Sentence:  Even the recognition that <WSD>commess</WSD> is a pervasive feature of village life does not affect the judgment that it is alien to respectability, to mainstream morality and behavioral propriety. Again villagers are faced with a contradiction between needing to act out their disapproval of deviant sexual activity and their belief that <WSD>commess</WSD> is antithetical to good manners and a commitment to mainstream moral and behavioral norms. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Gossip about local scandals.