On Our Best Behavior

April 24, 2023
Pulling the Thread podcaster Loehnen debuts with a searching study of how the seven deadly sins (sloth, envy, pride, gluttony, greed, lust, and anger) developed into a web of “cultural programming” that deems women “to be inferior in every way.” She traces the roots of the seven deadly sins back to fourth-century monk Evagrius Ponticus, whose list of eight “passionate thoughts” also included sadness, and notes that when Pope Gregory first preached about the “Capital Vices,” he “assigned to Mary Magdalene and branded her a whore.” Restoring sadness to the list and devoting a chapter to each concept, Loehnen unpacks the ways in which women contort themselves to “be good” within a system that is designed to oppress them. The section on sloth, for example, discusses the guilt felt by working mothers “that by shirking parenthood as our sole objective, we’re not doing our real jobs.” Associating the “energy of the feminine” with “creativity, nurturance, and care,” Loehnen calls for its resurgence to “bring our culture’s toxic masculinity into balance.” Though Loehnen’s argument can be difficult to follow, she incisively draws from the work of thinkers including Kate Manne and Gerda Lerner and weaves in poignant autobiographical reflections. It’s a laudable effort to pull up the roots of patriarchy.