The Myth of "Trad" Wives: The Online Packaging of Privilege and Gender Norms

• In Event: Sociology of Sex and Gender Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 11. Media, Digital Platforms, and Gendered Politics

Abstract

Over the past few years, an increasing number of influencers known as “trad wives,” or traditional wives, have grown to prominence on various social media platforms – particularly Instagram and Tiktok. These influencers understand the power of social media, and they leverage it very effectively to promote a specific kind of "soft" lifestyle. The “soft life” is portrayed as the pampered life, where women can step out of the public sphere and back into the private one, harkening back to a 1950s romanticization of the woman’s role being limited to the home. Yet, in actuality, the most successful tradwife influencers are anything but traditional, regularly appearing in the public eye online and offline, as well as frequently monetizing their online presences. Through content analysis of two of the top tradwife accounts, I focus specifically on how they perform the role of a traditional wife while also unintentionally demonstrating the inherent unattainability and infeasibility of this highly constructed idea. My analysis of these accounts is informed by the sociological theories of Marianne Weber, Erving Goffman, and Charles Cooley. The goal of my project is to show how tradwife content functions as propaganda, both in its complete separation from reality and in its presentation of a constructed ideal that is framed as worthy of emulation. Understanding the propagandizing nature of this content is significant, given the rise of Christian Nationalism in the current political moment and the potential of tradwife content to support its ascent within the culture.

Author

• Kayla Blythe Bach, University of California-Santa Barbara