If you have any form of social media, chances are you’ve seen videos of women with beautiful hair, makeup, and clothes, making bread in their big houses with white marble kitchens, all while taking care of the kids and patiently looking forward to their husband’s arrival home from work. This category of content is commonly referred to as “trad-wife” or “traditional wife,” as in the nuclear 1950s family, with a husband who works and a wife who tends to the house and kids. This lifestyle used to be the norm in America, but was incredibly restrictive to women who throughout time, have fought against it. 

During the 20th century, women gained the right to vote, to wear pants, to open their own bank accounts and credit cards, and so much more. Being a stay-at-home mom or wife increasingly died out, especially with the changing economy practically requiring [3] any stable home to have two incomes.

Here in the 21st century, as social media offers the opportunity to share life for money, many people find themselves “family vlogging” on YouTube, ultimately using the platform as their form of income, and their children as content. With TikTok’s popularity and easier short-form content creation, even more people find themselves fitting into this family vlogging category. While inherently not the first, the true “trad-wife” trend was brought to its extreme levels of online fame by TikToker and model, Nara Smith.

Nara Smith was born in 2001 and started her career as a model at only age 14. Here she met and later married fellow model Lucky Blue. Around late 2023, her videos of making elaborate meals from scratch while in formal wear went viral, leading her to now millions of followers across platforms. Many people noted her fame and similarly followed in her footsteps, making the trend even bigger so it is now becoming not only something more women are doing, but also something more men are expecting. 

Interestingly, despite the older generations often being thought of as the ones to think women should stay at home, a study done by Ipsos and Kings College London shows that only about 10% of Baby Boomer men agree, while around 30% of Generation Z men agree with this. Yet, what many people seem to fail to realize is that these online trad-wives are more often than not the true breadwinners of their family. For example, Nara Smith’s net worth is estimated to be at around $6 million, while her husband’s is only $1 million. A lot of money from both [4], to be sure, but ultimately, most online trad-wives don’t happen to also have celebrity husbands. 

It is also of importance to note that while being an influencer is by no means the hardest job, that does not mean that it requires no effort. By becoming an influencer, these trad-wives are taking on a job. Content creation requires time for filming, editing, making sure lighting and audio are right, communicating with brands for sponsorships and other creators for collaborations, and so much more. Chances are, behind the scenes, trad-wife influencers have hired managers, nannies, producers, and other help; after all, influencing is creating a brand, and it would be hard for just one person to upkeep that. 

The irony of these trad-wives is right in front of us, we fuel it just by watching the videos, while in the same vein forcing feminism to have to go back to solving an old problem. Women deserve a choice, a choice that goes beyond being a stay-at-home mom or a working one. Social media should not be a deciding factor in life expectations for either women OR men. Who we want to be is up to us, not trends; and a woman’s rights should not be restricted because of what the internet has come to expect.