#TradWives: A Qualitative Meaning-Making Study of Gendered Norms, Moral Appropriation, and Feminism

Dressed in lavish, floral dresses, tightly knotted aprons, bold red lips, and armed with a wooden rolling pin, tradwives are increasingly appearing on the social media timelines of many. Tradwives, also called traditional women, are a relatively new and popular social media phenomenon. These women live according to traditional norms and values and advocate them through social media posts and blogs. As such, they cultivate a carefully curated traditional view of women as homemakers and mothers, and men as providers. In the media, this trend is often framed as a backlash against feminism. Even though there is some research into what motivates tradwives themselves, what remains lacking is how women give meaning to tradwives as a social media phenomenon. Based on 16 interviews with women of various backgrounds, this qualitative study reveals that women engage in a complex process of meaning-making to form evaluations of tradwives and the content they make. The participants carefully balance their opinions about one’s right to choose, as a form of choice feminism, against deeply felt gendered norms and personal moral judgments regarding this particular choice. Additionally, women view the trend as both a lifestyle choice and a form of resistance to progressive developments worldwide.