What exciting trends are happening in the matrimonial sector?Kara, by email
A thrilling new trend has emerged, and its as seismic as the New Look was in 40s fashion, or the emergence of Mediterranean cooking in 90s Britain: its called being a housewife.
Now you might think: Ummm, that doesnt sound THAT new to me. But all fashion trends are rehashes, and tradwife, as this one is dubbed, is housewife with a social media spin. Its like bringing back 90s style, but swapping that brown eyeliner for contouring makeup. Its just so much more zeitgeist, you see?
So a tradwife is a woman who doesnt work so as to look after their children, their husband, their home and then talk non-stop about how great this is on social media. Who knew being so traditional was also so modern? And so busy! Last week alone, there were interviews with tradwives in the Daily Mail, the Times and on the BBC, This Morning, Victoria Derbyshire and, for all I know, piped 24/7 across all channels. Im afraid that being both non-trad and a non-wife I am less plugged in than these women.
But I was especially taken with one trad wife. Her name is Alena Kate Pettitt, and in between showing TV crews how she lovingly irons her husbands shirt and shops for onions, Pettitt runs something called the Darling Academy, which is a newsletter and YouTube channel that celebrates British etiquette. Initially, I assumed this meant reviving all that mad Nancy Mitford U and non-U stuff, and, let me tell you, as an American wannabe snob, I am VERY down with that. But no, Pettitt is harnessing the best of what made Britain great, during that time when you could leave your front door open and know that you were safe, and you knew your strangers in the street.
Mmm, isnt it funny how whenever people evoke a specific time when Britain was great, the time they invariably evoke is their own childhood before they were aware of the pressures and anxieties of adulthood? And Ill be honest, every times Pettitt talks about her husband taking care of her, and that is pretty much her No 1 subject, she sounds more like shes talking about her father than her husband.
The tradwives have been keenly giving interviews about how they are the true feminists in choosing not to work, to which anyone with a modicum of knowledge about feminism would say: We gave women the choice thats the point! Bake banana bread until the sun comes up, if it makes you happy! Whether they are still the true feminists in suggesting that husbands must always come first if you want a happy marriage, as Pettitt has tweeted, feels more debatable. Also unacknowledged is that, as much as the tradwives think they are being renegade rebels by not working, their rebellion is based on their husband earning enough to support a whole household. Whoa there, little rebels!
But this isnt actually about fighting the system: this is about women fighting against their own insecurities about their lives. And because of these insecurities, they then insist they are the oppressed ones, the brave speakers of truth. In other words, its another pointless culture war to chuck on the teetering pile in between Spiked Online and Laurence Fox.
And its also about something else. Rather awkwardly for the British tradwives who like to suggest their movement is just about dressing in Cath Kidston and letting their husband choose where they are going on holiday in the US and elsewhere it is very much part of the alt-right movement. It is especially popular among white supremacists, who are extremely down with the message that white women should submit to their husband and focus on making as many white babies as possible. British tradwives insist this has nothing to do with them: Someone even said, this type of housewife was promoted by the Third Reich. And its like: Really?! I didnt even know that! Pettitt told the BBC, sitting underneath her union jack bunting, musing about how we dont even know the identity of our country right now.
Now look, clearly being a happy housewife does not mean you are a Nazi. But also, maybe its time to dial down a notch, tradwives, for your own sake? After all, if youre constantly posting videos to YouTube about how to press your husbands clothes, and talking to Phillip and Holly about how you love to flirt with your husband, how do you have time to do any tradwife-ing?
Read this article:
Tradwives: the new trend for submissive women has a dark heart and history - The Guardian
- The Zeitgeist Film Series Gateway | Zeitgeist: The Movie ... - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- The Zeitgeist Movement Global - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- TZM - Mission Statement - The Zeitgeist Movement - December 10th, 2016 [December 10th, 2016]
- Zeitgeist: Addendum, Debunked - Skeptic Project - December 23rd, 2016 [December 23rd, 2016]
- ZMCA Homepage - January 9th, 2017 [January 9th, 2017]
- Top Five Zeitgeist: The Movie Myths! | Peter Joseph - January 9th, 2017 [January 9th, 2017]
- What is the Zeitgeist Movement - January 9th, 2017 [January 9th, 2017]
- Here Is Everything You Ever Need to Know About Magical Tutting - Inverse - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Tambor Felt Great 'Responsibility' to Transgender Community in ... - ABC News - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Piaget Altiplano turns 60, and it's still the choice of today's jetset sophisticate - City A.M. - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- 'Der Spiegel' magazine sparks furor as cover depicts Trump beheading Lady Liberty - Deutsche Welle - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Super Bowl Ads Capture Zeitgeist and Commodify Diversity - The Wesleyan Argus - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- 'Recruit Rosie': When Satire Joins the Resistance - The Atlantic - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- A movie of the artist as a young man: Paolozzi silent film stars in film festival - Herald Scotland - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- If Los Angeles Becomes a Bona Fide Fashion Show Destination, What's Next? - WWD - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Why I chose Jefferson Avenue over Madison Avenue - The Drum - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- We spoke to the new generation of British playwrights who will dominate 2017 - The Independent - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Salman Rushdie's New Novel is About Political Correctness and the Culture Wars - Heat Street - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- The rise and rise of clean beauty - Evening Standard - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Badass Baroque - Daily News & Analysis - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Five things to know from Netflix's 2017 launch - Newstalk 106-108 fm - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- What to Watch at the Grammys - Wall Street Journal - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Young Artists Lead Through Emotional Expression, Powerful Voices and a Conviction for Social Justice - Youth Today - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- When the Secular is the Sacred - Patheos (blog) - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Ava