The Dangerous Appeal of the 'Trad Wife'

On Nara Smith바카라�s Instagram feed, we see the working mother of three make four types of homemade butter, a summer barbeque, milkshakes and more, all while dressed up in designer clothes and perfectly set hair. Her 4.6 million followers seem to devour the kind of content she makes.

American influencer Estee Williams바카라�who, with her blond waves and cinched waist, embodies Marilyn Monroe바카라�s style바카라�tells her followers to 바카라�doll up바카라� for men because 바카라�they do notice바카라�. Williams teaches her lakh-plus followers 바카라�how to attract a masculine man바카라�a provider man바카라�.

There is no dearth of such content on Instagram, but what sets these influencers apart is the aesthetic they present online, that of the trad wife (traditional wives), a social media sensation that has gone viral, roughly since 2020, for its promised return to gendered roles바카라�wives contentedly keep house while husbands control the purse strings and bank accounts. Women making and promoting such content aim to reach women with an 바카라�appeal to a soft life바카라�.

While some believe it바카라�s an ideology championed by traditionalists who believe a woman바카라�s worth is tied to her submission to her husband, children and home, others see it as a clash with the feminist movement that challenges oppressive structures that limit the autonomy and potential of women.

바카라�If you put me in a time machine back to the 1950s, I would have made it. Everyone would not be asking me when I am going back to work,바카라� says 바카라�the original trad wife바카라�, Alena Kate Pettitt, in an interview to The New York Times. She embraced the social media trend 바카라�to reject the girl boss ideal바카라�. The author, blogger and advocate for women writes about homemaking, motherhood and traditional living in her blogs. A stay-at-home wife and mother to a teenage son, she says, 바카라�she is passionate about inspiring women to embrace their role at home with grace and passion바카라�.

Why is the trad wife concept suddenly blowing up? It isn바카라�t, explains Williams in an Instagram video. 바카라�The trad wife lifestyle is not a trend. This has been done since the beginning of time,바카라� she says. As per Williams, this trend has become popular because the distinction between men and women is increasingly getting blurred and a whole generation of women is tired and burnt out of being homemakers as well as providers. 바카라�This is what happens when the pendulum swings so far one way. It has to come back down. Many people believe that the trad wife movement is an over-correction to modern feminism. I believe it is just bringing the balance back.바카라�

She also explains how because women have been busy working, a whole generation has banked on ready-to-eat food and junk meals. 바카라�This is why 바카라�make from scratch바카라� videos are appealing to young girls who are looking at the Internet to teach them these traditional things,바카라� says Williams.

Nothing is devoid of politics. The trad wives are a counter to the independent/financially independent women and 바카라�girl bosses바카라� but they have also brought to the fore debates around the politics of feminism. 바카라�The overall concept of trad wives is built on a very misconstrued idea of feminism,바카라� according to Yashiba Sanil, who is an expert on violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence and works at Welsh Women바카라�s Aid in the UK. She adds: 바카라�Trad wives feel that feminism doesn바카라�t allow women to be feminine, to be part of the household. They believe that the household is strictly something that feminists are against and that they only want women to work and not be family oriented.바카라�

An increasing shift to the right in many countries has led to world leaders openly criticising the feminist movement and has played a key role in the backsliding of women바카라�s rights. During the 2024 US elections, Instagram and TikTok saw a surge in trad wife content. From the aesthetic to an extreme anti-abortion stance, trad wife content on social media represents the ongoing pushback on women바카라�s rights.

Social media feeds are tilting towards promoting the manosphere, a trend that has aided the rise of misogynistic content and the backsliding of equality of the sexes. 바카라�The manosphere and its byproducts are also leading to an increase in violence against women. We have no idea how much violence happens because of these narratives,바카라� says Sanil.

Netflix바카라�s Adolescence talks about the influence of the manosphere on young boys and how it further threatens the lives of young girls and women. 바카라�From victim blaming to incel lingo, the influence of the manosphere is ranging wide and trad wives are just another projection of this sphere,바카라� she says. While the manosphere may or may not be directly linked to the trad wife trend, the concept of traditional gender norms resonates in this world and presents the idea of what men believe constitutes a 바카라�good woman.바카라�

However, in the larger context in the backsliding of women바카라�s rights, the concept of a trad wife represents something far more dangerous, especially for young girls consuming this type of content, say experts. 바카라�They may think maybe this is how they are supposed to be and that maybe women are not meant to be working this hard,바카라� says Sanil. Women바카라�s rights activist Brinda Adige says that trad wife content has already started to leave a mark on young women. 바카라�Young girls are aware of the tensions women face in the corporate world, the safety issues, pressure of deadlines, and more and with trad wife content in focus, many see this and think of a nice, tension-free life as compared to being a woman in the workforce,바카라� she says.

The concept of a trad wife has not gained much prominence on Indian social media, with the exception of a few such as actor Swastika Vijay, who has drawn controversy over her views. The actor has publicly maintained that her ideal husband should 바카라�dominate바카라� her. 바카라�I would like to be one step below my husband. That is how I have always wanted to be. I would want to wake up and start my day by touching his feet,바카라� she has been quoted as saying in several interviews.

Sanil raises an important point바카라�the concept of trad wives is deep-rooted in Indian society. 바카라�Western women within the global north already existed in a sphere where there was a clear demarcation between private and public. But in India, we still exist within that trad wife concept. We may have gotten more radicalised but we바카라�re not as demarcated with our public and private like the global north has been,바카라� she says.

Both Sanil and Adige mention how Indian women continue to be burdened with work inside and outside the house. 바카라�Indian women have still had to come home and work the double shift and be the good daughter-in-law, the good daughter and the good wife,바카라� says Sanil. Adige adds that Indian women, especially from the middle class, continue to face the pressure of being a 바카라�good manager바카라�, along with managing her role in the house.

With the ideology of trad wife still deep rooted in Indian society, Adige states that the real question is바카라�who really is a feminist and how do we get there? 바카라�How much of the feminism we talk about has really percolated to the last woman? How much of it is elitist? Have we managed to break the barrier of caste, religion, economic status, education?바카라� she asks.

Danita Yadav is a New Delhi-based journalist specialising in international politics

This article is part of Outlook바카라�s April 21, 2025 issue 'Adolescence' which looks at the forces shaping teenage boys today바카라�online misogyny, incel forums, bullying, and the chaos of the manosphere. It appeared in print as 'A Dangerous Appeal.'