockets.

Keturah Hickman May 22

Enough talk of the LARPers. In your opinion, what are some examples of authentic tradwives found online, and what makes them “real” in your opinion?

Keturah Hickman May 21

People will say “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” as justification against being holy while in Sodom and Gomorrah

Keturah Hickman May 21

I have been waiting for my husband to write this essay for a long time. It’s perhaps one of his most important writings.

Hickman's Hinterlands

Stumbling Toward the Cosmopolitan Christ

Keturah Hickman restacked

Philip Primeau

May 21

Stunned, I said that I knew no such thing. This fellow was starting to piss me off; I could hardly tolerate the idea that there was anything Christian about “the degenerate West” — nor that his carousing with schismatics was anything but a certain path to hell. As far as I knew just then, it was all doom and gloom outside that Church door; why he and his good wife would sully themselves with such delirious darkness was inconceivable to me.\ \ Stunned, I said that I knew no such thing. This fellow was starting to piss me off; I could hardly tolerate the idea that there was anything Christian about “the degenerate West” — nor that his carousing with schismatics was anything but a certain path to hell. As far as I knew just then, it was all doom and gloom outside that Church door; why he and his good wife would sully themselves with such delirious darkness was inconceivable to me.\ \ A.M. Hickman

Keturah Hickman May 19

When thinking about the “trad” life, one should consider that there are two different types of Patriarchies.

There is the father who is the sole head of the home. His word is law and it may change at a whim. If he is connected to a church, it is not one that has much authority over his life. This doesn’t always lead to the man abusing his absolute authority, but the chances are high.

Then there is the second type, the Catholic father (or high-church fathers) who is bound by the catechism, his pr…

Keturah Hickman May 18

It's been awhile since I've written anything about my life as an undocumented American. Now that I'm married and have a child, I figured it's time to publish a couple new essays, including a complete guide that I'll release in the upcoming weeks. For now here's a moral argument against income taxes.

The Girl Who Doesn't Exist

The Problem With Paying Taxes

Keturah Hickman May 18

This is your call to toss out your Shein dresses, your lampshades, etc and attend this smocking class in New England.

Lily Belldale Studio

The Heirloom Technique I Use in Modern Sewing

Keturah Hickman May 17

At mass today, the priest said, "Don't raise your hands, because I don't want to shame you. But have you been persecuted or mocked for the sake of your faith this week? If you had, this room would be standing room only. You are failures. You are not bringing Jesus to those who you claim to love."

He proceeded to deliver his homily with the cadence of a Baptist minister. Except where most preachers might expound on these things for two or three hours, he delivered the Truth condensed and straigh…

Keturah Hickman May 17

If you live in New England you should know about this smocking class. A true dying art!!

Lily Belldale

May 17

Blouse with hand-smocked details in Liberty lawn I made in 2024 ❤️🪡 I’m teaching a class on hand smocking next month, find it here:

canvas.snowfarm.org/classes/3149

Keturah Hickman May 16

This is where the philosophy of non-gendered parenting ultimately leads. Even if you're a lesbian, if you are filling the role of the father you're going to have to step back and let the mother do the mothering

Keturah Hickman May 16

There’s a lot of controversy around this essay which I’m uninterested in involving myself with, however I find some of the woman’s “research” interesting.

It seems single women (mostly converts) are having a hard time finding spouses in the Orthodox Church despite the fact there are plenty of single men. This is in part due to the fact t…

Katherine’s Sword

A Dating Crisis in the Orthodox Church? A Woman's Perspective

Keturah Hickman restacked

Rach May 16

House guests shouldn't be allowed to forewarn you. They should come upon you every time completely unawares, or you'll be bracing for that shi all day

Keturah Hickman restacked

Madeleine

May 2

It’s the month of May, the month of Our Lady and the perfect month to discuss the history of female coming of age rituals in the West.

