The idea of a “Trad Wife” is a woman who loves to cook. She lives in an apron; her house is spotless; she makes her husband the meal he desires and everything she makes is from scratch. Traditional wives are always naturally beautiful; their makeup is infallible and they live to serve and have no other reason to live.
The rise of traditional wives as a social trend is hard to miss, especially on social media platforms. Videos of wives and mothers showcasing their cooking skills, often with an underlying nod to the 1950s housewife, have become a common sight. This raises the question of whether these kinds of videos threaten feminism.

The discourse that has arisen from this trend is that these women are portraying unrealistic standards of what a woman should be, while it is a noble and honorable choice to stay home and take care of your kids. Yet there’s a difference between staying home and caring for your kids and the traditional wife role at home. For them, it is about selling this idea that women live to serve. This is the underlying theme under this idea of the traditional wife, that the husband should provide and the woman should be in charge of the home.

Another aspect of the traditional wife that differentiates a stay-at-home mom from a traditional wife is the beautification of caregiving; women and mothers around the world understand the difficulty and messiness that come with caregiving. Trad wives have their setup stage to make their lifestyle appealing. This brings up an important point: it sets an unrealistic standard for not only women but also young men. You can imagine that young women and men are looking at these videos and wanting to go into this lifestyle and expect certain things. Young men consuming this media then set expectations that women should be like these women: baking everything from scratch, never underdressed, loving to clean, and being the perfect mother and wife.

Remember that these women are influencers; of course, their lives seem desirable and perfect. The reality is, however, that it is all a role, a setup, and the truth is so different.

The idea that traditional wives carry out is not exactly harmful to feminism itself, but it is destructive in the sense that it confuses young women to believe that this is what women are supposed to be like. It discourages women from getting an education and going to college and undermines the idea of being self-sufficient financially. It divides women and undermines the things women fought for years ago, the fight for having choices, only to regress and come back to the idea we rejected. 

Overall, the dangerous thing about these traditional wife influencers is that they are not fully dependent on their husbands and are still internet workers. A man is never really a plan.