The (Anti)Feminism of Tradwives

While networked misogyny and the manosphere have received increased research attention in the wake of various violent attacks, women involved in online networks that reflect anti-feminist or misogynistic ideas are less well researched. This paper explores the anti-feminism expressed by 61 TikTok users who utilized the hashtags “tradwife” or “tradlife” in their posts since 2020 through a qualitative analysis. Results of a thematic analysis show that these women were a diverse community with many complementary and competing ideologies, but that anti-feminism was a common sentiment among the users. Four main themes emerged that characterized their anti-feminism, including the idea that feminism was antagonistic to femininity that feminism was harming women, rejecting “boss babes” and other capitalist demands, and more vitriolic attacks on gender diversity. Implications for understanding women’s role in perpetuating anti-feminist and misogynist spaces on the internet are discussed, as well as their potential for other forms of extremism.