In this line, Lydia Maria Child flips the usual narrative. Instead of defending women’s virtue, she challenges why men aren’t held to the same standard. It’s a bold callout of the double standards that still feel familiar today. By asking this question, she’s not just advocating for women’s rights, but she’s also exposing how lopsided and unfair cultural expectations have always been. It’s a quiet but powerful moment in the text that pushes readers to think differently about what equality should actually mean.