tradwife

[trad-wahyf]

noun

1. a married woman who chooses to be a homemaker as a primary occupation and adheres to or embodies traditional femininity and female gender roles, often associated with conservative or alt-right political values.

adjective

1. of or relating to a subculture of women who choose to be homemakers as a primary occupation and adhere to or embody traditional femininity and female gender roles, often associated with conservative or alt-right political values.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tradwife¹

First recorded in 2015–20; trad(itional) ( def. ) + wife ( def. )

Example Sentences

Fans on TikTok have complained that Swift’s lyrics — which take up her romance with Kelce, the burdens of fame and an apparent beef with Charli XCX — are unusually shallow; some have even formulated a kind of tradwife critique of “Showgirl” in which Swift is seen as upholding regressive ideas about marriage and domesticity.

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Social media’s entire “tradwife” genre is about professional content creators pretending to be submissive housewives to sell advertising.

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Many viewers are introduced to tradwife content through videos on cooking or decorating – posts that could appeal to a wide audience.

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Yet some content in the tradwife landscape is indeed rooted in misogynistic beliefs that women are, in some ways, less capable than men.

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As part of our research, we analyzed hundreds of tradwife social media posts, videos and blogs.

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