In recent years, a new lifestyle trend known as the “trad wife” has gained momentum in various social media circles, garnering attention and sparking debates. But what is a trad wife, exactly? The term stems from the phrase “traditional wife”. It describes a woman who adheres to conventional gender roles within her marriage and household – often embodying the image of the perfect 1950s housewife. However, while it may seem like an innocuous lifestyle choice on the surface, there is a growing concern that the trad wife trend marks a regressive shift in women’s progress.
For decades, women have fought tirelessly for equality and the freedom to determine their own identities outside of traditional gender norms. From securing the right to vote to breaking barriers in workplaces, women’s rights activists have continually pushed for progress. With the rise of trad wife influencers on social media platforms, this hard-fought journey towards equality is at risk of being undermined.
Trad wife influencers often glamorise their lifestyle through picture-perfect snapshots of their impeccably clean homes and carefully prepared meals. They showcase a romanticised version of traditional femininity, presenting themselves as submissive to their husbands and devoted to domestic duties. For those looking in from the outside, it may seem like a fairy tale come true – but there’s more than meets the eye.
One concerning aspect of the trad wife phenomenon is how it perpetuates restrictive gender roles; it encourages women to confine themselves within the four walls of their homes and suggests that they should be wholly dependent on their husbands. This dependency undermines financial independence and severely limits a woman’s personal growth and intellectual pursuits.
Moreover, by idolising the trad wife lifestyle, we risk forgetting about the progress women have fought for diligently over the years. Feminism has worked arduously to break through societal constraints that held women back. Still, the trad wife influencers are propagating these same constraints under the guise of nostalgia for a bygone era.
It’s essential to recognise that there’s inherently nothing wrong with choosing to be a stay-at-home mother or wife or prioritising family life. The issue lies in promoting these conventional gender roles as an ideal that every woman should aspire to – negating the importance of women’s autonomy and freedom to choose their own path. This one-size-fits-all mentality is disconcerting and, ultimately, regressive.
The trad wife trend poses a real threat to the valuable progress women have achieved thus far. We must continue advocating for gender equality and promoting diverse lifestyles and career choices for women. We must ensure equal opportunities for all and celebrate each person’s agency in choosing how they want to live their lives without having societal norms dictate what is acceptable or desirable.
