Traditional wife content, also known as ‘trad wife,’ content, is a promotion of traditional gender roles on social media platforms that is making a boost now more than ever. The content heavily influences the choices and values of the younger generation. For example, in an interview a gen Z liberal mentions how most of her friends have abandoned the idea of education and plan to be ‘trad wives’ at home while their husbands are the sole breadwinners (Levings, 2024). But why is the trad wife appeal so high? Former trad wife Enitza Templeton argues “Social media can make everything look pretty, because it’s a 30-second clip, but 30 seconds out of 10 years omits a lot of the ugliness in those relationships” (Nicoli, 2024). When the younger generation is constantly exposed to clips that don’t facilitate the whole picture, it causes a sense of false perception. This is dangerous, especially when it is affecting bigger things like education levels and political beliefs. In fact, in the recent election there was a 15-point-swing in male voters, and a 7-point-swing in female voters in favor of the republican party (Levings, 2024). When some republican gen Z voters were interviewed later regarding the relation of trad wives and the election they stated, “the marketing push for trad content online is constant and heavy” (Levings, 2024). Johan Norberg describes false nostalgia as a yearning for the past but often this past is built on personal perception and not true reality. False nostalgia is caused by rapid change in society. When rapid change occurs not everyone will be happy and in this case it’s trad wives and all those who support them. This results in a routine that they already knew, traditional. Norberg says, “people going through rough times can be helped by remembering better days in the past” (2021). One of the leading causes to the trad wife path is feelings of being ‘burnt out’ in the usual workforce (Solise, 2024). False nostalgia is the tool that many trad wife content creators utilize to encourage people into traditional roles. Causing this perception and making the past seem easy and simple can dramatically change the views and choices of the younger generation. It causes people to wonder: to what extent does the online social media presence of trad wife utilization of false nostalgia change the values and choices of the younger generation?
Content creators within the trad wife movement strategically weaponize nostalgia as a tool to present an idealized version of traditional gender roles. Through social media posts, they showcase the past to be simple in comparison to the modern and progressive life, making the belief that past traditional roles lead to the most fulfillment more popularized. For example, ‘GwenTheMilkMaid’ the username of a tradwife influencer posted a video where she bashed modern views such as multiple partners and birth control. She added on to embrace femininity the way god created it to be. She captioned the video, “Looking back, I can’t believe how clueless I was. So, this is a message for all the young girls out there. Our culture is lying to you” (Ainley, 2024). This statement echoes the moral values present in the 1950’s emphasizing a longing for return. Influencers like ‘GwenTheMilkMaid’ not only reject modern values but encourage their followers, mainly young women to return to distorted version of history. The impact of this is dramatic. Especially when traditional gender roles are idealized, dismiss modern progressiveness, and are shaping the beliefs of the younger generation into traditional outdated standards of family and life. The popularization of the trad wife phenomenon can be connected to a study in evolutionary psychology that revealed that problems big or small and, in this case, rapid modernization can lead to groups of people who seek out traditional communities that embrace traditional values, offering stability (Norberg, 2021). The younger generation today experiences pressures of rapid technological advancement than many generations prior, also increasing the pressure of social expectations. Psychology today also signals that when rapid change occurs it causes people to yearn for the stable and predictable past (Norberg, 2021). Psychological research explains why trad wives resonate today. By showcasing the 1950’s to be a simple time, tradwives appeal to younger generations looking for stability through rapid change. While statements from influencers like ‘GwenTheMilkMaid’ advocate to return to traditional gender roles using false nostalgia, psychological evidence explains why younger generations today are more easily influenced with the stability and predictability of the past.
The promotion of this false nostalgia causes many unattainable standards. In the 1950’s, financial stability was strongly emphasized. This nostalgic view takes away from the complexities of the 1950’s, presenting a version of the past that may not reflect reality. As a result, setting unattainable standards. When faced with the rebuttal of working-class white men to return to a time where all that was expected was going to work and earning a living, it seemed like an honorable nostalgia according to Professor Juliet Williams (Parks, 2024). But the 1950’s weren’t so well off for the average American. Norberg argues that in the 50’s of Detroit those who were able to manage a long-term job in manufacturing had much better wages then the average American, because the country was still developing back then. Norberg adds that the financial ‘boom’ perceived in the 1950’s was based off a single city, in a single year, when Europe’s industrial infrastructure was destroyed after World War II (2021). This historical context reveals that the economic boom of the 1950’s was not a universal experience but in fact limited to Detroit. When the realities of the past are not mentioned it creates false nostalgia, which sets unrealistic expectations for the generation today. Additionally, furthering the complications of false nostalgia, the modern-day tradwife life is unaffordable for the average American. Despite many trad wives pushing traditional family life and gender roles including organic cooking, multiple children, and staying at home, what is failing to be mentioned is that most trad wives come from financially well-off backgrounds further distorting reality. Estelle Nilsson-Julien argues there is a strong economic aspect involved in trad wives. She states that to be a tradwife, a traditional family must rely on one sole income which is tough considering today’s global cost of living crisis (2024). For example, Hannah Neelman, one of the most popular trad wives on TikTok seemingly does it all, homemaking, taking care of kids, and cooking food from scratch on her very own farm. But while showing this lifestyle on her platform, she doesn’t mention that her husband, Daniel Neelman is the son of the owner of JetBlue and five other airlines. They are very well off which disappointed and sent a feeling of betrayal to their loyal viewers when they realized trad wife life isn’t easily attainable (Brown, 2024). Hannah Neelman is one example of the many influencers who promote trad wife life while being well off. Promotion of false nostalgia by trad wives create unrealistic standards by idealizing a past that was not experienced by many Americans. The promotion often overlooks the societal and economic realities such as the boost of American industrial industries after Europe’s industrial infrastructure was destroyed. Modern day trad wife lifestyle also presents a return to those idealized values. Additionally, it is mostly occupied by individual families who are well off which further distorts the idea of attainability. Both these factors reveal how false nostalgia distorts reality and establishes unrealistic standards.
