For many young women, scrolling on TikTok is a daily habit. If you spend as much time there as I do, you may have noticed a new trend: women baking bread, doing laundry, and caring for their family, all while looking perfectly polished. Tradwife influencers have gone from being an occasional scroll to taking over the “For You” page. As this trend becomes more popular, it’s important to understand where it comes from. So the question is: who are tradwife influencers, and why are they all popping up right now?
What is a tradwife?
The “tradwife movement” calls back to the 1950s ideal of a family. It is based in rejecting feminist values while propping up traditional gender roles. The “tradwife influencer” trend, however, is a more modern adaptation of this movement. It is based on being a stay-at-home wife and mother, but also includes broadcasting your life to TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. While these women are traditional in some ways, I can guarantee the traditional wives of the 1950s weren’t posting “day-in-the-life” content.
The Faces of The movement
Nara Smith, while not the creator of the “tradwife influencer” movement, has played a major role in popularizing it. Smith is a model and influencer, as well as a young wife and mother of four from South Africa. She gained popularity on social media for her extravagant outfits and her impressive homemade cooking videos. Smith has amassed 17.2 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, and has continued her career as a successful model. While Smith has said she does not consider herself a tradwife, many tradwife influencers have taken inspiration from her content.
Sophia Kelly, a smaller creator, is who inspired me to write this article. Kelly is a 20-year-old wife who makes day-in-the-life content with 93,000 followers on TikTok. She got married at 18 to her high school sweetheart and quit her job shortly after. Like other tradwives, Kelly can be seen shopping, baking, and folding laundry. The thing that intrigued me about Kelly was the way she frames her choices.
“This is the life they warned me about,” said Kelly in her most popular video. “A life that doesn’t look impressive on paper, no wild nights, no keeping my options open… somehow, it’s the most radical choice I’ve ever made.”
Kelly presents her tradwife-ism as counter-cultural, as a daring choice rather than what society expects of her. She argues that modern culture encourages people to explore their options and to “chase a hundred versions of themselves.” In contrast, Kelly is embracing the soft life, settling down young and committing to one version of herself. Kelly’s take raises the question: can a 20-year-old who has never explored other paths be content in rejecting them?
I don’t doubt that Kelly is happy, but I also know how much can change later in life. As a 20-year-old myself, I’m still figuring out my goals, both personal and professional. Even if Kelly is completely secure in her decisions, her messaging comes across as subtly judgmental. She compares her happiness to that of women who choose differently — women who want to pursue different careers, move between cities, or explore different relationships before settling down. Kelly’s judgment reflects a larger swing towards ideals similar to hers. So why is tradwife content growing right now?
Why now?
The growth of the tradwife influencer movement can be connected to two major factors: conservatism and capitalism. There’s no debate that American culture is becoming more conservative. Republicans have a majority in the House, the Senate, and, of course, the Oval Office. Conservative values, like traditional gender roles and preservation of the nuclear family, are very widespread. Tradwife content caters to these ideals, therefore gaining acceptance and popularity from people with similar values.
The second factor in the rise of tradwife content is capitalism. Housing costs are rising, food is expensive, and there’s little money to spend on fun things. Capitalism combined with hustle culture pushes us to work 40 hours a week or more just to get by. This cultural and financial pressure is stressful, and tradwife content offers an escape from that pressure. For young women, tradwife content is aspirational, some respite from the constant “go, go, go” of capitalism. A life where you wouldn’t have to work, where you could spend your time doing laundry, cooking dinner, and caring for your family. For many women, this seems like the perfect alternative to climbing the career ladder. Of course, this dream scenario doesn’t always match reality.
THe Financial Aspect
The most dangerous aspect of tradwife culture is that it pressures young women into financial dependence. Depending fully on another person means giving them power over you. Yes, that means they can provide nice things, like fancy clothes, food, and vacations. But it also means they have the power to take all those things away.
This becomes especially concerning in abusive relationships. Financial abuse is pervasive, occurring in almost all abusive relationships, and is the main reason victims cannot leave their abuser. When someone is fully dependent on their partner, it takes away their freedom.
“It never bothered me once that my financial security was dependent on that man being in love with me,” said former tradwife and TikToker Jennie. “I never realized that him liking me or not liking me or finding me sexy or attractive or interesting determined whether my children could eat.”
Even outside of abuse, financial dependence comes with risks. We don’t like to think about it, but tragedies happen. Illness, disability, or death can leave a family with no source of income. Encouraging women to leave the workforce without acknowledging these possibilities is irresponsible, dangerous, and doesn’t give young women the full picture. My advice is that if you are going to be a stay-at-home wife or mother, have your spouse put money into a separate account that only you can access. This will leave you more secure, so if there is a need to leave that situation, you have the resources to do so.
Here is the financial part that most tradwife influencers leave out: they make money from their content. Whether it’s from platforms like TikTok or from brand deals, they are earning an income. This means that while they encourage young women to leave the workforce, they have not done the same for themselves. This issue extends beyond tradwife influencers. When women in power, specifically in politics, discourage young women from working, it comes across as hypocritical and unsettling. Do they truly believe that a woman’s place is in the home? If so, why are they still at their high-powered jobs? The truth is, while they can encourage young women to leave the workforce, they know that doing the same would leave them vulnerable.
Final Thoughts
Is tradwife content harmful? It depends. For women who have already seen the world and explored different paths, this content could be the push they need to embrace a more traditional lifestyle. I see no issue with this, as long as they are happy and financially safe. However, for younger women still figuring out their goals and identities, tradwife content can be damaging. It puts them at risk for financial abuse and pushes them to commit to one path before seeing what else is out there. It’s like putting a box around a butterfly before it has learned to flap its wings.