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Tradwife

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A tradwife (a neologism for traditional wife or traditional housewife)[1][2][3] is a woman who believes in and practices traditional gender roles and marriages. Some may choose to take a homemaking role within their marriage,[2] and others leave their careers to focus on meeting their family's needs in the home.[2][4]

The traditional housewife aesthetic has since spread throughout the Internet in part through social media featuring women extolling the virtues of being a traditional wife.[5]

Definition

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Tradwife as a term is a portmanteau of the words “traditional” and "wife".[6]

As a hashtag and aesthetic, #tradwife has gained a lot of traction on social media, particularly TikTok. Many creators have gone viral for videos performing domestic labor such as cooking, cleaning, and caring for children. The videos often involve an aesthetic that is reminiscent of a 1950s housewife. It is a performance of a social ideal where the heteropatriarchy is embodied within the lives of heterosexual married women, meaning that heterosexual men are the dominant group and women exist to serve them as wives.[citation needed]

Origins

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The description of “tradwife” emerged within the past couple of years to describe creators like Nara Smith and Hannah Neeleman (of Ballerina Farm). Though the idea of a traditional wife has been present throughout history, the aspect of performing “tradwife” for social media is an advent of the 2020s. The idea of the “tradwife” is partially born out of the amount of women that felt unseen by the fourth wave of feminism that mainly centers awareness for sexual assault, however has been interpreted to mainly apply to women in the workplace.[7] A large number of people felt seen by the increased content of “tradwives” on social media and began to identify with the rejection of working. One of the pioneers of the idea of “tradwife”, Alena Kate Pettitt, wrote two books (with no intention of making money through this endeavor) on the subject of being a woman in the home and not in the workforce. She rose to fame during a 2020 interview with BBC News where she expressed her desire to serve her husband. However, as Pettitt watched the “tradwife” aesthetic grow, she stated that it had “become its own monster”.[8] In her more recent blogs she goes on to emphasize that she believes feminism is about choice and supports that some women choose to work and others may choose to stay home. However her blogs continue to argue that women cannot “have it all” meaning have a successful career and raise their children.[citation needed]

Tradwife aesthetic

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A Frigidaire refrigerator advertisement from The Ladies' Home Journal represents the lifestyle idealized by many tradwives

The tradwife subculture is based on advocating for traditional values, and, in particular, a 'traditional' view of wives as mothers and homemakers.[9][10]

Tradwives are diverse demographically, and may have a variety of cultural inspirations.[11] Influences on trend range from 1950s-era American culture, Christian religious values, conservative politics, choice feminism, and neopaganism.[9][12][11]

One key aspect of appearing to be a tradwife is reclaiming – or at least appearing to reclaim – some leisure time, as women, and especially mothers,[11] who earn an income often have a double burden.[13][14]

Consumer choices

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The tradwife aesthetic tends to glamorize a retro aesthetic from white suburbia in the 1950s.[11] She may wear a dress, an apron, and high heels.[5]

Her house may be decorated in trendy pastel colors.[5] The tradwife aesthetic has a significant influence on home decorating.[9]

Others may prefer a back to nature appearance.[9]

Social media

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The tradwife movement is a social media-based subculture.[15] Multiple platforms, notably TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, are used to commodify and spread the conservative ideologies underpinning the movement.[15] Platforms such as Reddit and 4chan are also used to promote traditional heterosexual relationships.[15][16] Influencer marketing strategies, the showcasing of private lives, and contemporary social media use promote the commercialisation of traditional heteronormativity and gendered relationships.[15]

According to algorithmic research conducted by Media Matters, the tradwife audience is likely also viewing conspiracy theory videos, as recommendations for conspiracy videos increase concordant with tradwife viewership.[17]

The rising success of contemporary tradwives is driven by clever and active use of social media and persistent positioning as online influencers. Videos such as 'a day in my life' showcasing activities such as cooking from scratch, cleaning, caring for children, packing the lunches of their working husbands advocate for gender roles wherein the man holds social and political power, and women for the most part are confined to the home as a wife and mother.[18]

