“Nature intended women to be our slaves … they are our property; we are not theirs. They belong to us, just as a tree, bearing fruit, belongs to a gardener. What a mad idea to demand equality for women! Women are nothing but machines for producing children.”
These are the words of a man regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history a.k.a. Napoleon Bonaparte. Spiteful opinions as such were pretty common for men to share in the olden days of the 18th century. But to hear them being ricocheted by 21st century women is a tragedy I had never imagined I would have to endure.
Women like Simone de Beauvoir and Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought tooth and nail for women to have their own voice and be their own masters, just for modern day traditionalist women who call themselves “trad wives” to go on instagram and say that women must serve their husbands. Uh what??
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, first of all, thank the algorithm for keeping you away from that sad oblivion. Secondly, unfortunately there’s been a recent surge of digital presence of housewives who are embracing the traditional lifestyle of a christian housewife and rejecting the liberal perspective of a modern marriage. They call themselves ‘trad wives’ and post their daily lifestyle on instagram and tiktok.
The timber of my words might convey the message that I’m against the idea of a woman being a housewife. But the truth is quite the opposite- if an adult woman wants to become a homemaker, then I will entirely support it. Because that’s the very essence of what feminism is about- giving women a choice.
Throughout history, women have had to fight for the right to education, for the right to vote, for the right to be paid appropriately- precisely, for the right to choose. So, if a woman chooses to stay at home and become the pillar of strength for her family, then that is perfectly acceptable and deserves respect. And if she wants to take her time to show the world the abysmal amount of strength and spirit it takes to build and nurture a home then even better. But that’s not who we are discussing. This trend is carried by bootlicking trad wives with ‘pick me’ labels written all over them.
If you want to teach your followers how to make sourdough from scratch, then go for it. If your entire existence revolves around your husband and children, then also good for you. I hope you find contentment and happiness in your environment. But what becomes a problem is how some of these trad wives promote their conservative way of life at the expense of women who don’t want the same. They romanticise an antiquated relationship where women are believed to be God’s empty vessels made only for men to put a baby inside, and created to be at their beck and call at every waking moment of their lives. Just when you think you’re one step closer to dismantling the patriarchy, leave it to brainwashed white women to pull you right back to the mediaeval era. They have a shtick that they advertise religiously about rejecting modern feminism. They keep yapping about how a woman who has a 9-5 job is sad and lonely and advise us to become slaves to our husbands instead of the government.
Respectfully, you do your thing ma’am but I’d rather serve a government that at least pays me for the work that I do than a man-child who expects his wife to wipe his ass once he’s done shitting all over her life.
Open your eyes. No human being is designed to work a 9-5 job but we’re all forced to do it anyway. Because the reality is without that, we’d be living out on the streets with no money, no food and no clothes on our backs. So painting working women as fools for trying to pay their bills, and carry their weight like any other man, is quite moronic. Because believe it or not, not every woman wants to be financially dependent on a man. Secondly not all families can afford to either. Setting a dangerous precedent where women do not aspire to cultivate skills necessary for joining the workforce strips a potentially double income household into a single income family with double pressure on the husband and half the resources for the children- is that a feasible dream in this economy?
If the reverse feminism wasn’t repulsive enough, these patronising housewives have also resorted to indoctrinating their daughters into this manner of living.
Now ofcourse there’s nothing wrong with teaching a child to cook, do laundry and other household chores.
These are basic survival skills one would need, even for themselves, anywhere they go. What is wrong, however, is teaching them that the only purpose that child will serve is to submit to her future husband. I’m no parent but even a childless human being with common sense could tell how evil that is. And then you have the God awful superiority complex these lowlives harbour. They start by saying they want to promote the freedom of the simple traditional life but somehow end up with a mocking speech about working women wasting their lives. At this stage, their content just feels like rage bait to garner a bigger following, because surely God wouldn’t be so cruel as to make these poor women hate themselves to this extent, right?
Being a housewife is a tough job. I’ve seen my own mother keep track of a hundred things while raising her two daughters and caring for her own parents as well. My father may have been the breadwinner but she was the one who made sure the bread was warm enough for us to eat comfortably. So, when I see these trad wives treating this lifestyle as a fantasy, I can’t just overlook the fact that they’re reducing womanhood to nothing but servitude and submission. A woman is not a slave. A woman does not live to serve a man like a dog. The irony of the housework and childcare these trad wives advertise is that a modern working woman still has to do all of the above – in addition to their paid labour. Her career provides her financial security, which in turn, makes the family more stable. The best case scenario is modern women, if not married to a man, are probably only doing this for herself; if she’s not married to a man child, she may have found herself a man who shares domestic responsibilities with her.
We live in a day and age where women have flown to such heights that ‘go back to the kitchen’ has become a man’s last resort when he loses an argument to a woman. So aside from these handful of infected sycophants, I’d say that modern women know very well that worshipping a man would get them nowhere.
