Is the new ‘TradWife’ trend for raving Christians?

Maybe you’ve seen this term somewhere, and wondered what in the world it means. It is frequently used to refer to a modern-day “traditional wife”. A wife whom prefers to utilize traditional gender roles, take on the job of a home maker, and submit to her husbands wishes, to briefly explain. Why in the world would a woman want to revert back to the 1950s and mitigate all the hard work feminism has enforced? Let’s take a deeper look.

In the past few years, it seems women and mothers have been leaning more towards being a stay at home mom versus a working one. Granted, this was mostly due to financial strain since the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic we had a much differently reality, and I’m sure we didn’t picture deciding between groceries or childcare. I believe this massive shift in our day to day life forced us to look at our priorities.

However, we aren’t just speaking in terms of being a stay at home mom, but a stay at home wife. Whether these women have children or not, they are choosing to stay within the home and solely serve their husband. There are countless women who are turning to social media platforms such as TikTok to spread this ideology. There is a multitude of opinions being shared, and some uplifting comments, along with the shameful ones aimed in disgust.

With that being said, most people assume this is stemming from followers of Christianity, as some women have shared this as their reasoning. The Bible makes statements such as in Proverbs 14:1 “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down”. Of course the Bible can be interpreted many ways, and one could just see that as a way of stating the power a woman holds in her household. Regardless, this was always the way things were until feminism was introduced.

Wasn’t this day and age what a woman always dreamed of? Being able to have a husband and children, while also building an empire for yourself in the “real world”? After all, past studies show mothers who worked at least part time were usually happier and healthier than those who stayed at home. We are destined to view things through different lenses than we did in the 1950s, this is just inevitable. Societal pressure, modern upbringing, social media, feminism, modern day gender roles , etc. All of these things have changed what we think when we think, ”Family”. I can’t help but think this has shifted what we view as desirable. Therefore, a mindset shift could change how we look at traditional wives. Estee Williams, a self pronounced TradWife, even states “I put my husband’s wants ahead of my own, and this has done nothing but benefit myself and my marriage”.

We must understand in that statement alone there is a whole other reason people would desire this lifestyle. I’ll go out on a limb here and state BDSM —a term used to encompass sexual preferences like dominance, submission, and control— could drive one to desire serving their husband. I know what you’re thinking, “Wait, how does a sexual preference coincide with traditional gender roles?”. Hear me out, many people in the kink community chose to not only partake in dominant/submissive roles, but they allow it to spill into all areas of their life. This would mean the submissive, let’s say woman for the sake of the point, serves and obeys orders from the dominant man. A traditional household would fit perfectly in this instance. This also goes to show that maybe this new trend isn’t just for Christians…but simply people who desire to stay out of corporate America, raise children with their ideals, and show love for their husband’s hard work of supporting them by being the homemaker.

With all of that said, the point should also be made that in any of these scenarios and countless others, these roles are enforced by choice. Choice has allowed women to decide which path they would prefer to take in life, and for that I am so grateful for as a woman myself. Which contrary to the 1950s, women didn’t have this luxury. I find it a beautiful and remarkable thing that some have embraced the responsibility of raising children, cooking, cleaning, and serving their husband. We shouldn’t have to juggle this and work, though some superwomen do. What are your thoughts on the modern day TradWife?