Practices

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See also: Traditionalist Catholicism

Key to the tradwife identity is being a stay-at-home wife or a stay-at-home mother and the various activities involved in managing the household such as cooking, cleaning, managing laundry, and tending to vegetables.[9] Additionally, special attention is paid to the importance of raising children.[14]

A report in America magazine, a Catholic publication, has also reported that some Catholic tradwives have adopted the practice of wearing veils at mass, a practice embraced by some Catholic women as a means of reverence and empowerment.[19]

One suggested reason for the criticism of tradwives is that they are reviled for appearing to truly live out an idealized home life in practice, when most social media users only achieve the superficial appearance, e.g., through a decision to wear a retro dress or to buy a trendy kitchen item.[5]

Finances

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Some women who identify as tradwives prefer a division of labor wherein their husband manages family finances more broadly while they focus on managing food and household consumables.[20][21] A high-profile example of this is Canadian Cynthia Loewen, a former Miss Earth Canada, who abandoned plans to pursue a medical degree in order to be a full-time housewife.[22] She stated that she finds fulfillment from the arrangement of her husband as the breadwinner and her in charge of the home, and that she is "more happy as a result".[22]

However, many of the tradwife internet celebrities earn an income outside the home, in addition to running their influencer businesses on social media.[5] For example, Hannah Neeleman runs food-related businesses with her husband, and Nara Smith is a professional model.[5]

Backlash to women in the workforce

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Perhaps an equal and opposite identity to the tradwife is the “girlboss”. Though initially a feminist idea, the advent of the term “girlboss” became a symbol for white feminism that does not aim to dismantle the capitalist heteropatriarchy but rather acquire capital for themselves, effectively undermining feminism. “Tradwives” emerged partially as a counterculture movement to the “girlboss” trying to advocate for women who do not want to work.[7]

“Tradwife” ideals advocate against wives and mothers working. However, this ideal fails to address the work and labor that is involved in the home and in raising children. People that make the choice to stay at home rather than participate in the workforce make a significant contribution to the functioning of society and remain unpaid for this labor. Domestic labor includes cleaning, cooking, laundry, childcare, household, maintenance, and significant emotion work. The performance often seen on social media of “tradwives'” social media performances rarely display the amount of tedious and difficult labor that goes into being a stay-at-home parent or homemaker. The nature of social media creates an environment where the content that is circulated is an idealized and carefully curated image that does not portray the effort and labor that goes into the work being done as well as the work of creating content itself.[4]

“Tradwife” ideals hold that wives should be financially dependent on their husbands. There is a certain element of deception to this claim because high-profile “tradwives” may generate financial gain through creating social media content. Furthermore historically, and currently, “tradwife” is an ideal that can only be accomplished through a certain amount of wealth. The amount of wealth required to support a family, particularly to the aesthetic standards that the “tradwives” display, is significant. However many of the “tradwives” that portray life as a homemaker generate wealth that they frequently do not talk about.[7]

Many influencers have monetized their life of performing the “tradwife” through brand deals and partnerships, merchandise, and promoting products for which they receive a commission.[16] Nara Smith and Hannah Neeleman have jobs yet they perform as tradwives. Hannah Neeleman, who has been referred to as "Queen of the Tradwives,"[23] espouses wanting a different lifestyle from the aforementioned “girlboss”, similarly to the other “tradwives”. However, Neeleman is co-CEO of her and her husband’s company Ballerina Farm. Their work, as well as other influencers, includes real labor of making videos and marketing themselves, however they perpetuate a narrative that discredits and hides their influencer careers. Furthermore these influencers having their own sources of income cannot be compared to the housewives of the 1950s who were unable to acquire their own money, or even have a credit card in their own name. It perpetuates misinformation about the “tradwife” lifestyle as well as discrediting the work they do.[citation needed]

Demographics

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Racial balance

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A growing number of Black women are embracing the concept of traditional marriage, not explicitly using the tradwife neologism, but instead framing their identity within a "submissive" or "Biblical" marriage. These Black women argue that traditional marriage is the "key to liberation from being overworked, economic insecurity, and the stress of trying to survive in a world hostile to our survival and existence".[24] This perspective has been criticized as lacking awareness of broader structural and social issues in American-style capitalism.[24]

