BOWS, BIBLES & BUNDT CAKES

They raise babies, bake sourdough bread and pack their husband's lunch - all the while smiling sweetly into camera. Tradwife influencers say it's a lifestyle choice, but is this viral return to 'traditional femininity' as wholesome as it looks?

- Eleanor le Riche

'This morning my toddlers requested some corn flakes for breakfast, but I don't usually keep those in the house, so I just decided to make them,' says Nara Smith in a breathy voice. She is a 23-year-old model-turned-influencer and is expecting her fourth child.

'Today, I'm going to be giving some tips for the ladies on how to attract a masculine man – a provider man,' Estee Williams tells me. Spoiler: It involves looking feminine, being fit, taking care of myself and, of course, smiling a lot.

Hannah Neeleman is a Juilliard-trained ballerina who gave up her New York dreams to raise eight children on a Utah farm, without nannies – and her husband is steering the family vision. In one clip, she eagerly opens a gift from him, hoping for plane tickets to Greece. She jokes as she unwraps it, 'Ooh! A hat I can wear in Greece!' Surprise! It's actually an apron for farm chores.

In a five-minute TikTok video, Courtney Palmer educates me about the 'princess treatment'. 'If I'm at a restaurant with my husband, I do not talk to the hostess, I do not open any doors and I do not order my own food,' she says. 'You do not need to talk unless you are spoken to... The most elegant, lovely women are often soft-spoken and don't overspeak. They are not loud.'

Welcome to the world of the tradwife, where women speak of honouring their husbands, raising God-fearing children and finding divine purpose in domesticity.

And while many have pointed out the strong Handmaid's Tale vibes radiating from the movement, there's still a dedicated subset of women who follow it religiously (and not ironically).

What is a tradwife?