Unrealistic standards distort the values and decision-making processes of younger individuals. Being a trad wife today is financially unattainable for many. When younger individuals aren’t aware that the standards are presented from a distorted past it will cause their values and choices also to be distorted in terms of finance in today’s economic world, which can be dangerous. Psychotherapist Stephanie Sarkis argues that humans generally trust that someone is the way they present themselves to be (Trepany, 2025). So, when trad wives publicly post clips of themselves where they seem to be feeling fulfilled and happy, it causes individuals to also want to pursue that lifestyle. In fact, a statement from a gen Z women who pursued trad wife life says that she wasted many years of her life on education, until she found a boyfriend whose career is ‘stable enough’ where she can stay home and be a homemaker (Taheel, 2025). Vanessa Scaringi, a licensed psychologist states that many gen Z individuals are struggling to realize that the trad wife agenda that is being pushed is far from the norm. She adds that this internalized façade that happiness comes from living a soft life which is shown to be effortless is all about escapism. Scaringi says, “who can blame anyone for wanting a little escapism right now” (2024). When thinking about a simple effortless life presented on social media and having means to obtain it, it doesn’t inherently seem so bad. Some Americans have both the financial means and the desire to live a traditional life. In fact, Alexia Delarosa a content creator who is associated with the term trad wife doesn’t think this lifestyle is for everyone, she states that she always had a vision in her head of what she wanted, and it just worked out for her family. She adds that it won’t be perfect all the time and to make sure you and your husbands’ goals and ideals align before considering this life (Nicoli, 2024). Not all trad wife content is necessarily negative. But there are broader impacts to not obtaining education and relying on a sole income when you don’t have the means with a simple ‘not for me’ as psychologist Mark Travers argues (Allen, 2024). The cost of the global living crisis has been established. To illustrate, Vanessa Scaringi reports that the National Association of Realtors have reported that as of 2023, out of all generations millennials have the lowest homeownership rate than any other age groups (2024). This is one of the leading reasons why women have abandoned the workforce, to avoid financial difficulty. But Vanessa Scaringi argues that avoiding financial difficulties leads to increased debt despite a cycle of dependance. In other words, it doesn’t end well for the individual’s mental health and just increases instability (2024). While the intent may be to pursue stability, such decisions can lead to greater instability and lead to long-term negative consequences. The trad wife disconnect between reality causes the younger generation to pursue aspirations that aren’t attainable or practical causing an illusion between reality and the content consumed.
However, a point being argued is that some tradwives are simply using their platform to show their authentic life and are simply encouraging it like many other influencers do. The cultivation theory in social psychology has shown that images and content promoting lifestyles that are idealized, even more so with traditional norms, can lead to people to internalize those ideas, despite no direct verbal encouragement being made (Perera, 2023). This theory explains that despite no verbal encouragement, people tend to internalize ideas they see. When it is put in those words it isn’t necessarily the content at fault but the consumers. However, trad wives aren’t simply ‘encouraging’ individuals to join the trad wife lifestyle and the ideals that follow, they are using propaganda and weaponized nostalgia. For example, a recent study that kept track of over 36 trad wife platforms found that these women were using ideological radicalization and there influence to commodify right-wing ideology (Hopper – Skyes, 2024). There is a difference between authenticity and weaponized radicalization. Additionally, nostalgia is subjective and does not have universal appeal. Though false nostalgia is proven to be used along trad wife content it doesn’t have the same pull it may have on someone who was raised in more progressive environments verse someone who was raised in a traditional environment. This means that trad wives utilizing false nostalgia, though can change the values and choices of the younger generation, it isn’t that broad. The selective exposure theory argues that people tend to expose themselves to content that aligns with their existing beliefs (Mercadal, 2025). Therefore, young individuals who already have progressive views may selectively avoid and criticize nostalgic content. Nostalgia might influence some but not others, all depending on pre-existing attitudes.
Trad wives use false nostalgia to promote unattainable standards regarding traditional family life and gender roles, which influence the values and views of the younger generation. Trad wives often paint the 1950s to be a simple peaceful time, overlooking many complications like financial and social realities, particularly the 1950’s economic boom. Additionally, many trad wives come from a well-off background where they can afford to rely on one income for their household which is challenging for a typical American today. The disconnect between reality and distortion causes many young individuals to pursue goals that aren’t practical, which leads to mental and financial issues. What further needs to be studied about trad wives and their utilization of false nostalgia is the social media algorithms where trad wives are present. How is the algorithm amplifying trad wife content and is that what is leading to reinforcement of traditional values in the younger audience?
Works Cited
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