Political orientation

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Tradwives have been linked to the alt-right movement.[25] Other researchers have identified a wide range of political views among tradwives which, while primarily conservative, range from the moderate to the extreme.[12]

Despite the link to extreme right-wing ideologies, not all tradwives endorse extreme ideas and ideology is not an integral part of the subculture.[9] Prominent British tradwife influencer Alena Pettitt posted on social media in 2020 that she was "dumbfounded" by the media's "smear campaign" against tradwives, arguing they were all being unfairly linked to extremism.[9] Some commenters have noted that people should avoid "denouncing all tradwives as far-right extremists, holding them accountable for views they may not hold and demonising what is, for many women, an extremely personal choice".[9]

Seyward Darby discussed the tradwife aesthetic in her 2020 book, Sisters in Hate: American Women and White Extremism, and shared interviews with women who call themselves traditional.[26] She found that some women in the movement espoused tenets of the American political far right, including white supremacy, antisemitism, populism, and other ultraconservative beliefs.[26]

Alt and far right

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The “tradwife” inherently promotes alt and far right ideals through the promotion of traditional values that are closely connected to ideals of white supremacy.[27] The recent trends of “clean girl aesthetic” and “old money aesthetic” is indicative of a shift towards ideas of white supremacy.[28] Not only is the idea of “old money” and generational wealth in the US intrinsically linked to whiteness due to historical and systemic racism. The methods of performing “clean girl” and “old money” aesthetic involve trends associated with whiteness such as the literal color white, straight hair, short nails, and overall plainness. These performances additionally require a degree of wealth in order to achieve the desired aesthetic, certain products have been deemed necessary (by TikTok and influencers) to reach “clean girl” or “old money” aesthetic status. Aside from “tradwife” these other TikTok trends circulating indicate an emphasis on wealth and whiteness being valued in our society, and subsequently leading to the outcome of the 2024 election.

Though many of the “tradwife” influencers do not directly address politics or outright endorse any politicians they have contributed towards an alt and far right shift by virtue of being “apolitical”. Many of the “tradwife” far right influencers are either not outwardly speaking of politics or state that once they get married and start their family they will stop speaking about politics. Though this is seeming apolitical it functions as a tactic to perpetuate the right’s ideologies of traditionalism, white supremacy, and misogyny.[16] By virtue of being influencers, defined as “a person who is able to generate interest in something (such as a consumer product) by posting about it on social media”,[29] “tradwives” and other people on social media influence people into following their lead whether that be purchasing a specific product or mimicking their entire lifestyle. Though many “tradwives” insist that they have no political agenda or that they have nothing to do with the alt and far right, their impact says otherwise. As stated by British journalist Hadley Freeman, “It is especially popular among white supremacists, who are extremely down with the message that white women should submit to their husband and focus on making as many white babies as possible”.[30]

Relationship with feminism

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The tradwife culture has a complicated relationship with feminism, being at times criticized or supported by feminists. Some who follow the tradwife aesthetic suggest that it is a rejection of feminism in favor of a return to simpler times and family systems.[2]