DuVernay's Oscar-nominated '13th' documentary aims to unlock the truth - LA Daily News - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Bernie O'Rourke: An Irishman's Passion for Business - Caldwell University News - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- 9 Ways the Grammys have Totally Blown It - Newsweek - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Q&A: Chef Michel Gurard, a Pioneer of Low-Calorie Cuisine - TIME - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Ava DuVernay's Oscar-nominated '13th' documentary aims to unlock the truth - The Pasadena Star-News - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- The busy busy family's garden - Leinster Express - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- South-West Review bulletin board February 12, 2017 - Lillie News - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Movement as bleak theater, with some terrific Pharrell music too - Los Angeles Times - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Bishops' fumble with same-sex marriage means the Church of England is about to lose a generation - The Conversation UK - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- The Grammys Honored the Wrong Album, and Adele Knew It - Advocate.com - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- These '80s Artists Are More Important Than Ever - New York Times - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Whitehall's war on unaccompanied minors - LocalGov - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Britpop songs 10 of the best - The Guardian (blog) - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Our president is a TV addict. It's going to get the best of him, but he'll never get the best of it. - Washington Post - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- How wellness trends may shape health industry in 2017 - Fox News - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- President Donald Trump is a TV addict - MyDaytonDailyNews - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Belly-Button Rings: Where Are They Now? - Racked - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- In the age of surveillance, what do any of us have left to hide? - Irish Times - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Slam a poem - The News on Sunday - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- With 'The Breaks,' VH1 revisits the '90s hip-hop scene when success wasn't a sure bet - Los Angeles Times - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Why Fashion Has Every Right To Be Political Right Now - W Magazine - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Bangkok city guide: what to do plus the best hotels, restaurants and bars - The Guardian - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Cobbling together: the Brooklynites who gather to make handcrafted shoes - The Guardian - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- The Harlem Renaissance, Alexander Wang and the VLONE Pop Up Shop - Huffington Post - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Museo Amparo - E-Flux - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- These are 'The Breaks': Inside VH1's 'grounded' new hip-hop series ... - Screener - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Why winning the French presidential election could be a poisoned chalice - The Conversation UK - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Campaigners to keep Britain in the EU could learn from Team Brexit - WalesOnline - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- How Sanjay Lalbhai & Pankaj Chandra are trying to build a unique university in Ahmedabad - Economic Times - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Maybe the Earth Is Flat - The Root - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Resistance Against Donald Trump Is Not a New Tea Party | Time.com - TIME - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Forget PoliticiansThe People Of The West Have Decided Against Muslim Immigration - VDARE.com - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Interruptions with fluid movements - The Navhind Times - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Summer of Love 50th Anniversary Posters Wake up Market Street - 7x7 - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Sean Spicer blames chaotic town halls on 'professional protesters.' So did Obama's team. - Washington Post - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Looking forward to a rad week for nonfiction film - The Boston Globe - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- 30 years after his death, James Baldwin is having a new pop culture moment - Los Angeles Times - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Turning Over Stones (What The Election Set Free) - Huffington Post - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Occupancies Explores the World of Our Bodies - BU Today - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- The age of the people - The News on Sunday - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- Cruising Down SoCal's Boulevards: Streets as Spaces for Celebration and Cultural Resistance - KCET - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- The Old Divisions, They Do Divide Us - The Good Men Project (blog) - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- When Oscars speeches get political: the best, worst and most annoying in Academy Award history - The Mercury News - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- NAACP Fundraiser Honors Black Leaders, Activists - FOX 21 Online - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- The Simpsons Gospel: A Newer Testament for Troubled Times? - Huffington Post - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Johnson & Johnson pursues empathy in an age of 'anxiety and mistrust' - CampaignLive - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Outcry Kills Anti-Protest Law in Arizona, but Troubling Trend Continues Nationwide - Truth-Out - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Kendrick Lamar Gives A Glimpse Into His Mindset As He Approaches His New Album (Video) - Ambrosia For Heads - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Max Eastman: Curmodgeon - The Liberty Conservative - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- CHAZAN | The Revolution Will Not Have Shoulderpads: Image Comics 25 Years Later - Cornell University The Cornell Daily Sun - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Big crowd still feeling the Bern at Jewish socialism confab - Jweekly.com - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- David Duchovny Hits the Road to Seek the Musical Truth That's Out There - PopMatters - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Donald and the Dominatrix: How the White House Inspired a BDSM Movement - Salon - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- It's Not McCarthyism, Stupid - New Matilda - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Inclusive, 'cool' Toronto shown in new tourism ad - Toronto Star - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- Visa shows you how #KindnessIsCashless via their latest ad campaign - ETBrandEquity.com - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]