Women Are Quitting Their Careers To Be A ‘Tradwife’: A Return To Traditional Values

When the current era voices for progressivist approach, there are few among them who prefer traditionalist notions. A progressive person believes in individuality and welcomes change whereas a traditionalist sticks to the custom and resists change. There is a sudden emergence of the Tiktok trend with the oppression of female roles as housewives also known as traditional wives ‘tradwife’. Tiktokers are using social media platforms to romanticize a return of traditional values. The TikTok hashtag #Tradwife has gathered 110.6 million views already.

25-year-old Estee Williams posted in support of the trend and told media that she never believed that women should be working if she is a wife or mom. For Estee, women working and competing with men comes with a cost and that is, neglected children. According to traditionalists, if women moved away for progressing their careers, it disrupts the roots of the family. They believe that it’s not the essence of being a woman and hence need to embrace the roots of the family. Not giving up on their husbands, serving them to make their lives better, dealing with all the household chores, and being there for children all the time are some of the main duties of women believed by traditionalists.

Concept Of Tradwife

The tradwife concept was also associated with the religious faith of the traditional Catholic church. The fundamentals of the traditional Christian community believe that women are not supposed to work, not supposed to vote, and must submit themselves to their husbands and to the Christian faith.

Women must abide by the instructions of their husbands and ask permission prior to every activity, a matter of respect towards their husbands. Women must raise their children in Christian belief and inculcate such values in them – Estee explained what are the core values of traditionalists.

She also spoke about a misconception that women are forced to model as ‘tradwife’ but in reality, no one’s pushing anyone to be a homemaker, women are actually living such a lifestyle and are happy about it. They enjoy doing the duties of homemakers. Some people have wrongly understood that the words serve or submit to husband means that woman are less than man. But that is not what traditionalists are trying to say. Tradwife insist on living a life as a homemaker willingly. Portraying their lives as aesthetically pleasing, and unburdened, trad wives position themselves as against hustle culture and burnout — offering a return to traditional roles as a solution to the overwork of women. For the traditionalists, the coexistence of a woman who is career-oriented and traditional is impossible and very difficult for the family to thrive peacefully. Tradwife focuses completely to fulfill the needs of her family.

29-year-old Alexia Delarosa doesn’t like to assign her husband any household chores. She does it all by herself. She told the media that she was obsessed with the 50’s traditional family style and loves to model her home accordingly. They dress accordingly with the hair and makeup styles routing back to the 50s fashion.

She believed in tradwife as she was neglected in her childhood due to her mother being a working woman. Hence, she believes it is necessary for a parent to be at home consistently to cater to the kid’s needs. The duties of a housewife are very important and valuable.

Feminism And Tradwife

The tradwife moment is compared with the slogan ‘Make America Great Again’. MAGA or Make America Great Again is a political slogan that was widely popular during the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Hence, tradwife movement and the Republican values go hand in hand.

Some Tiktokers criticized feminism for insulting traditional wives who loved being the way they were. Feminism is a movement to liberate the oppressed people of society. To fight for the well-being of oppressed society. To provide them with equal rights and opportunities. It is also about accepting and respecting the diverse identities in the community. Feminism(1) according to many content creators is only useful to corporate America. When women started working America as a country could get taxes from a huge workforce and thereby bringing more revenue for the country.