Critics often stipulate that tradwives embody what has been described as "toxic femininity", or internalized sexism.[25][31][32][33]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Malvern, Jack (January 25, 2020). "'Tradwife' is there to serve". The Times. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Rob Brown (January 17, 2020). "'Submitting to my husband like it's 1959': Why I became a #TradWife". BBC News. Archived from the original on January 17, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2020. ... growing movement of women who promote ultra-traditional gender roles ... images of cooked dinners and freshly-baked cakes with captions ... A woman's place is in the home ... Trying to be a man is a waste of a woman ... particularly controversial because of its associations with the far right....
  3. ^ Norris, Sian (May 31, 2023). "Frilly dresses and white supremacy: welcome to the weird, frightening world of 'trad wives'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Leidig, Eviane (September 19, 2023). The Women of the Far Right: Social Media Influencers and Online Radicalization. Columbia University Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-231-55830-3.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Wang, Amy X. (August 20, 2024). "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Tradwife?". The New York Times. Why women who dress up as 1950s homemakers are driving the internet insane.
  6. ^ Sykes, Sophia; Hopner, Veronica (August 1, 2024). "Tradwives: Right-Wing Social Media Influencers". Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. 53 (4): 453–487. doi:10.1177/08912416241246273. ISSN 0891-2416.
  7. ^ a b c Moskin, Julia (December 3, 2024). "Tycoon or Tradwife? The Woman Behind Ballerina Farm Makes Her Own Path". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  8. ^ Elmhirst, Sophie (March 29, 2024). "The Rise and Fall of the Trad Wife". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h "'A soft face for saying extreme things': The dangerous elements in the tradwife subculture". ABC News. August 21, 2021. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  10. ^ "Trend tradwife: 10 rzeczy, które warto wiedzieć". PrzyKawusi (in Polish). Poland: PrzyKawusi. August 14, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c d Hu, Zoe (January 2023). "The Agoraphobic Fantasy of Tradlife". Dissent. 70 (1): 54–59. doi:10.1353/dss.2023.0030. ISSN 1946-0910.
  12. ^ a b Sykes, Sophia (July 7, 2023). "Tradwives: The Housewives Commodifying Right-Wing Ideology". GNET. Archived from the original on August 20, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  13. ^ Hesse, Monica (April 10, 2024). "Tradwives, stay-at-home girlfriends and 'a thing called ease'". The Washington Post.
  14. ^ a b Squires, Wendy (February 21, 2020). "Is it any wonder the 'tradwife' lifestyle is so alluring?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  15. ^ a b c d Sykes, Sophia; Hopner, Veronica (April 18, 2024). "Tradwives: Right-Wing Social Media Influencers". Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. 53 (4): 453–487. doi:10.1177/08912416241246273. ISSN 0891-2416.
  16. ^ a b c Leidig, Eviane (September 19, 2023). The Women of the Far Right: Social Media Influencers and Online Radicalization. Columbia University Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-231-55830-3.
  17. ^ Grose, Jessica (May 15, 2024). "'Tradwife' Content Isn't Really for Women. It's for Men Who Want Submissive Wives". The New York Times.
  18. ^ Proctor, Devin (2022). "The #tradwife persona and the rise of radicalized white domesticity". Persona Studies. 8 (2): 7–26. doi:10.21153/psj2022vol8no2art1645 – via informit.
  19. ^ Simcha Fisher (December 3, 2019). "The types of women who veil at Mass". America magazine. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2020. ...Then came the tradwives, who veil with a vengeance. These young Catholic women are highly active on social media, and they gleefully tout their physical beauty as a poke in the eye of feminism. ... a woman's job to please her man with a fit body, on point makeup and lustrous hair that gleams as brightly as the lacy veil that covers it....
  20. ^ AMY HUNT (January 24, 2020). "What is a 'tradwife' – and why is the idea proving so controversial? You may have heard of the terms housewife, stay-at-home mum, or the like. But why are 'tradwives' getting everyone talking?". Woman and Home magazine. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022. ...A 'tradwife' (short for traditional wife) is a 21st century woman who has decided to embrace super traditional, conventional gender roles, by 'submitting' to their husband and not working, staying at home to do the typical household chores, and care for the children.... considering it actually has origins in far-right circles, predominantly in the US....
