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The tradwife movement

169 replies

Chocaholick · 11/04/2026 21:49

AIBU to find the ‘tradwife’ movement absolutely horrific?

Essentially it’s a small core of women with deep internalised misogyny, who are making £££ by pretending they don’t work and indoctrinating young women to be ‘submissive’ to men and wait on them hand and foot, while feeding the manosphere and emboldening its members. It uses Christianity to brainwash followers into believing it’s God’s will for husbands to basically treat their wives like servants and ‘lead them’, and imposes a very long list of ‘duties’ on women while all that is expected of men is to work a job (like they wouldn’t be if they were single!).

It seems to be really catching on, even here in the UK.

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StandFirm · 14/04/2026 16:08

Unintentionatradwife · 12/04/2026 12:14

i unintentionally became a tradwife due to getting pregnant at 15, I’m not that old so most of my generation have degrees, phds etc. which I cannot compete with. I will probably never have a good job and am pretty screwed if my marriage breaks down. Saying that my husband is a good man and I like my life.

Seeing the sort of man who wants a “tradwife” online is an obvious extreme c*nt (they typically also believe in very talibanesque things) I really feel for any girl falling for them

I think I would make a difference between circumstances (your case) and making the most of it however you can (and who knows perhaps there will be opportunities for you to achieve things outside the home at some point) and someone who is ideologically wedded to this lifestyle whilst also shoving it down other people's throats. I have understanding for you but not for them.

FindingMeno · 13/04/2026 20:30

If any man wants a tradwife he's a bad man, end of story.
We've got too many bad men in this world already.
Be a sahm- fine.
Submit to a man and let him make all your choices?
That is NOT OK.

TON618 · 12/04/2026 20:01

I have no problem with a woman wanting to stay home and raise kids etc while her partner works. It's a bit worrying sometimes if she has no access to money though....
What really gets my goat is the idea of being 'submissive' to a man, whatever that means and being 'led' by one. I don't think I've ever met a man with the gumption for that.

UnhappyHobbit · 12/04/2026 16:58

horrifiedandunsure · 11/04/2026 23:03

Being used as a breeder constantly? What would you call it?

A consensual relationship. Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

StandFirm · 12/04/2026 14:34

Women who support that cult are either cynics who are paid to spread this shite, hopelessly naive, or intellectually challenged.

Laurmolonlabe · 12/04/2026 12:45

Owlbookend · 12/04/2026 12:11

What has feminism ever done for me?
Fought for:
The right to vote
Access to contraception
The ability to have a mortgage and bank account in your own name
The right to return to your job after having a child
The recognition of marital rape

I think when women say feminism has made their lives worse they are really forgetting how restricted women's lives used to be.

Wholeheartedly agree- l feel it is spitting in the faces of those who campaigned suffered and even died to get us the vote, if l don't drag myself to the polling station- even if there seems no good option, mine is the safest seat in the country, but l still vote.
l would rarify a little access to free contraception- no one needs to get pregnant because they can't afford contraception.
Financial control is very important, but heiresses did have bank accounts, again it's the universal right to them that is key.
The right to return to your job is quite a new one, and there can still be problems.
Rape in marriage was only established as possible in the 1990's. l have been with my partner since 1979, this one is a big part of the reason we did not marry.
One of my favourite facts in this line is an older friend of mine whose family was rich her grand mother when out to meet a friend in 1908 against the express wishes of her husband, she left her 7 week old baby with the nanny.
When she got back the butler barred the door would not let her in- she had to leave when a constable was called- she had been divorced by her husband a couple of months later and she never saw her child again.
Her family would not have her back, she was destitute with just her purse and the clothes she stood up in- for going to have tea with a female childhood friend she lost everything-home husband ,child means of support, her whole life gone.
Think about that- that is what you get when the men are in charge and the law backs them up- because they make that too.

Chocaholick · 12/04/2026 12:24

Owlbookend · 12/04/2026 12:11

What has feminism ever done for me?
Fought for:
The right to vote
Access to contraception
The ability to have a mortgage and bank account in your own name
The right to return to your job after having a child
The recognition of marital rape

I think when women say feminism has made their lives worse they are really forgetting how restricted women's lives used to be.

I think part of them expects that they would keep the things they like (driving, being able to earn money via their online platforms, the luxury of spending on cute clothes and home interiors, make up/fake tan, having little meet ups with the other ‘wives’) when actually over time these would be whittled away as well.

