The Relentless Fantasy of the Tradwife

Tradwife imagery appears across media, politics, and social platforms, pairing traditional domestic life with motherhood and dependence on husbands. The concept generates headlines, jokes, and anxiety from both critics and supporters, framed as either a threat to freedoms or a target of feminism. Evidence suggests women are not broadly leaving education or the workforce to return to kitchens, and many Gen Z women reject traditional gender roles. Preferences for careers over homemaking have increased over time. Even groups most associated with traditional lifestyles do not closely resemble the tradwife stereotype. The tradwife is therefore difficult to measure, and may function more as a projection than a real, unified phenomenon.

"Over the last decade, the tradwife has become unavoidable. She haunts our screens in The Testaments, in Mormon reality shows, in TikToks and on Instagram. She's in the White House. She lives like it's the 1950s or maybe the 1800s. She has babies while other women languish in cubicles. She bakes sourdough. She might have a " side hustle, " but answers primarily to her husband, upon whom she also depends. She inspires headlines and polls and jokes but mostly anxiety, from both her critics and her friends."

"Tradwifery can be an illusory concept, in practice. Women are not dropping out of college or the workforce in masses, begging to go back to their kitchens. Three out of four Gen Z women disagreed "that the country would be stronger" with traditional gender roles, an NBC News poll f ound last year. The percentage of American women who prefer a career over a role as a homemaker has risen steadily over time. Even the women most associated with a traditional lifestyle - conservatives, the devout - aren't much like tradwives, either."

"If the tradwife won't die, it's because she was never alive. We are boxing with an apparition. Without a psychology to map, the tradwife is challenging to examine. One of the buzziest renderings can be found in Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke's bestselling novel about Natalie, a contrarian who broadcasts her quaint farm life and growing family to millions of followers on social media."

Read at Intelligencer