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Paper short abstract

Using methods from digital ethnography, we examine the experience of becoming and being a Tradwife or Softgirl in Sweden. This research addresses how global trends circulate and are adapted to local contexts, in this case Sweden – a welfare state traditionally characterized by high gender equality.

Paper long abstract

Tradwives have emerged as an online trend led by influencers who claim to live by traditional gender norms and document their daily lives on social media. Most do not work outside the home but rather work at home with cooking, cleaning and childcare. The trend overlaps with Soft Girls — Generation Z women who want to focus less on their careers than previous generations and who espouse a traditional feminine aesthetic. Many critics of these trends have expressed concern over the association between Tradwives and far-right political movements; that is, that Tradwives lifestyles are part of wider anti-feminist, anti-immigrant and general anti-left backlash. In Sweden, specifically, further criticism is related to the welfare state: that women who do not work outside the home will have little entitlement to sick leave or pensions.

We look at two groups in the Swedish context: (1) social media influencers who identify as Tradwifes and (2) ‘everyday Tradwives’ – women who are not social media influencers but who aspire to or live in traditional relationships, and consume Tradwife media. Using methods from digital ethnography, we examine the experience of becoming and being a Tradwife, asking (1) What motivates women to adopt a Tradwife lifestyle? (2) How do Tradwives define ‘traditional’ gender roles? (3) How do Tradwives describe their daily lives? (4) How do Swedish-speaking Tradwives position themselves in relation to the wider trend in (primarily) English-language social media? Overall, we explore how global trends circulate and are adapted to local contexts, in this case Sweden.