OP posts:
Unintentionatradwife · 12/04/2026 12:14

i unintentionally became a tradwife due to getting pregnant at 15, I’m not that old so most of my generation have degrees, phds etc. which I cannot compete with. I will probably never have a good job and am pretty screwed if my marriage breaks down. Saying that my husband is a good man and I like my life.

Seeing the sort of man who wants a “tradwife” online is an obvious extreme c*nt (they typically also believe in very talibanesque things) I really feel for any girl falling for them

Owlbookend · 12/04/2026 12:11

What has feminism ever done for me?
Fought for:
The right to vote
Access to contraception
The ability to have a mortgage and bank account in your own name
The right to return to your job after having a child
The recognition of marital rape

I think when women say feminism has made their lives worse they are really forgetting how restricted women's lives used to be.

Laurmolonlabe · 12/04/2026 12:01

If l wanted this kind of life l would just join the Amish- at least they have a track record for it.

Owlbookend · 12/04/2026 12:00

People are missing the point when they think it is solely about women's engagement in paid work. It isn't.
'Trad wives' are part if a wider movement that centres men and believes that women should submit to men's leadership. Men and women who follow this movement advocate for reduced reproductive rights and freedoms and reduced rights for women at work. The rights and freedoms that feminists fought for they want to dismantle. Indivduals may not believe it and may simply be presenting a social media image for money. However, there are plenty in the movement who do be believe it and are serious in pushing the agenda.
It isn't benign. Reform have pledged to reppeal the equality act. Rights and freedoms can be lost.

5128gap · 12/04/2026 12:00

SomethingFun · 12/04/2026 11:32

If you as an individual want to submit to a man, have no access to your own money, have no say over when you have sex or how many children you have then have at it, no feminist has written a law or a religion that forces you into paid work and on birth control. But don’t come for the rest of us telling us that it’s so unfair we have options or choices billions of women never had and still don’t have.

I love having my own money, having control over my life and my family size, having the options to be in a marriage or leave it depending on how I feel. I can’t believe women would throw that away because some bullshit influencer on instagram romanticises making your own yogurt whist baby wearing.

And they won't, of course. A small number of women may find a man who has the wherewithal and the desire to keep them (often requiring they sacrifice a same age partner for a much older man) but the vast majority will be prevented by economic constraints from living this particular dream. The option of a single income household is increasingly out of reach for the majority of people. It's a shame for both sexes that this is being glossed over as it can only lead to disappointment in women led to false expectations, and resentment and stress for men who will be deemed failures if they don't earn enough.

Chocaholick · 12/04/2026 11:53

User33538216 · 12/04/2026 11:13

I think men were generally happier then too.

Of course they were because they were king of the castle, many of them were legally entitled to take out their hideous tempers on their wives and kids and they spent very little time doing anything that resembled care or service to others.

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Chocaholick · 12/04/2026 11:52

SomethingFun · 12/04/2026 11:32

If you as an individual want to submit to a man, have no access to your own money, have no say over when you have sex or how many children you have then have at it, no feminist has written a law or a religion that forces you into paid work and on birth control. But don’t come for the rest of us telling us that it’s so unfair we have options or choices billions of women never had and still don’t have.

I love having my own money, having control over my life and my family size, having the options to be in a marriage or leave it depending on how I feel. I can’t believe women would throw that away because some bullshit influencer on instagram romanticises making your own yogurt whist baby wearing.

So well put. It isn’t even about the yoghurt etc - you can do all that while still retaining your right to vote/use contraception/make your own decisions. I’m a bit of a hippy mum type who makes everything from scratch, likes wearing summer dresses and used a sling until my kids were too big for it, but I don’t see these random small lifestyle choices as needing to be connected to a mindset of misogyny and submission.

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AsTreesWalking · 12/04/2026 11:50

Contrarymary30 · 11/04/2026 22:48

It seems to go hand in hand with Chritianity .

With fundamentalist Christianity.

SomethingFun · 12/04/2026 11:32

If you as an individual want to submit to a man, have no access to your own money, have no say over when you have sex or how many children you have then have at it, no feminist has written a law or a religion that forces you into paid work and on birth control. But don’t come for the rest of us telling us that it’s so unfair we have options or choices billions of women never had and still don’t have.

I love having my own money, having control over my life and my family size, having the options to be in a marriage or leave it depending on how I feel. I can’t believe women would throw that away because some bullshit influencer on instagram romanticises making your own yogurt whist baby wearing.

