Young, British and Tradwife

Tradwives are trending. The term is in the dictionary, and the hashtag has over 300 million views on TikTok. Online tradwives promote the pleasures of domesticity and teach others how to be perfect homemakers in effortless and elegant social media videos that generate millions of likes. But they are not just an online phenomenon. Women in the real world, inspired by online influencers, are increasingly rejecting feminism, workplace hustle and hook-up culture to bake sourdough, homeschool the kids and obey their husbands.

BAFTA- and Grierson Award-nominated documentarian Poppy Jay wants to know why the tradwife world of domestic chores and submission appeals to so many. Reflecting on her own experience of forced marriage, she packs away her camera, pins on an apron and meets with British tradwives to find out if this is what true choice looks like in the 21st century.

As she juggles baking, sewing and schooling, she asks if a movement that demands submission to a husband is the solution to modern burnout or just the latest manifestation of an age-old misogynistic culture shaped by men, for men.

Poppy meets women from across the tradwife spectrum, from the newly married coach of ‘biblical wifery’ with 70,000 TikTok followers to the homeschooling mother of seven, to discover why the simple life rooted in traditional Christian values is suddenly so popular. Immersing herself in family life, Poppy challenges her own preconceptions, asking why any women would choose to submit to her husband and whether feminism has, as the tradwives claim, betrayed women by promising them they can have it all.