Sentence:  We talk about fathers like puppies tripping over their big paws, a portrait long mirrored in a culture in which Father Knows Least, from Fred Flintstone to Homer Simpson. We diminish with faint praise; dads still get points for returning children at the end of the day with all their limbs in place. But the more engaged fathers become, the more women have to reckon with what a true parenting partnership would look like. Maternal <WSD>condescension</WSD> only really took hold in the modern age, when we turned parenting into a profession with its own implicit peer-review boards and competitive frenzy. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A patronizing attitude or behavior. (from 1930s)