I believe you about your wife. Women are not inherently evil or something like that. I'm not TheImp, or someone like him. When they are around people with better values, they can take on and assume those values as well.

The problem is that, when left to their own devices, women are (as unfortunate as it is) extremely predisposed towards that sort of "we should definitely give up all sorts of freedom so I can feel safe!" way of thinking. It's especially bad when we exist in a society full of indoctrinated weak ass men that espouse the same views, because then it makes it even easier for the average woman to feel validated in, and get caught up in that dangerous way (if you value freedom) of thinking, and that's exactly the world we live in right now.