By Jhanae Hardy

Nara Smith, Estee Williams and Hannah Neeleman. All these women have garnered massive followings on social media, with Nara having the largest at 11.6 million followers, while Hannah and Estee have 9.7 million and 199,200 followers, respectively. These huge followings mean their posts are seen by hundreds of thousands of eyes every time they upload. However, large follower counts aren’t the only thing these three women have in common. They’re also considered to be “trad wives.”

But what exactly does being a “trad wife” mean?

“Trad wife” is short for traditional wife, which refers to a married woman who believes in and practices traditional gender roles, like taking care of the home and children while the husband works. This lifestyle was first popularized in 1950s America but eventually began to fizzle out when women started entering the workforce. However, the lifestyle had a recent resurgence in 2021 when women who identified as traditional wives began to post about their lives on social media.

However, this recent resurgence of traditional lifestyles has been met with some opposition, especially from feminists. Even though the feminist movement has always valued women having the right to choose what lifestyle they want to live, some feminists still believe that taking part in these traditional lifestyles would “set women back by decades”. This topic has been approached by different people, who each have their own opinions. But the question remains: are women really reverting to a 1950s view?

Now some women find this life appealing, preferring to be home with their children and taking care of the cleaning and cooking to ensure things are done the way they want. In one specific instance, Nara Smith blew up on TikTok for making different things from scratch, but it was later revealed that she had eczema that had terrible flare-ups with certain things. This led her to start exploring her diet and making things from scratch to ensure she wouldn’t have any more flare-ups.

“I used to be really into politics but now, I just relax while my husband tells me what to think” one trad wife content creator said. In theory, the idea of staying home while your partner takes care of things like bills and groceries doesn’t sound horrible to some. But women who live this lifestyle often don’t have jobs, which means they are financially dependent on their husbands for everything.

These women are essentially dependent on their husbands; they have no form of their income. It may not seem like a bad idea at the start, but if their husband dies or leaves them, they are in trouble. They have no education, no career, and most likely no savings to fall back on.

When speaking to Generation Z, the majority believed that being a stay-at-home parent is technically a job. But in most senses, it’s not considered one considering there is no payment, and you would work all hours of the day. However, if you scroll through social media posts made by mothers who stay home, they all claim it is. Especially ones who work a normal 9-5 hours and come home to do more work for their family.

In the end, it’s every woman’s choice if she wants to be a traditional wife or not but the impact of posting these lifestyles is incredibly important to focus on. Will these ideas be promoted by influencers truly affect teenagers and young women watching the content?