“I was a traditional wife and mother in the Christian patriarchy for 14 years. I homeschooled, homesteaded, home birthed, and was expected to obey my husband in an authoritarian power structure.“ says Tia Levings, a former traditional wife and author of the soon to be released novel, A Well Trained Wife.
In the book, she describes the hardships faced as a Tradwife, such as domestic violence and isolation. She had no escape from her husband or her prison sentence as a Tradwife until she decided to risk her life to save both herself and her children from the lifestyle that was pushed onto her from a young age.
Over the past 5 years, Tradwife content has been pushed into online spaces like TikTok, which market to younger children. While there were times when the traditional housewife role was accepted, it has no place in society in 2024.
Levings, like many Tradwives, was groomed to be the ideal 1950s housewife, submissive and pure. This ideal follows old traditional roles set for women over 200 years ago. On paper, there is nothing wrong with being a Tradwife, however, when you look deeper into the story, it becomes clear that this can be a dangerous position for women to be in.
Tradwives also have little to no protection when it comes to the physical abuse they are likely to experience. In Levings’s book A Well Trained Wife, she describes the physical abuse she endured at the hands of her husband, especially once she began to make decisions of her own.

In general, one in four women experience severe physical abuse at the hands of their romantic partner. The women who take up this role are expected to suffer in silence. Tradwives have no option but to endure this pain for the sake of their children or risk their lives by trying to leave. Levings stated, “I risked my life to escape with my children, it’s horrifying to see this lifestyle promoted and sold through visually beautiful marketing to young women and girls.”
The Tradwife role often puts women in a position of obligation, she is obligated to obey her husband, obligated to never complain, and obligated to silence herself no matter what, so why are women pushing this toxic role onto other women and girls as a good idea? The short answer is internalized misogyny.

Tradwives are taught to believe that they, as women, are inferior in every way, and this leads to them projecting these feelings onto other women. Internalized misogyny is women and girls believing in the stereotypes and lies that have been pushed onto women by society. “If you grow up in that kind of family environment the cycle kind of tends to perpetuate itself.” AP Psychology teacher, Kristi Kastenbaum, says with a tone of displeasure.
The role of a Tradwife is not only pushed onto girls and women by their families but also by American society. Recently Harrison Butker, a kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs made a shocking, and degrading speech at Benedict College, saying a woman’s life only starts once she becomes a mother and wife, and singlehandedly diminishes the four years of work those women put into getting their degrees. Somehow, he isn’t alone in this mindset; globally, 20% of men and 14% of women believe that a woman should not work outside the home.
It is not the 1950s, there is no need for women to be indulging in Tradwife propaganda and putting themselves into a position of submission to their husbands. Women must recognize the harmful effects of the Tradwife role and not live in the delusion that it is a safe idea. The world is not built of a 1950s sitcom, there is nothing comedic or safe about being a Tradwife.