About this episode
Always On is the new home of Marina Hyde’s writing. Read Marina’s latest articles at https://www.marinahyde.com.
Marina Hyde on the rise of tradwives, the multimillion-dollar businesses behind the traditional homemaking aesthetic, and what our obsession with them reveals about modern life.
Why are millions of people fascinated by women who claim to have rejected careers, technology and modern gender roles, only to become some of the internet’s most successful entrepreneurs? Marina examines the phenomenon through influencers including Ballerina Farm’s Hannah Neeleman and Nara Smith, exploring the role of social media algorithms, conservative politics, burnout and our growing nostalgia for a simpler life.
From Marie Antoinette’s make-believe rural retreat to the modern trend of ‘returnism’, Marina asks whether the tradwife obsession is really about traditional values, or a wider desire to escape the pressures of modern society. And what does it say about our relationship with technology that even those rejecting it are doing so on Instagram?
Words and ideation: Marina Hyde
With support from Sam, Dom, Anna, Josh, Harry, Charlie, Kieron, Bex, Gabriella and Oliver at Goalhanger.