Why tradwives are fleeing the movement: I can't undo my past

A growing number of prominent tradwife influencers are distancing themselves from a movement that celebrates marriage, motherhood, Christian faith and strict gender roles. Bernadine Bluntly, once a vocal anti-feminist and promoter of traditional marriage, left her husband and now rejects gender roles used to excuse control or harm. She says the movement has come to resemble the manosphere’s hostility toward women. Influencers Nara Smith and Hannah Neeleman have also resisted being defined by the tradwife label, despite content that romanticises domestic life. Their shifts raise questions about the gap between the movement’s appealing public image and the power dynamics within some families.

Former tradwives Jennie Gage and Tia Levings describe that gap through experiences of religious pressure, abuse and dependence. Gage says her husband controlled household money and barred her from working; after leaving, she faced financial hardship. She now urges women to protect themselves with prenups, trusts and retirement savings in their own names. Levings recounts an abusive marriage shaped by fundamentalist teachings that wives must obey and not work, and says church leaders urged her to submit rather than seek help. She now warns about consequences for women and children, including isolation from education and healthcare. Both say their communities promoted white supremacist ideas and encouraged white women to have more children. They speak out because social-media portrayals of idyllic domesticity can conceal risks that women may be unprepared to face.