It's neat how this magazine printed the essay along with the responses of people to it. Many of those response letters are quite biting (in a good way).
Sometimes I feel disheartedned when I see harsh internet comments in response to an essay. For example, sometimes Paul Graham posts essays and people on Hacker News post blistering biting responses. I guess we should remember the letters that people used to send to magazine essays like this and remember that sometimes these harsh responses are par for the course when writing essays...
The published magazine letters are likely curated. If nothing else, they were also posted by (snail) mail, not instantaneous emogi-laden adTech-fueling online ragelettes.
I find it funny the old "I'm so feminist" prose thinking they're empowering women, while their actually demeaning the work the wife did. One comment from Toby Koosman directly lumps the wife in with servants.
Published work (writing) gets better with an editor helping, so she is providing valuable work, that even today computers can't engage in. Are the ideas expressed clearly? Does the piece make sense overall. Is the narrative properly built. Are their weird parts hanging around that get in the way of the intended message?
You have a couple that is engaging in each other's ideas, discussing issues that are most likely of interest to both of them. People often couple up who share a view on how to live, so it is likely that the wife is just as into the low tech lifestyle as he is. There exist women who like the rural and homesteading lifestyle.
The overall tone of the comment section is pretty disrespectful towards the wife.
Sometimes I feel disheartedned when I see harsh internet comments in response to an essay. For example, sometimes Paul Graham posts essays and people on Hacker News post blistering biting responses. I guess we should remember the letters that people used to send to magazine essays like this and remember that sometimes these harsh responses are par for the course when writing essays...