  21. ^ "'Tradwife' woman claims wives should submit to their husband and spend days cooking and cleaning: A mum has revealed that she left her high flying job to join the 'Tradwife' movement". Heart 96-107. January 22, 2020. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022. ...She added that she felt alienated growing up in the 90s, where attitudes to male and female roles were becoming more liberal, saying: "The culture at the time was anything but what I enjoyed and it definitely made me feel like an outsider. "It was all kind of, let's fight the boys and go out and be independent and break glass ceilings. But I just felt like I was born to be a mother and a wife. "What I really related to where the old shows of the 1950s and 60s."...
  22. ^ a b Cliff, Martha (June 9, 2021). "Canadian woman quits medical career to become a 'Tradwife': This Canadian woman spends all day at home cleaning and lets her husband 'lead' – insisting she is more happy as a result". news.com.au. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022. ....A woman who trained to be a doctor has revealed why she chucked it all in to become a homemaker. Former Miss Canada, Cynthia Loewen, had been set for a high-flying career in medicine but just a few years ago she decided to leave it all behind....
  23. ^ Agnew, Megan (November 18, 2024). "Meet the Queen of the 'Trad Wives' (and Her Eight Children)".
  24. ^ a b Burton, Nylah. "Black "Tradwives" Think Marriage Is The Key To Liberation & Economic Survival". www.refinery29.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  25. ^ a b Freeman, Hadley (January 20, 2020). "'Tradwives': the new trend for submissive women has a dark heart and history: A certain kind of housewife has found social media and is airing the details of their fight with feminism. But maybe they should tone it down a notch". The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022. ...But this isn't actually about fighting the system: this is about women fighting against their own insecurities about their lives. ... it is very much part of the "alt-right" movement.
  26. ^ a b Darby, Seyward (2020). Sisters in hate : American women and white extremism (First ed.). New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-48778-8. OCLC 1238089281. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  27. ^ Bower, Laura Jane (November 3, 2024). "The thorn in feminism's side: black feminist reconceptualization and defence of #tradwives and the #tradwife movement". Journal of Gender Studies: 1–17. doi:10.1080/09589236.2024.2423198. ISSN 0958-9236.
  28. ^ Gaylor, Averyl (2023). ""New 'clean girl' and 'old money' aesthetics on TikTok make the same old link between hygiene and class"". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  29. ^ "Definition of INFLUENCER". www.merriam-webster.com. April 28, 2025. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  30. ^ Freeman, Hadley (January 27, 2020). "'Tradwives': the new trend for submissive women has a dark heart and history". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  31. ^ Rottenberg, Catherine; Orgad, Shani (February 7, 2020). "Tradwives: the women looking for a simpler past but grounded in the neoliberal present". The Conversation. The Conversation Trust (UK) Ltd. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  32. ^ ABC News, Bridget Judd, February 23, 2020, Tradwives have been labelled 'subservient', but these women reject suggestions they're oppressed Archived September 2, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved October 2, 2020, "...Others have likened it to an extension of white nationalism, propagating the belief that women should focus on their "natural" duties of childbearing and housekeeping..."
  33. ^ Jones, Sarah, October 28, 2020, New York Magazine, Trump's Base Isn't Housewives, It's Tradwives Archived January 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved January 2, 2022, "...The tradwife is going to stick with Trump and the Republican Party. ..."

27. Bower, Laura J. "The thorn in feminism’s side: black feminist reconceptualization and defence of #tradwives and the #tradwife movement." Journal of gender studies, 2024, pp. 1–17, doi:10.1080/09589236.2024.2423198.

28. Elmhirst, Sophie. “The Rise and Fall of the Trad Wife.” The New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2024, www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-trad-wife.

29. Gaylor, Averyl. "New 'clean girl' and 'old money' aesthetics on TikTok make the same old link between hygiene and class." , 2023.

30. Leidig, Eviane. The women of the far right social media influencers and online radicalization. Columbia University Press, 2023, doi:10.7312/leid21016.

31. Moskin, Julia. “The Woman behind Ballerina Farm, Hannah Neeleman, Makes Her Own Path - The New York Times.” Nytimes.Com, 3 Dec. 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/12/03/dining/ballerina-farm-hannah-neeleman.html.

32. Sykes, Isabel. "From ‘girlboss’ to #stayathomegirlfriend: The romanticisation of domestic labour on TikTok." European journal of cultural studies, 2024, doi:10.1177/13675494241285643.

Further reading

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[edit]
Look up tradwife in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • Media related to Tradwife at Wikimedia Commons
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tradwife&oldid=1296179573"