I've been exploring how AI sees our modern social trends and I
asked no book LM and AI system from Google to explain the trad
wife movement. Given our conversations here
about gender roles, I felt this was something you had to hear.
It challenged some of my own thinking and I'd love to hear
your thoughts. You can leave me a comment on
Spotify or YouTube. This is the first episode from
my new series AI Explains Love and Romance.
I started the series on sort of a whim, and some of the episodes
are deeply amusing, but some are incredibly insightful.
I've produced 17 episodes so far and I am publishing them weekly.
The series name again is AI Explains Love and Romance.
Here is episode 1. So if you've been online at all
lately, you've you've definitely seen it.
Oh, for sure. That soft lighting, the, you
know, 1950s floral dress. Yeah.
And someone spending hours making homemade sourdough.
Right, you've stumbled into the trad wife world.
Today we're diving into this whole Internet subculture.
You're thinking influencers like Nara Smith or Ballerina Farm.
Exactly. And they're all about a return
to these pretty strict mid century gender roles.
So the mission today is to figure out, is this like a real
return to traditional values? Or is it just a beautifully
curated digital fantasy? That's the question.
It really feels like a fantasy. There's even a word for it.
For that feeling these videos give you, it's Anna Moya.
Anna Moya, right? Nostalgia for a time you've
never actually lived. And that's a really powerful
psychological hook. Our sources suggest that for a
lot of people, this isn't even really about, you know, politics
or submission. It's a reaction.
A reaction to modern burnout, which I get it, it makes so much
sense. We've just come out of this girl
boss era hustle culture, lean in, break every ceiling.
It's it's exhausting it. Is so when you hear someone like
Elena Kate Pettit, who's a big voice in this movement, describe
it as being under his wing instead of under his feet.
It sounds like a relief. It does.
It frames this whole division of Labor as like a safe harbor from
that double burden of having a career and running a household.
But that's where the dream crashes into reality, isn't it?
The hard data. This is exactly where it
happens. The sources we looked at show
this just massive economic disconnect between the 1950s
fantasy and, well, 2024. If you are enjoying this look at
the trad wife phenomena, please consider subscribing to my
newest podcast series, AI Explains Love and Romance.
It's available on all major podcasting services.
That's AI Explains Love and Romance from Elton Sherwin.
Now let's return to our AI dynamic duo.
Yeah, let's unpack the math. Yeah, because the numbers are
stark. They are the whole living on one
income idea. It relied on an economy that
just. It doesn't exist anymore.
A. Completely different world.
Exactly. After World War Two you had
strong unions, housing was affordable.
The system was built for single income families.
They now. Well, look at the Housing
Affordability index. In the 1970s, that number was
over 85%. 85 Wow. By 20/24 it had plus limited to
just 31% so you. Literally can't live like your
grandparents did because the economy that let them do that is
gone. It's just gone and that creates
this huge paradox to actually pull off the slow living
aesthetic you see on TikTok, the beautiful farmhouse, the organic
food. The time to actually churn your
own butter. You need a significant amount of
modern money, a lot of. It.
And that's the detail that always gets me.
We see someone like Hannah Neelaman on screen as just a
homemaker, right? But the research shows she's
really the Co CEO of a huge agricultural business.
Nara Smith is a professional model.
Correct. They're not women who just opted
out. They're very successful
businesswoman. Their home making is funded by
very modern, very lucrative revenue streams.
So it's not an accessible standard, it's a luxury product.
It is, and we we do have to touch on the broader political
side of this too. Right, because the sources show
it's not just about baking bread.
There's a whole spectrum. There is a lot of it is just
innocent, you know, aesthetic enjoyment.
But some sources do note that this cottage core imagery can be
a sort of gateway. A gateway to what?
It can sometimes overlap with alt right or even white
supremacist ideologies. The soft, gentle aesthetic can
be an entry point to much harder politics.
And then there's just the personal risk.
We call it choice feminism. It's her choice, so it's
empowering. But the legal world has changed
so much, hasn't it? Oh, significantly, in the 1950s,
marriage came with very different legal protections.
Things like alimony guarantees 50 nuts.
Exactly. Today, if a woman leaves the
workforce entirely to depend on her husband, she's taking a huge
financial risk. Without those same safety Nets.
If it doesn't work out, she's in a much more vulnerable spot than
her grandmother would have been. So what we're looking at is a
trend that correctly identifies a real problem, burnout, but
offers a solution that's basically impossible for most
people to actually achieve safely.
That's a great way to put it. It's a psychological escape
hatch, but it hides all the labor and frankly, the privilege
that's required to keep it going.
Which leaves us with the final thought to chew on If the trad
wife lifestyle online requires filming, editing, brand deals
and managing a huge social media presence to even be possible, is
it actually traditional at all? Or is it just a new kind of
demanding job, just one that's disguised as leisure?
A question definitely worth asking.
Thanks for diving in with us. This is Elton Sherwin, thanks
for making this podcast part of your day.
I invite you to follow my new series, AI Explains Love and
Romance. It's available on all major
podcasting services. That's AI Explains Love and
Romance from Elton Sherwin. Please subscribe and recommend
us to your friends and family. Join us next time.
Meanwhile, stay safe and stay healthy.