Moderating:
Having received a number of flags urging a change from FQ to IMHO, I agree. This is better in that forum. Moving.
The "Tradwife" lifestyle: Does anyone else find this appealing, or have personal experience with it?
Simple: a power trip. It’s more fun for somebody like that if their “partner” is unhappy and can’t escape; it reinforces their sense of dominance.
Needless to say this is the sort of person you should run away from, not marry.
Also, note that the “Bible Belt” where “traditional” marriages are the most common is also where divorces are the most common.
In my traditional marriage I wanted stability, kids I didn’t think I could have. He had 2 motherless babies.
I knew I’d never be able to work. My degree was shit, anyway.
But I would never have signed up if I had to give up my autonomy or self.
Such as it was/is.
Look at the post above yours. It’s real. Not a social media thing. Not saying it isn’t displayed there. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Also, I don’t think your personal experience meshes well with what is being discussed here. Listen to the podcast I linked above and see if you can associate with that. I’m guessing you’ll respond with “hell no!”
It’s clear that yours wasn’t a “tradwife” lifestyle, which is completely different than a traditional marriage. Why are you continuing to make this about you?
I never said it was my life.
My first post says that.
I am explaining the difference.
Some people in this thread don’t seem to know what “Tradwife” means.
Why do you keep saying I’m trying to make this about me?
Hmm?
Not a problem!
Near 25% of the posts here are by you (so far).
If you are not a “tradwife” what point are you making?
Years ago I watched a television show about a family with somewhere in the neighborhood of 20ish kids?
I can’t recall the name of the show. I found it repulsive but just had to watch.
Stunning that there are folks who find this appealing.
I would not.
The Duggers
Explaining the difference.
That’s my point.
Trad in Tradwife is supposed to mean traditional. It’s not.
It’s a made up, fake thing on the internet.
OMG yes that was the name!
I have long read that Mormons have the highest divorce rate of any mainstream religious group in the U.S. I do know that they place great emphasis on the wedding, without thinking so much about the marriage (which is for eternity, not just until death do us part) and they don’t do premarital counseling either.
I also post on a true-crime board, and whenever there’s a family annihilation, and 5 or more children, 90%+ of the time, they’re Mormon, even if they aren’t in Utah.
The Duggars, that’s who. They were, among other things, Quiverfull. One thing that women who escaped the Quiverfull movement, and women who escaped FLDS (that isolated Mormon cult where men have multiple wives), at least the ones I’ve seen interviewed, was that they never saw a marriage that anyone could have described as happy.
Sadly they were from Arkansas. And it went completely ass sideways. Oldest kid sexually abused his sisters. Mom had one more kid who is severely handicapped. The girls are all crazy. Tried to have their own shows. Still trying I’d bet.
Refer to ALL of OPs posts. They give details. It isn’t about social media although the term might’ve started there. Can you pivot from the social media def of tradwife to what is being discussed here?
Oh that’s right. Now I remember about the son who was charged with sexual abuse. Insane family for sure.
From what I can see, there are two different, but not disconnected, things going on.
Traditional wives seem to be, as several have noted, those who follow traditional gender roles in their marriages: maintaining the home, cooking meals, bearing and caring for children, etc., as well as some level of submission to their husbands as the heads of their families.
Women who belong to many conservative/fundamentalist religious groups and churches (as described by the OP in post #19) often take on this role, at least in part because it’s what their churches, and their social circles, expect of them; in a lot of cases, it appears to be even more extreme: not driving, not voting, not working outside the home, not receiving extensive formal education, wearing extremely conservative clothing, having a very large number of children, etc.
Tradwives are similar, but the term is a recent one, and it is, at least in part, a social media thing (as Beck noted). From what I can see from the articles below, it’s not only about traditional gender roles, but also – particularly as portrayed by women who promote the tradwife lifestyle as social media influencers – cultivating an almost-impossibly perfect, effortless, picturesque lifestyle: elaborate homemade meals, hand-sewn clothes, spotless homes, perfect children, and being dressed, frankly, like June Cleaver. It also appears that, in many cases, these are women who had worked in (and left) corporate America, and who have the advantage of being married to husbands who make a ton of money.
Moderating:
@Beckdawrek is free to express her opinions about what the “tradwife” lifestyle is, even if those opinions are wrong, and I’m not saying they are or aren’t. Do not attack her personally for expressing them. It’s not unusual for posters in IMHO to express a point of view based on their personal experience.
Attack the post, not the poster.
Thank you