In the hustle culture, feminism, and girl boss world of today, another trend has emerged from digital cracks – the “tradwife”. You may have come across these women baking sourdough in vintage dresses in TikTok videos, or you may binged through all of the 1950s homemaker aesthetics on Instagram. None-the-less, the tradwife movement is clearly here.

But, what is a tradwife? And why is it trending right now? Let’s delve into the definition, lifestyle, origins, controversies, and online culture of tradwives.

What Is A Tradwife?

A tradwife is, at its core, short for “traditional wife”. The term refers to a woman who embodies traditional gender roles as a wife or partner. A tradwife typically:

• Stays at home
• Completes household tasks
• Raises children
• Looks after husband as breadwinner and idea of man as structure.

Although the traditional ideals may seem outdated, and many women are forced into those roles, many modern tradwives choose to live this life and actually view it as empowering in its own right.

What Is a Tradwife According to Urban Dictionary?

According to Urban Dictionary, a tradwife is “a woman who chooses to adopt a traditional feminine role in a relationship involving domestic duties and submission to their male partner.”

However, it’s worth noting that like many definitions on the platform, it is a little bit tainted with bias. There are many who use the term in a neutral way, but there are others who use the term with the implication that tradwives are anti-feminist, regressive, or constantly living in the past- but this is not always the case.

Where Did the Term Tradwife Come From?

The term “tradwife” started showing up in comments on forums like Reddit and 4chan in about the 2010s, and was quickly embraced by influencers, particularly in conservative spaces. It gained traction and popularity around 2018-2020 when viral YouTubers and TikTokers began using the term and capitalizing on its aesthetics.

What Does Tradwife Mean?

The term “tradwife” is a fusion of “traditional” and “wife”, and refers culturally to values from the 1940s and the 1950s — i.e., picture housewives in aprons, a harmonious domestic environment, and roles that are clearly defined.

That said, the modern tradwife isn’t necessarily anti-education, anti-technology, or anti-feminist. For some, it’s a rejection of third-wave feminism and hustle culture, instead saying that serving your family is just as valid as working your way up the corporate ladder.

What Is the Tradwife Movement?

The tradwife movement is a cultural and social movement — mainly social media fueled — advocating for a return to traditional family and gender roles.

Many women claiming the movement share content about:

• Homemaking
• Modest clothing
• Cooking and cleaning routines
• Biblical femininity or other faith-based values
• Submissiveness to husbands (in a consensual, spiritual context)

It is particularly popular in conservative and Christian online spaces, but is now transitioning into the mainstream influencer culture.

What Is the Tradwife Trend?

The tradwife trend has ideas that have gained traction across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Youtube, some of them being tradwife influencers who show “curated” snippets of slow living, femininity, and homemaking.

Videos and reels use hashtags like #TradWife, #StayAtHomeWife, and #BiblicalWomanhood to clearly communicate that this lifestyle is aspirational — with fresh-baked bread, vintage dresses, soft music, and children quietly playing.

This trend is often compared to:

• The cottagecore aesthetic
• Clean girl and soft life movements
• A counter-cultural rejection of capitalist grind

What Is the Difference Between a Housewife and a Tradwife?

There is some overlap, but not all housewives are tradwives and not all tradwives are housewive

Housewife	Tradwife
May or may not choose the role	Chooses the role intentionally
Not always tied to ideology	Often embraces traditional values
Role may be situational	Role is often identity-driven
Less likely to be online influencers	Often active on social media

What Is Tradwife Life Like?

A tradwife life might resemble something like this:

• Morning- Breakfast preps, lunch packing, and tidying up the home.
• Afternoon- Errands, meal-prep, and home-education for children.
• Evening- Welcoming the husband home, cooking dinner, together-time, or quality time.
• Ongoing- Prayer, homemaking projects, relationship nurturing.

The tradwife life encompasses gratitude, simplicity, devotion to others, and more for many.

How To Be A Tradwife?

If someone would like to live a tradwife life, they might consider the following steps:

1. Commit to living in traditional values: These are anything from modesty (enough said!), to faith, homemaking, and supporting your husband’s leadership in the home.
2. Commit to developing homemaking skills: Cooking, sewing, budgeting, child-rearing, and much more.
3. Commit to honoring femininity: Many tradwives represent a softness, femininity, and grace in their dress and manner.
4. Join a community of support: As mentioned earlier, tradwife groups online, congregating families at faith-based groups, and more can be inspiration, guidance, and support.

Who Are Some Notable Tradwife Influencers?

Some influencers and content creators associated with the tradwife or homemaking lifestyle are:

1. Ballerina Farm – a Utah-based woman with a Miss New York past shares family living on a farm and being a rancher.
2. Nara Smith – as a mom and wife, her soft, serene, and calm content is well-liked.
3. Abbie Herbert, Jessi Afshin, and others – these influencers exemplifying homemaker and motherhood fun, projects, achievements, and more.

Is the Tradwife the New Girlboss?

Interestingly, many commentators are asking whether tradwives are taking the place of girlbosses culturally. The girlboss archetype was about women “having it all” – career, beauty, independence – while the tradwife ideal explicitly rejects burnout culture.

This has led to debate on whether tradwife life is empowering or regressive.
Both views are held and the answer often depends on wether a choice is made freely and authentically.

What Are the Criticisms of the Tradwife Movement?

The tradwife trend has generated critique. Critics argue:

• It romanticizes a time when women had fewer rights.
• It can promote subservience in the guise of choice.
• It doesn’t provide visibility to women who cannot afford to stay home.
• When taken to extremes, it can verge into alt-right ideologies.
• It puts pressure on women to be perfect homemakers or submissive in unhealthy ways.

Is Being a Tradwife Empowering?

For some yes. Especially for women who have felt “pressured” and have lived too long in a hyper-independent space, or feel burnt out from career expectations, returning to homemaking seems healing.

As long as it’s a conscious choice, not a forced role, being a tradwife can be just as empowering as being a CEO or artist. Empowerment looks different for everyone.

What’s Behind the Tradwife Movement?

Some of the main factors include:

• Burnout from hustle culture
• Return to faith and spirituality
• Rejection of modern dating culture
• Desire for slow, intentional living
• Online aesthetic trends that romantize the past

Conclusion: Is There Space for Both Tradwives and Modern Women?

Definitely, the rise of the tradwife trend represents an important thing — people want more choice, not less. Feminism has always been about opening up possibilities. Whether that means running a company or running a home, what matters is that they are free to do so.

Not every woman is going to want to be a tradwife — and that’s okay! What is powerful is that women today can choose whichever path they want, traditional or otherwise.

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