Madeleine

The Female Coming-of-Age

Keturah Hickman May 15

Madeleine illustrates that women are drawn to the aesthetics of femininity. Even when they’re hating on it, they’re looking to return to their roots, and our current CIP is the aesthetic frilly trend sprouting up all over from Pinterest to Wal-mart.

Madeleine

The Female Coming-of-Age

Keturah Hickman May 15

These are gorgeous

Virtue and Wonder

Chapter House Is Now Open for Pre-Orders

Keturah Hickman May 15

I’ve been waiting on this! Penelope makes her case well for quality items, illustrating what that looks like and how choosing WELL is cost effective when you choose deliberately.

Penelope’s Loom

Quality is not just for the rich (part 2)

Keturah Hickman May 15

When anti-Catholic fundamental Christians tell me how soon my little girl will be grown and and I'll be planning her wedding, I like to respond, "Unless she is called to become a nun!"

I like to remind people that our daughter may be a Christian, but she will have choices

Keturah Hickman May 12

Did the Catholic Church really butcher 50 million bible-believers?

This claim has long ago been debunked by modern secular and religious scholars. Nevertheless, I continue to hear certain types of Christians repeat this number as if it is fact. So here's a bit of history on how the idea first came into existence.

Three different men who all held bigoted views toward Catholicism first wrote about this in the 1830s. Charles Buck, W. C. Brownless, and John Dowling all wrote texts claiming that it h…

Keturah Hickman restacked

Síochána Arandomhan May 9

Replying to Keturah Hickman

Very interesting as always. Pondering the idea that gender is related to tools and work first and clothes second.

While I love clothes I have often had an uncomfortable feeling that people are over-focusing on clothes when they talk about gender. Clothes are downstream of something else, though it’s hard to perceive what when you can buy and wear anything, while having no relationship to the maker, if the maker was indeed even human.

The fixation on things like prom/grad dresses and wedding dress…

Keturah Hickman restacked

Rosie Cotton

May 8

It’s interesting to note that many countries who don’t put much emphasis on shaving, or have low percentages of women who shaved — Chile, Mexico, Ghana, the Netherlands, Columbia and other similar countries in Asia, South America, and Africa. They often also have lower rates of eating disorders. The exception to this is with Islamic countries and India. It’s just starting to become a norm in India for women to shave, however the porn stats are high. While the porn stats appear to be low, or vary, in Arabic speaking countries (they are high in Iran and low in Egypt), it is common for women and men to both remove all body hair for “hygienic” reasons, though I’d infer that it might have something more to do with their history with polygamy and child-brides. \ \ It’s interesting to note that many countries who don’t put much emphasis on shaving, or have low percentages of women who shaved — Chile, Mexico, Ghana, the Netherlands, Columbia and other similar countries in Asia, South America, and Africa. They often also have lower rates of eating disorders. The exception to this is with Islamic countries and India. It’s just starting to become a norm in India for women to shave, however the porn stats are high. While the porn stats appear to be low, or vary, in Arabic speaking countries (they are high in Iran and low in Egypt), it is common for women and men to both remove all body hair for “hygienic” reasons, though I’d infer that it might have something more to do with their history with polygamy and child-brides. \ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Ellen Roehl

May 8

Putting on a dress and keeping your hair tidy is a statement. It’s choosing to be feminine while simultaneously avoiding vanity. It’s the best of all worlds.\ \ Putting on a dress and keeping your hair tidy is a statement. It’s choosing to be feminine while simultaneously avoiding vanity. It’s the best of all worlds.\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman May 8

A Church Hopping Review: House Churches

Although I am now very dedicated to joining the Catholic church, I still enjoy church hopping with my husband. We want to continue to challenge and test our beliefs by exposing ourselves to other Christians of various theological persuasions. And so, when my husband and I had the opportunity to attend a house church recently, we jumped at the chance, first fulfilling our Mass obligation on Saturday evening.

For those who don't know what a house church is, …

Keturah Hickman restacked

Alfred, Lord Featherstonehaugh May 6

“ No lace, Mrs Bennet! I beg of you, no lace. Would that she had slipped and broken her ankle at the first dance!”

