Sons of Patriarchy A Conversation with Tia Levings on "A Well-Trained Wife"
Feb 10, 2025
Tia Levings, an author and survivor, shares her harrowing journey from Christian patriarchy in her memoir, A Well-Trained Wife. She discusses the manipulation and control she faced from influential movements like IBLP and homeschooling cultures. Tia reveals how personal tragedy sparked her resistance and led her to question the oppressive structures. With a focus on healing, she offers advice to others in similar situations, highlighting the importance of survivor stories in breaking free from these harmful systems.
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Church As Performance System
- Patriarchy in these churches functions as a performance system rewarding obedience and appearance over humanity.
- Church life becomes an in-group advertisement that trains families to conform through fear and surveillance.
Mentored Into Fundamentalism
- Tia Levings recounts being mentored into fundamentalist circles as an adult after marrying into them.
- She identifies IBLP and Gothard influence as her gateway into stricter patriarchy.
Movements Feed Each Other
- Multiple conservative movements (Gothard, MacArthur, homeschooling) overlapped and reinforced each other.
- Shared authors, conventions, and curricula created an expanding ecosystem that normalized extreme gender roles.
