My article at CRJ on Tradwives is out! I know you’ll want to trot right over there and read the whole thing—here’s just a taste to whet your appetite: One evening I casually posed this question to my six children and got six different answers: What is a tradwife? One named a sweet, soft-spoken mother in our church. Another spoke volubly about Shaye Elliott merch. A third began searching through her phone for an account, the name of which she could not remember. A fourth — the most sarcastic of the bunch — shrugged and said, “Is that like a mommy blogger? Weren’t
Read the article and loved it. One word that you refrained from using when discussing the Tradwife phenomenon, and I understand that it’s a dirty word, was postmodernism. Within the wine world, we have a movement called the “natural wine movement,” which sort of harkens to a mythic/romantic notion of tradition prior to the industrialization of winemaking in the Mid Twentieth century. In the past, when teaching wine, I would break it down into two major categories “Modern/International/New World Wines” vs “Traditional/regional/Old World Wines.” I then felt the need to give The Natural wine movement its own sort of explanation and finally decided that it was a “Postmodern” movement which self consciously used the word Traditional but understood the notion to be a selected tradition. For instance, in Rioja, natural winemakers branded themselves as traditional for digging back past the last 120 years of winemaking tradition in the region (one which celebrates extended barrel age and calls for specific blends) to make a claim for an older, more authentic style which oddly enough fits the current market trends of today with its shorter maceration and abbreviated cellar aging and truly built to be drunk young. I’m not entirely sure how one can get away from a sort of self awareness when one speaks of Tradition these days. Still, in the wine world, there are still tiny enclaves in Georgia, Italy, France, Slovenia, Spain etc. where stubborn folks just do it how it’s been handed down for them to do, replacing innovation and “authenticity” with an intimate understanding of their tiny little region.
I had never watched any Tradwife content, so I hopped on over to Melanie Renee's Instagram and my kids were like, don't you know what a day in the life of a mom of nine is like? I have to say, her life looks nothing like mine!
I'm not sure I'm as inclined to be so cynical about the phenomenon, though. Yes, tapping into these deep longings for commercial gain is par for the course for our culture, but hopefully the Holy Spirit will work through the phenomenon to turn some young women's hearts back toward the home.
Congratulations to you!! I was looking forward to finishing homeschooling in 3 more years, then God blessed us with a surprise baby. Looks like I’ll be homeschooling forever…
Read the article and loved it. One word that you refrained from using when discussing the Tradwife phenomenon, and I understand that it’s a dirty word, was postmodernism. Within the wine world, we have a movement called the “natural wine movement,” which sort of harkens to a mythic/romantic notion of tradition prior to the industrialization of winemaking in the Mid Twentieth century. In the past, when teaching wine, I would break it down into two major categories “Modern/International/New World Wines” vs “Traditional/regional/Old World Wines.” I then felt the need to give The Natural wine movement its own sort of explanation and finally decided that it was a “Postmodern” movement which self consciously used the word Traditional but understood the notion to be a selected tradition. For instance, in Rioja, natural winemakers branded themselves as traditional for digging back past the last 120 years of winemaking tradition in the region (one which celebrates extended barrel age and calls for specific blends) to make a claim for an older, more authentic style which oddly enough fits the current market trends of today with its shorter maceration and abbreviated cellar aging and truly built to be drunk young. I’m not entirely sure how one can get away from a sort of self awareness when one speaks of Tradition these days. Still, in the wine world, there are still tiny enclaves in Georgia, Italy, France, Slovenia, Spain etc. where stubborn folks just do it how it’s been handed down for them to do, replacing innovation and “authenticity” with an intimate understanding of their tiny little region.
I had never watched any Tradwife content, so I hopped on over to Melanie Renee's Instagram and my kids were like, don't you know what a day in the life of a mom of nine is like? I have to say, her life looks nothing like mine!
I'm not sure I'm as inclined to be so cynical about the phenomenon, though. Yes, tapping into these deep longings for commercial gain is par for the course for our culture, but hopefully the Holy Spirit will work through the phenomenon to turn some young women's hearts back toward the home.
Congratulations to you!! I was looking forward to finishing homeschooling in 3 more years, then God blessed us with a surprise baby. Looks like I’ll be homeschooling forever…
The whole article was great, but this line caught my attention: "It would be intrusive for me to try to be friends with people on my street."
It's so true, and has been true for a good long while. But it was not always true. Can/should this new way of being with neighbors be overthrown?