Polite Company

Four Dresses Women Should Never Wear

Keturah Hickman restacked

Peculiar and Provincial May 6

I read this nursing in the middle of the night and it’s a great read. Today not once but three times I saw fuzzy fleece pajama pant big tee fully made up women. I truly am baffled at the lack of willingness of some to even do so much as put on athleisure.

The other day my husband and I were walking down the road when we saw a woman come out of her apartment. She had a full face of make-up, but her hair was piled high on her head and she was still in her pajamas\ \ The other day my husband and I were walking down the road when we saw a woman come out of her apartment. She had a full face of make-up, but her hair was piled high on her head and she was still in her pajamas\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Paglian Himmler May 5

I have a theory that jersey bodycon dresses are supposed for be worn for dick appointments or coverups for strippers.

They can pass for a nice dress in low light, such as in a club. They are easy to take off and on, hike partially up, etc. and are inexpensive in case of rips. A huge key is they can be slept in because they are soft and pa…

Polite Company

Four Dresses Women Should Never Wear

Keturah Hickman restacked

Melody Rose May 5

Preach!

If you want to be a woman who wears dresses, you have to fully embrace your femininity and beauty by only wearing dresses that are feminine and beautiful.\ \ If you want to be a woman who wears dresses, you have to fully embrace your femininity and beauty by only wearing dresses that are feminine and beautiful.\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Andrea Madrigal May 5

I hate denim.

Jean skirts — especially the sort home-schooled girls live in — scream, “My mom won’t let me wear jeans.” They are rarely paired with feminine blouses, but with sporty shirts or button-ups. The “look” is sealed with a pair of tennis shoes. Nothing about the outfit is “girly”.\ \ Jean skirts — especially the sort home-schooled girls live in — scream, “My mom won’t let me wear jeans.” They are rarely paired with feminine blouses, but with sporty shirts or button-ups. The “look” is sealed with a pair of tennis shoes. Nothing about the outfit is “girly”.\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman May 2

I shared a seat on Amtrak with a woman near my age. While I unbuttoned my dress to feed a fussy baby, she was girlbossing. She typed up a spreadsheet, barely seeming to notice me or the baby, even when the baby broke out into uncontrollable giggles and tried to make eye contact with her. She was well dressed and pretty. I felt a little frazzled. But I had time to read a bit while the baby napped on my chest. By then she was scrolling on her phone and clutching a small stuffed animal. Although s…

Keturah Hickman restacked

Marisa Gaudet Apr 30

🔥

I don’t mean to say that we have forgotten how to cover up our thighs and cleavage, but that we have forgotten what it means to possess thighs and cleavage. The phenomenon of tacky mannish (or unisex) attire among conservative women — a type of dressing that would’ve been considered cross dressing only seventy years ago\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman Apr 29

This was one of the first things I published on Substack and also something I wrote just after Andy’s and my first conversation. I think I knew then that I was about to enter a very beautiful phase of life.

Polite Company

Wearing Lace at Home

Keturah Hickman restacked

Penelope Apr 28

“Natural fibres are too expensive”

Beige maxi dress, 100% pure linen, thrifted, $20 AUD
Hand-knitted sweater, 100% pure wool, thrifted, $20 AUD
Children’s sweaters, 100% pure wool, thrifted, $5 AUD (white), 50c each (yellow & blue)

Keturah Hickman Apr 27

My last essay was a historical argument for why I believe women have culturally lost their femininity. I included myself in this because, like it or not, I am a product of modern day society and hardly as connected to my own femininity despite being raised very traditional.

Of course, many women still have traces of their femininity left…

Sheila E

Apr 25

Umm...Women don't lose their femininity. I don' t know about Kirk, but sex and gender go hand in hand. You aren't acting feminine you are feminine. So if you have a man who can actually take care of you that feminine nature actually comes out...all on its own. Its a beautiful thing to behold. But your right most men don't want to take care of their women.

