I want you to picture a community where women are second-class citizens. They wear headcoverings, long sleeves in summer, and heavy layers of clothing, with no skin showing from neck to ankles. A woman who wears pants, even at home, will be shunned.
The women in this community are considered to have only two purposes: to serve men, and to give birth to several children, while running a household. Daughters are denied anything but basic education, the primary focus being on them assisting their mother until the time when their father finds a husband for them.
Women who work outside the home are termed "whores", because they are serving and making money for a man other than their husband. They are also shunned.
This community keeps itself highly isolated; partly to help enforce the rules on upcoming generations, but also because they believe they are preparing for a literal, physical manifestation of an ongoing cultural and spiritual war. This is one of the main reasons they eschew all forms of birth control and attempt to have as many children as possible; to provide warriors for the coming battle.
Perhaps the community I described caused you to imagine a desert climate where people still ride camels and women wear burkahs. But this issue is a bit closer to home.
Instead of the Middle East, try picturing the Midwest.
