<\/p>\n
If social media has taught us anything, it\u2019s that old ideas can be made anew. Social conservatism<\/a> is on the rise, and alongside it comes the promotion of the tradwife<\/a> lifestyle, made in the image of 1950s homemaking and the male breadwinner model.<\/p>\n Dressing in floral, frilly dresses and red lipstick, tradwife influencers advocate for women\u2019s return to the home, inclusive of traditional gender roles, a passion for cooking and baking and a willingness to submit to one\u2019s husband. For young, unmarried women, this mandate of a return to so-called traditional values have even taken the form of the stay-at-home girlfriend<\/a> who spends her days maintaining a beauty regimen and performing tasks aiding her boyfriend\u2019s life.<\/p>\n The online emergence and popularity of these lifestyles have, in turn, received backlash. Much concern stems from a rightward shift<\/a> that pushes women back into traditional gender roles. Another reason, though, is the typical devaluing of housework. For a woman to go into a nonprofessional line of work, for some, suggests<\/a> a lack of ambition or modern belief. Pair this with the issue of invisible household labor<\/a> done often by women, and it\u2019s clear why tradwives are rarely taken seriously.<\/p>\n It is, of course, the right of women \u2014 and people generally \u2014 to opt into housework themselves. But in addition to being able to make that autonomous decision, tradwives, stay-at-home girlfriends and all others carrying out domestic tasks deserve salaries that recognize their labor and provide them with independent support.<\/p>\n