Tradwife is short for “traditional wife.” It represents a movement that has gained traction in recent years, with women embracing a return to traditional homemaking roles. Some view this as a reaction to the devaluation of motherhood and domestic work in certain strands of feminism. On social media, tradwives often depict themselves as stay-at-home moms of numerous children dedicated to homeschooling, homemaking, and self-sufficiency. They raise chickens, plant gardens, can and preserve their homegrown fruits and vegetables, grow their own sourdough, cook and bake everything from scratch, make their own household cleaning products, and maintain an immaculate home. For many, these practices reflect a sincere desire to embrace femininity, simplicity, and family-centred living in a culture that often dismisses such values.
Within conservative evangelical circles, some praise this trend, interpreting Titus 2:5 as a biblical mandate for women to remain at home. However, as I’ve written before, I believe this is a misreading of Paul’s instructions. That said, I do not wish to diminish the immense value of stay-at-home mothers. And I recognize that some moms need to cook and bake from scratch due to their family’s allergies or other health needs.
Out of necessity while living in West Africa, I made everything we ate from scratch, from breads and crackers to pasta and ricotta cheese. I also canned up to twelve bushels of tomatoes a year, not to mention the bone broth, mangoes, and vegetables in my repertoire as the crazy canning lady of Senegal. What’s more, I stayed home with my children in their early years, including the season I homeschooled our younger daughter. Each family must make these choices based on their unique circumstances and convictions. Because that’s exactly what it is—a choice believers are free in Christ to make. The problem arises when a beautiful personal conviction hardens into a universal prescription. Yet, certain misconceptions about the tradwife movement merit a closer look.
1. A tradwife is not the same as a stay-at-home mom (SAHM)
I have the highest respect for women who work full-time in the home as wives and mothers. I deliberately use the word work because that’s exactly what it is: unpaid but invaluable labour. While society may dismiss a woman who stays home as “wasting her life,” her investment in her husband’s and children’s well-being is of immeasurable worth. But SAHM is not synonymous with tradwife.
Take, for example, my pastor’s wife, Martha. She worked intermittently in the early years of her marriage but has spent the past decade caring for her family full-time. However, she doesn’t raise chickens, brew kombucha, sew curtains, or cook exclusively from scratch. With three hungry teens to feed, she sometimes relies on processed and convenience foods, just like the rest of us. Living in a bi-generational home, she also manages her aging parents’ medical appointments and errands. On top of that, she faithfully extends hospitality in support of her husband’s ministry. Even if she wanted to embrace every aspect of the tradwife lifestyle, she simply doesn’t have enough hours in the day. Her life is marked by faithful service, even if it doesn’t align with a curated online aesthetic.
2. The Tradwife Lifestyle Is Not Accessible to Everyone
The tradwife lifestyle has gained popularity primarily among white, middle-class Americans. However, not every family has the financial flexibility to live on a single income. While consumerism can play a role in some households’ reliance on dual incomes, economic realities also have a significant impact. In many parts of Europe and North America, the cost of living continues to rise, and the middle class is shrinking. For many families, a second income is not a luxury but a necessity. To assume otherwise is to ignore the real and pressing burdens many families face.
Throughout history and across cultures, women’s contributions to the workforce have been essential for their families’ survival. From women cultivating the land in rural communities to those running cottage industries alongside their husbands, their work has always played a crucial role in the flourishing of society. Women have also long pursued careers that serve their communities—whether as nurses, teachers, mechanics, or milkmaids—reflecting the biblical call to “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue and have dominion over it” (Gen. 1:28). While the tradwife lifestyle tends to emphasize the first part of this mandate, it sometimes overlooks the second.
Martin Luther famously stated, “God is milking the cows through the vocation of the milkmaid.” He thus reminds us that all honest work, however ordinary, glorifies God when done in faith. A well-rounded theology of vocation recognizes the value of both homemaking and work outside the home. The church can affirm and support families where the mother stays home while celebrating women who serve the Lord through their professional callings. Both are needed. Both are noble. Both can bring God glory.
3. Many Tradwife Influencers Are Also Working Women
Interestingly, some of the most well-known voices promoting the tradwife lifestyle are themselves working women. The time they dedicate to creating content, securing sponsorships, and managing their online presence amounts to a part-time or even full-time job. In doing so, some weigh down their followers with burdens they themselves do not carry (Lk 11.46).
Consider Hannah Neelman, known as BallerinaFarm. Often referred to as the queen of tradwives, she is a wealthy Mormon entrepreneur with 20 million followers across platforms. Her thriving business, which sells everything from protein powder and raw milk to lambswool blankets and beeswax candles, relies on a team that includes working women. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with a woman running a successful business. But the disconnect between message and model can leave ordinary women feeling like they’ve failed before they’ve even begun. It can sometimes seem that the message being conveyed by certain influencers is, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
4. The tradwife movement emphasizes law over grace
At first glance, the tradwife movement may seem to honour a woman’s calling as a wife and mother. And in part, it does. Many women long for beauty, rhythm, and rootedness in an unmoored world. But beneath the surface, it often promotes law rather than grace. A subtle prosperity gospel emerges. One that makes a woman’s relationship with God feel transactional. If she perfectly fulfills her domestic duties, she will secure her husband’s love and her children’s obedience.
Yet behind the carefully curated content of tradwife influencers, we often find exhausted women, burdened by the weight of an idealized lifestyle. The testimonies of those who have left this movement bear witness to the pressure and disillusionment it can bring. Like all forms of legalism, it establishes impossible standards and fosters a judgmental spirit toward those who don’t measure up. This is the opposite of the gospel. The very kind of burden that Jesus came to free us from (Mt. 11:28-30). And while it may serve as a counterbalance to the extremes of modern feminism, it risks replacing one distortion with another.
Conclusion
How should the church respond? By celebrating godly families in all their diversity. Whether a woman is single, married, divorced, widowed, working outside the home, or staying home full-time, she deserves love, support, and encouragement. Rather than measuring faithfulness by a single mould, let’s remind one another that our worth is not found in an idealized role but in Christ himself. He is our true rest, our true security, and our true hope. He is the source of both calling and grace—whatever form our faithfulness takes.
