'Trad wives' have blown up online since Roe v. Wade was overturned, but that's only half the story

LINK: 'Trad wives' have blown up online since Roe v. Wade was overturned, but that's only half the story (msn.com)

Welp, got a new term for ya... Trad Wives: Women who live and believe in traditional women's roles.

It was an interesting article to read. Not so sure about some of the statements made, definitely seemed to have some biases in there about it. But some of the statements at least are true.

Personally I don't care if a woman works or wants to be a "Trad Wife". Choice is up to them, not going to knock either choice. And I think knocking either choice is the sign of a small, insecure mind.

As for it being "blown up" since RvW being overturned...I can understand that. Is it necessarily a bad thing though? Well, that's what the article is about. Some think it is, others do not. I do know that I've seen video's of women wishing that they'd had children earlier in life, that they hadn't been so "gung ho" about having their career. And I was seeing that even before RvW was overturned. I also know that recently there was a big roe over men looking for companionship from across the seas, in areas where more traditional women live. That one really pissed off the feminists.

So, what do you think?

 

I think the heart wants what the heart wants, and what happens between two or more consenting adults is none of my business.

As a feminist, I think that every woman should be free to make her own lifestyle choices without being judged for it, and that's also none of my business.

How am I doing so far?

 

Why is it that progressives insist on making so many labels for people?

 

Trad, feminazi, boss babe, strong independent woman.......don't matter the label.....they have all worn out their welcome. They all think they are 10's when in reality, most have the physique of a bowling ball and a personality to match.

Feminists are the worst....they want all the perks of a conservative man yet cling to the "I don't need a man" bullshit. Next level idiocy.

 

Many of the high-profile "Trad Wives" influencing social media are delusional alt-right crazies...

Gwen the Milkmaid, as she calls herself, or lobotomized GwenGwiz, as I like to think of her, also calls herself a truth-seeking, red-pilled, agenda-2030-weary, anti-feminist, anti-vax, anti-birth control, holistic-living, anti-big government, Big Pharma-opposed, conspiracy theorist, homesteading tradwife. Utter word vomit, I know. Unlike other tradwives, Swinarton doesn’t merely use tags to target conservative audiences. Her content itself reflects this blatant far-right messaging — the most egregious perhaps being a video titled “LIFE HACKS 2023 EDITION.” The life hacks are as follows: “1. If the government is involved, avoid it; 2. If the government supports it, reject it; 3. If the government says it’s safe, it’s not; 4. If the government says it’s true, it’s false; 5. If the government says you need it, you don’t.”

What makes Swinarton’s content so dangerous is her aestheticization of alt-right ideologies. It’s not some unattractive man who’s yelling these conspiracy theories at you so loudly, veins are popping out of his neck à la Alex Jones. Instead, it’s a pretty, blonde white woman espousing these same kinds of beliefs while frolicking through nature in cleavage-baring dresses. In this way, Swinarton isn’t really a tradwife so much as someone who’s appropriating this lifestyle to promote and aestheticize the “crunchy-to-alt-right pipeline.”

https://www.michigandaily.com/arts/...he-return-of-the-lobotomized-1950s-housewife/

 

These "trad wives" have just found another way to make money off the regressive RWers who watch their videos. Of course, you are getting dumber for every minute you watch them. And so, the dumbing down of America continues, and RWers like the Trad Wives are leading the charge.

 

It's amazing how you could come to that conclusion from one stupid tick tock video that a fellow member found.

It's an epidemic of grand proportions I tell you...

Oddly enough it wasn't a right winger that found the video and brought it to our attention.

 

Wow...I can actually feel the hatred you have for these people. Dumbing down? How? They're not pushing their ideology on anyone...unlike other groups I could name.

 

I think we need to avoid conflating how individual adults choose to manage their relationships and the social media "influencers" promoting specific concepts (which they may or may not be actually living themselves - after all, having an independent social media presence could be said to be somewhat contradictory). It's also worth noting that many of these people don't just promote their own lifestyle choices but do directly criticise people who make different choices, such as working women or single mothers.

I don't think that is a simple good/bad distinction (very little is), but the connection could be seen to support the idea that this isn't just about explaining their personal choices as they might claim, but part of a concerted effort to change society (ironically, what those on the right often accuse the left of doing, typically with a similarly limited level of justification).

I'm sure that is true, but I've also personally known women who wish they'd waited a little longer before starting a family. It's the idea that either choice is fundamentally right or wrong for everyone.

Isn't that a little justifiable when, because women in the US (and the West in general) have made such progress on achieving equal rights and freedoms, a minority of men specifically go looking for women they can continue to exert complete and unchallenged authority over? Again, not a simple good/bad distinction but could raise legitimate concerns.

 

Oh, it isn't trading wives?

 

Well, like the article said, TikTok is a place that thrives on controversy. So no doubt there is some back and forth going on. And yes, there are those that do it just for the views and don't really "have that life". But those are usually found out eventually.

I don't think that there is a concerted effort. That would imply that they collude with each other or some type of collusion is going on. Frankly imo the only ones doing tiktok are purely in it for the money or the attention...probably both.