Keturah Hickman Apr 27

I have believed that everyone wants love. But I’ve realized recently that there is a second type of person — the person who wants power.

This person may say they want love, but it becomes clear they don’t by how they serve (or don’t serve others). The person who claims to want love but is actually looking for power is more interested in not being taken advantage of, creating boundaries, and pursuing personal happiness. Such people will talk against the sins of “people pleasing” when really they …

Keturah Hickman restacked

Haven Minner Apr 26

Some good tips in overcoming “impracticality”.

Polite Company

A Practical Guide for Wearing Dresses

Keturah Hickman Apr 26

It’s way too big so we’ll be saving it for next year, but in love with this gingham dress I just finished sewing (all from thrifted scraps).

If you’d like to custom order a baby dress, message me!

Keturah Hickman Apr 25

Feminism dismantled an older understanding of womanhood without replacing it with a sustainable alternative. It treats the household as a prison, motherhood as an obstacle to self-realisation, and the virtues historically cultivated by women as instruments of oppression. Ironically, in so doing, it foreclosed many of the domains by which women wielded substantial influence over civilization.\ \ Johann Kurtz

Keturah Hickman Apr 25

I just finished reading Cormac Mccarthy’s book The Road.

There were several scenes that depicted a majority of the women traveling in the cannibal groups as pregnant, and then one poignant scene where the main characters stumble across a camp with a baby being roasted. I surmised that this alluded that in this nuclear war apocalypse, pregnant women would be growing babies for the express purpose of eating them. I wonder how liberal readers handle this part of the book. Does it offend them? Do t…

Keturah Hickman restacked

Brooke Anderson

Apr 25

Replying to Keturah Hickman

As usual, you really make me think. This line was total genius:

"Gender is fluid, but so is water. The fluidity of it does not give us more power or choice over it, but less. Meddling with gender will always end poorly, even if the results aren’t immediately evident."

Love reading your words on femininity as I'm pregnant with my first (a girl).

Keturah Hickman Apr 25

This is how we keep baby girl happy when I need to sew but she only wants me!

114

Keturah Hickman Apr 25

I want to say this is proof of my “tradness”, but it’s actually only because I grew up not being allowed to listen to music so I never cultivated good music tastes on my own

Keturah Hickman restacked

Sheila E

Apr 25

In order for women to work in factories or offices, she had to be willing to undergo considerable change. Her hormones were disregarded. Her hair was cut short for safety. She was encouraged to put on pants or raise her skirt hems. The feminine arts were no longer profitable, and so she was made to abandon them. \ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Snow Forest

Apr 24

As someone not raised with conservatism or Christianity, when God saved me at the end my 20’s, and I joined the church, I was disheartened at how often it was close to indistinguishable from the world: the opposite of how we as Christians are called to be! Romans 12:2. (And not to say I haven’t been guilty of this as well!)

I just think …

After reading Ivan Illich’s essays on Gender, I realized I had shut my ears every time a woke person talked about gender and sex. Although my core beliefs haven’t changed, I no longer believe conservatives are completely correct on the gender issue1.\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Snow Forest

Apr 24

As we fall further into our current degenerate era I think those of us who call ourselves Christians will be forced to take a reality check and ask ourselves the most pertinent question of all. Why have we forgotten what it means to be a woman?\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Mose Njo ✍️Apr 24

My intentions are to reach women of all backgrounds, politics, and ideologies, so I equip rhetoric and language from “both” sides.\ \ Keturah Hickman

Keturah Hickman restacked

Angela Apr 23

I’m unable to fulfill my duties as a housewife currently, but one of my daughters is pitching in with the day to day hands on work. My husband too, pitches in: feeding the chickens, washing the dishes, and making some meals. Even in the midst of he and I growing up in an egalitarian world (I’m 52 and he’s 49- our kids are grown with thei…

Polite Company

The Genderless Woman