BillieWiper · 12/04/2026 11:22

CucumberCool · 11/04/2026 22:09

Weren't most 1950s housewives on drugs?

Yeah doped up to the gills on Valium, barbiturates and speed.

User33538216 · 12/04/2026 11:13

GirlWednesday · 11/04/2026 22:01

I suppose it’s a choice. If it appeals to some people then fair enough.

I’ve worked with some young women who have said that they feel as though feminism has done a number on them. They complained that they now feel as though they have to work when really they’d rather be at home spending time with their kids and keeping the house clean.

Obviously it’s good that women have the opportunity to work if that’s what they want to do, but we have to respect that not all women want that.

I recently read somewhere that women in the 1950s were happier than they are now so maybe there’s something in it.

It wouldn’t be for me but I can kind of see the appeal. As long as it’s a choice then there’s no exploitation?

I think men were generally happier then too.

Harry12345 · 12/04/2026 11:11

FlyingUnicornWings · 12/04/2026 10:14

This one upsets me so much. She was a ballerina and a beautiful dancer. Now she’s chained to a man…

Is that not her choice though? She had said repeatedly that this is the life she had chosen. She also attends business meetings and the husband is often cooking and looking after the kids

Laurmolonlabe · 12/04/2026 11:04

Christianity is very strong on the submissive wife- like most religions they are made up by old men to give the best possible life to old men- so not a surprise.
The elephant in the room is that quite a good proportion of women want to be housewives and mothers, but not work outside the home.
in British society it is no longer accepted being a housewife and mother is a legitimate career, however the proportion of women who want this has not fallen much- so these kind of movements know this play into it. Women that pretend that all women want a career or job does do us all a disservice, because they open the door to this kind of cultist nonsense.
ln France being a housewife is still seen as a career and respected, even if you don't have children- our mad for money culture has shot us all in the foot.

5128gap · 12/04/2026 10:58

Brightbluestone · 12/04/2026 10:37

Did women actually have Tupperware parties back in the day?! I always thought that was a euphemism for a bunch of women getting drunk together and moaning about their husbands 🤣

My mum sold Tupperware and I was regularly taken along to the parties with her so can vouch they were absolutely a thing. As far as I recall there was no drunkeness. Though Babycham with glacé cherries would occasionally appear alongside cheese and pineapple on sticks, crackers and cheese and (tupperware) bowls of crisps.
My mum would do a presentation explaining all the different products and the women would ooh and Ah at such innovative ideas as plastic moulds so you could freeze orange squash for ice lollies, and bowls where the seal was broken by pressing the top.
My mum did very well at it and was a star seller in our region and got a sash.

crazeekat · 12/04/2026 10:55

Watch MAFSAU this season to see it in action

Ohwhatfuckeryitistoride · 12/04/2026 10:47

drippingsap · 11/04/2026 22:27

It definitely was the minority who worked!

I remember my sister having to leave work when she got pregnant-that was 68. I grew up in the 60s and 70s and remember few of my mum's peers working.

Fairislesweater · 12/04/2026 10:42

Brightbluestone · 12/04/2026 10:03

I think a lot of people are not understanding what the trad wife movement really is. It’s not just being a SAHM and doing all the housework while your husband works (which I wouldn’t criticise any woman for, it would be a dream for lots of women, myself included!) The trad wife movement though, believes men should have total control of every single aspect of their family life - where they go on holiday, whether they’re vegetarian or not, which school the kids go to. The woman cannot have an opinion on anything, she must simply agree cos she’s supposed to completely submit to her husband. It also puts women at serious financial risk in a way it wouldn’t have had in the 1950s (where it belongs and where it should stay IMO). Divorce was rare in the 50s, so most women could feel secure in the fact their marriages would last and therefore feel financially secure. Nowadays the divorce rate is 40 something percent, if the husband decides to up and leave, the woman is totally fucked financially, or may feel forced to stay in an abusive marriage (which I suspect many of these trad wife marriages are cos they’re likely to attract very controlling men) cos they can’t afford to leave. There’s something deeply unsettling about either partner in a family having total control over the other

No, I know it’s not the same. I’m just saying I can see why some people see the attraction in it, without the full reality of no independence, being ‘managed’ by a man (no chance!) etc. They are being hoodwinked by the rose tinted social media image. There’s definitely a part of me that would love it if DH said he could provide financially if I wanted to stay at home, but a much bigger part of me would want my own money etc.