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Amanda Katz: Today we’re taking on gender, work, feminism and the patriarchy through the lens of a trend known as “tradwives,” shorthand for “traditional wives.”
Monica Hesse: Every time I logged on to social media, I was being served up a particular kind of video: women who had retreated into these very stereotypical, archetypical, retro housewife sort of roles. Women who were not interested in working, not particularly interested in child-rearing even, but interested in pursuing a life of leisure, in taking care of their bodies, taking care of their food, taking care of their homes. Above all else, taking care of their husbands or boyfriends. I was interested in what might be causing this movement — what that might say about where society is, that this would be an appealing place for women to retreat.
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Katz: What do you think is the appeal of that?
Hesse: Though women are now in the workforce and many are in high-powered positions, they’re still taking on the bulk of home duties. Many of us have too much to do, not enough time to do it. I think that for these particular women that I wrote about, they sort of looked at that and decided, I can’t have it all. And so I’m going to choose to have none of it.
Alyssa Rosenberg: A lot of the discussions around feminism, around policies that are oriented towards increasing women’s labor force participation, are all based on the idea that the route to equality is for everyone to be a little bit more masculine, for everybody to work, for women’s labor force participation to be high. And domestic life and domestic arts are kind of left out of that conversation.
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Hesse: Being a tradwife is much less about baking beautiful bread or having beautiful home decor or spending time with your children. And it really is centered around the idea that you are supporting a patriarchal system where your desire is to be cared for and to not have to worry your pretty little head about finances or income. And it is limiting your role to only the home rather than viewing yourself as an equal partnership.
Katz: How much of this could be solved in part with more leisure? What if there was more vacation? What if there was a better safety net?
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Rosenberg: I’m seeing a conversation that is moving more towards the idea that we shouldn’t just have a social safety net that gives people money, but that we should have a social safety net that gives people time.
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In the newest “Impromptu” from Post Opinions, two of our editors joined Style columnist Monica Hesse to explore the social media trend of “tradwives” — young women who advocate a U-turn away from feminism. Their starting point was Hesse’s recent essay on the phenomenon. (The transcript below has been edited for brevity and clarity.)
Use the audio player or The Post’s “Impromptu” podcast feed to listen to the entire conversation.
Amanda Katz: Today we’re taking on gender, work, feminism and the patriarchy through the lens of a trend known as “tradwives,” shorthand for “traditional wives.”
Monica Hesse: Every time I logged on to social media, I was being served up a particular kind of video: women who had retreated into these very stereotypical, archetypical, retro housewife sort of roles. Women who were not interested in working, not particularly interested in child-rearing even, but interested in pursuing a life of leisure, in taking care of their bodies, taking care of their food, taking care of their homes. Above all else, taking care of their husbands or boyfriends. I was interested in what might be causing this movement — what that might say about where society is, that this would be an appealing place for women to retreat.
Katz: What do you think is the appeal of that?
Hesse: Though women are now in the workforce and many are in high-powered positions, they’re still taking on the bulk of home duties. Many of us have too much to do, not enough time to do it. I think that for these particular women that I wrote about, they sort of looked at that and decided, I can’t have it all. And so I’m going to choose to have none of it.
Alyssa Rosenberg: A lot of the discussions around feminism, around policies that are oriented towards increasing women’s labor force participation, are all based on the idea that the route to equality is for everyone to be a little bit more masculine, for everybody to work, for women’s labor force participation to be high. And domestic life and domestic arts are kind of left out of that conversation.
Hesse: Being a tradwife is much less about baking beautiful bread or having beautiful home decor or spending time with your children. And it really is centered around the idea that you are supporting a patriarchal system where your desire is to be cared for and to not have to worry your pretty little head about finances or income. And it is limiting your role to only the home rather than viewing yourself as an equal partnership.
Katz: How much of this could be solved in part with more leisure? What if there was more vacation? What if there was a better safety net?
Rosenberg: I’m seeing a conversation that is moving more towards the idea that we shouldn’t just have a social safety net that gives people money, but that we should have a social safety net that gives people time.
Listen to the full conversation here:
What the ‘tradwife’ trend says about modern life
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18.04.2024
Podcast episode
SpotifyAppleGoogleAmazonAmanda Katz: Today we’re taking on gender, work, feminism and the patriarchy through the lens of a trend known as “tradwives,” shorthand for “traditional wives.”
Monica Hesse: Every time I logged on to social media, I was being served up a particular kind of video: women who had retreated into these very stereotypical, archetypical, retro housewife sort of roles. Women who were not interested in working, not particularly interested in child-rearing even, but interested in pursuing a life of leisure, in taking care of their bodies, taking care of their food, taking care of their homes. Above all else, taking care of their husbands or boyfriends. I was interested in what might be causing this movement — what that might say about where society is, that this would be an appealing place for women to retreat.
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Katz: What do you think is the appeal of that?
Hesse: Though women are now in the workforce and many are in high-powered positions, they’re still taking on the bulk of home duties. Many of us have too much to do, not enough time to do it. I think that for these particular women that I wrote about, they sort of looked at that and decided, I can’t have it all. And so I’m going to choose to have none of it.
Alyssa Rosenberg: A lot of the discussions........
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