Sweden epitomizes “progressive” — so much so that the Nordic country is held up as the ideal by American progressives such as Matthew Yglesias, who idolizes the place. One thing I’m not sure these people understand is that Sweden is very different from the United States. In fact, culturally speaking, Sweden is even quite different from its neighbors Norway and Finland, both of whom absorbed heavy blows in the troubles of the 20th century. Norway was a staunch supporter of the Anglo-American alliance during both WWII and the Cold War, and despite its sparse population resisted Nazi occupation with more vigor than any other Western country. Finland, for its part, stood up to the Red Army virtually alone during the Winter War, humiliating Stalin and stopping the northern advance of Communism in its tracks. In the meanwhile, Sweden experimented with socialism, continued to supply Nazi Germany with vital raw materials, and stayed out of the fighting.

Isolated by geography and shielded by its neighbors, Sweden has managed to avoid war for 200 years. This prolonged peace has led to a culture largely isolated from the realities of international conflict, allowing Sweden to develop an idealized society that is viewed as a paradise by American leftists. Needless to say, this has resulted in an enervated masculinity in Sweden, where men have taken to attempting to breastfeed and sitting down to urinate. Swedish women, for their part, have taken this to mean that they are every bit the men that their brothers are. Indeed, never having faced anything to tell them otherwise, they may be correct in their isolated northern enclave.

However, things are different down here in our somewhat less ideal American society. In America, violence, poverty and ethnic conflict are realities that no sane American can deny. Even feminists are aware that certain self-righteous behaviors are just plain stupid. So as Swedish women have been cheering Elin Nordegren for attacking Tiger Woods with a golf club, some American feminists have voiced concern about whether it is really wise to take it that far. It appears that American women are still aware that they might not come out in such good shape following a free-for-all.

Single mother Katarina Andersson, a New York-based Swedish blogger, has covered the Swedish media’s response to the Tiger Woods incident, highlighting the fightin’ spirit of Swedish feminists:

“Swing it again, Elin!” wrote Jan Helin, editor in chief of Aftonbladet, the country’s biggest newspaper, on his personal blog. One of the paper’s top reporters, Ann Söderlund, proclaimed, “Thank God for girls like Elin. Next time, I hope she uses a bigger club.”

Britta Svensson, a well-known columnist at the tabloid Expressen and a former U.S.-based correspondent, commented, “Our Swedish hearts are overwhelmed with pride, because our very own Elin didn’t take any s—. Just like a tough Swedish girl shouldn’t. Elin is our heroine.”

In response to this, “The Sexist,” an appropriately named DC-based feminist blog, raised the point that must be on a number of cheating American women’s minds:

If Swedish cultural commentators want the world to know that Swedish women stand for divorcing cheaters, I think that’s fine—if a bit odd. If they want the world to know that Swedish women stand for beating the cheaters and then divorcing them, I think that’s a fucked up standard to set for an entire country of girls and boys. Plenty of Swedish girls will grow up to be cheaters, too—do we want their future spouses to grow up thinking it’s empowering to physically assault them for screwing around?

For once, a feminist actually thinks of consequences.

If it suddenly became standard practice to clobber cheating spouses, ERs across America would immediately be filled beyond capacity with bruised and bleeding women. As commenter The Fifth Horseman has observed before, feminists will eventually take things too far. It looks like they already have in Sweden.