Like I said in my first paragraph, I personally don't care how either want to live. (just don't drag me into it!)

It might be justifiable...if the feminist movement had simply stopped at attaining Rights. Instead men are vilified in todays society. And its a mischaracterization to say that men are specifically looking for women who they can continue to exert complete and unchallenged authority over. That's actually an example of the vilification that I just talked about. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are some men doing it for that reason. But most are not.

 

I don't think there is a lot of direct collusion here either (hence my phrase "limited level of justification"), but I do feel it has a strong element of socio-political movement rather than just being entirely random individuals posting similar things, and I think any connection with the Roe v Wade ruling and the wider politics surround that only serves to support that point.

I largely agree, the point is that these "influencers" do (claim to) care about how others live and explicitly criticise those who choose to live differently to themselves. This isn't about people who privately choose to live a particular way, it is exclusively about people promoting a particular way to live as the unquestioningly best or only "right" way to live. And as I mentioned, the second group aren't even necessarily entirely in the first.

Well, I'm a man in todays society and I don't see that. There isn't a singular "feminist movement" and there are certainly some groups and individuals who with over-generalise and vilify all men, but that is true of pretty much any identifiable grouping you care to identify. I've been vilified as part of all sorts of different groupings (actual or perceived) much more than I have been for being male.

I think a significant factor is that men were traditionally pretty much never criticised as a whole, only as defined subgroups ("poor men", "working-class men", "foreign men" etc.) and so now receiving a similar level of criticism as other groups (fairly or not) feels much worse than it actually is.

Well, if you're presenting it as a direct consequence of or reaction to feminism, I'm not sure what else it could be.

 

The Tradwife Way:
Find a gullible sucker to pay your bills
Stay off of government assistance
Relish the thankless role of an unpaid maid and sex worker

 

Well, you might have a point, if those particular tiktokers had started their accounts after RvW had been overturned. But as the article notes, they existed prior to it and with far less "followers" than they have now after it.

But that's the thing, are they actually "promoting" it? Or simply sharing? To me "promoting" would be actively pushing it rather than simply reacting to other peoples comments. The article give an example of a "Trad Wife" and in the video's the woman is simply explaining in reaction to other peoples comments. She even comments that women should have the choice to be a "Trad Wife" or to not be.

Well, as a man I have seen it, and even experienced it. For much of my adult life after me and my wife had kids I was a stay at home dad. They were always commenting to my wife how I was a bum and that she should leave me. Even though I did everything the "traditional housewife" did. Laundry, cleaning, taking care of kids etc etc. But I've also seen the opposite, where men would go work, the woman would stay home, and the men would still get complained about "because he wasn't doing enough around the house and with the kids". So it was damned if you do, damned if you don't. And these two things are just the start.

The men of today never experienced that era. I certainly never did. And I'm almost 49 years old. My mom and dad both worked. The only ones that really experienced it are all old or dead now. So that doesn't really explain your thought here. Especially in regards to all the young men (in their 20s) looking for companions across the seas. Men who were raised by Gen X or Millennials and even early Gen Z, the very people that rebelled against the "traditional housewife" era. Sure, you could explain it away as "being taught that way by their parents" (while ignoring societal impact). But that will only account for a small number of men. Not the majority.

Other than being vilified by 3rd wave feminists you mean?

 

The term “in your dreams” comes to mind

 

Why did this come to mind?

 

Exactly, BB...
Low-Hanging Fruit and Spot-On...
Poster Girl...

 

I think the internet is full of stupidity and this is just another example of it. Traditional women have never been a rarity and are not going extinct. I also don't see how Roe would have had anything to do with it. Where there no men who wanted traditional women before ROE? Did they all have to settle for pro-choice women before that? Dumb.

 

In who's dreams exactly? You do realize that the article is critical of "Trad Wives" right? Not exactly "alt right" writing here...

 

Actually, its mostly about raising your children and putting your family first. Its wonderful to put 100% focus on your kids, rather then be torn between work and their needs.

Its the greatest most satisfying job ever, a partnership with your spouse, and a worthy investment. Traditional wives volunteer at schools and in the community, and tend not to leave children unsupervised.... When I decided to stay home, we lost half our income and lived better---saving money for nice vacations and the kids did better in school. I enjoyed shopping frugal, preparing home cooked meals each night, and managing the household affairs. I sure miss that job and all those traditional and important roles.

 

Hate? LOL! My wife was stay at home until our kids became teenagers. Of course, she wasn't trying to make some silly political point out of it, or play ditz on TikTok.

 

Well, I guess there are those that oppose diversity and free will amongst women. There are those that attack women who choose lifestyles not in line with their own. Sad.

Thank you @Sleep Monster for this. Gives me hope.

 

Look at the animosity on display from some here. Very interesting....

 

That would have been far more interesting. <sarcasm off>

 

I think if families could afford it, most women would choose to be Traditional stay at home wives, or at least one parent stays home while the other works

it all comes down to cost of living and wages....