DeepSummary
Sarah Marshall and her guest Sarah Archer discuss the recent rise of the 'tradwife' phenomenon on social media, where women present an idealized and aestheticized vision of traditional housewifery and homemaking. They trace the history of the modern housewife concept back to the post-war era, when technological advances aimed to make home duties easier but also reinforced traditional gender roles.
The conversation explores how the tradwife trend taps into a desire to reject hustle culture and modern feminism, but also represents a form of performance and content creation that may not reflect reality. There are concerns that the tradwife ideal promotes opting out of public life and civic engagement, surrendering women's hard-won freedoms.
However, the speakers acknowledge that women have diverse goals and not all wish to pursue careers. They emphasize the importance of community, shared resources, and resisting the overconsumption often associated with tradwife aesthetics. Ultimately, they argue that true fulfillment comes from cultivating relationships and skills rather than accumulating possessions.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The tradwife trend on social media promotes an aestheticized, romanticized vision of traditional housewifery that may not reflect reality.
- While intended as a rejection of hustle culture, the tradwife ideal risks promoting women opting out of public life and surrendering hard-won freedoms.
- The idyllic tradwife image obscures the realities of unpaid domestic labor that have burdened women throughout history.
- Consumer culture has long used the imagery of the modern, technologized home to manipulate women into upholding traditional gender roles.
- True fulfillment comes more from cultivating community, relationships and practical skills than from accumulating possessions or aspiring to a nostalgic fantasy.
- While some women may sincerely wish to embrace homemaking, the tradwife persona is often more about content creation and performance than an authentic reflection of lifestyle.
- The historical tensions between feminism, careerism and domestic life persist, with no easy universal answers for how women can achieve balance and actualization.
- Traditions, institutions and expertise that modernized and eased domestic work should not be discarded simply for the aesthetic of going back to laborious "old ways".
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I can't go on social media and start looking at gardening or housekeeping or cleaning type videos without the algorithm inching toward white supremacy.“ by Sarah Marshall
- “The more you opt out of civic life, the less power you have.“ by Sarah Archer
- “Women's domestic labor is relied upon and enjoyed by everyone in their families, but always goes uncompensated and routinely goes unnoticed.“ by Moira Donegan
Entities
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Episode Information
You're Wrong About
Sarah Marshall
5/29/24
Sarah Archer came by to make an episode from scratch. What's the real history of the American housewife? Where did the tradwife come from, and why? Is she okay? Will we be okay? And who is she churning all that butter for?
Sarah Archer's accompanying Substack post https://open.substack.com/pub/saraharcher/p/going-to-business
Sarah Archer's bibliography
Clips:
Mrs. Modern versus Mrs. Drudge from The Middleton Family at the 1939 New York World's Fair (produced by Westinghouse) https://youtu.be/vH2Lpl-UB64?si=vtVFAWhAvkDq-EOE
Design for Dreaming from General Motors 1956 Motorama featuring the Frigidaire “Kitchen of the Future” display https://youtu.be/4_ccAf82RQ8?si=mzVREYgY-d2yWcCl
“Total Electric Home,” Westinghouse, 1959 https://youtu.be/IRrMLaiiAGY?si=aoc-7PQfSQIEZW5r
The Frankfurt Kitchen at MoMA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T3EM872x-A
Articles Books and Pods:
Dolores Hayden, Grand Domestic Revolution: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262580557/the-grand-domestic-revolution/
Kathleen Belew, Bring the War Home: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674286078
“Wife Sentences,” Moira Donegan https://www.bookforum.com/print/3004/lisa-selin-davis-s-confused-history-of-homemakers-25336
“Trad Wives,” In Bed with the Right https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-bed-with-the-right/id1696774612?i=1000651855063
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Where else to find us:
Sarah's other show: You Are Good
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Links:
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https://www.podpage.com/you-are-good
http://maintenancephase.com