Jennifer Horgan: Trad wife movement exposes the fiction of true gender equality
Just how uninclined we are towards true gender equality is revealed in how we respond to trad wives in general, writes Jennifer Horgan
If you haven’t heard of trad wives, the trad is for traditional; they’re wives who are submissive to their husbands, who believe in returning to hyper-delineated gender roles. The trad wife masters all things domestic whilst ensuring their husbands never see them without make-up and a pretty frock. File picture
THERE’S a ghost in my house, and she’s a trad wife. Trad wives got an airing on RTÉ Radio last week, with Eithne Shorthall discussing their problematic appeal on the Oliver Callan show with Maura Derrane (standing in for Oliver). The word ‘appeal’ stuck with me.
If you haven’t heard of trad wives, the trad is for traditional; they’re wives who are submissive to their husbands, who believe in returning to hyper-delineated gender roles. The trad wife masters all things domestic whilst ensuring their husbands never see them without make-up and a pretty frock. If you are all over ‘socials,’ you will know that they are too, advising young women on how best to churn butter and spin yarn.
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