Why Gen-Z may be returning to traditional roles
Many people are (quite rightly) focused on the recent, startling study that nearly a third of Gen-Z men believe that a woman should ‘obey’ her husband.
But another concerning statistic has come out of that same study – the fact that it’s not just men that have this view, it’s women too.
More Gen-Z men believe that a wife should obey her husband than any other generation.
But what’s also startling is that the same trend exists for women, with 18% of Gen-Z women sharing this view compared to 6% of Baby-Boomer women.
What’s interesting is that this tradition of obedience, adopted by some members of Gen-Z, is more closely linked to the times that Baby-Boomers would have grown up in, the traditional mid-1900s idea of a woman serving her house and husband, and the man going to work to provide from them.
Interestingly, however, the generation most familiar with this dynamic are the ones who opposed it most, according to the survey.
Could this point to the glamorisation of tradwives? The romanticisation of the trend on social media versus the reality of living it day-to-day?
Prior to 2020, the traditional belief that men were to act as providers, while women served the household was on the decline.
While there aren’t yet specific stats on how these figures have changed, it would appear that today in the mid-2020s, for some, beliefs are changing.
A noticeable difference between now and then? The tradwife.
Tradwives rose to prominence is the 2020s with names such as Nara Smith and Hannah Neeleman (aka Ballerina Farm) leading the movement.
The trend has only expanded from there, with the hashtag ‘tradwives’ averaging 1.1billion views per month on TikTok.
And there-in lies the problem that many people point to when it comes to tradwives – social media.
As of 2026, TikTok has nearly 2 billion users, with 88% of these being between the ages of 18-24. Women of this demographic makeup over 12% of TikTok users while the men make up over 13%.
This means that Gen-Z are incredibly exposed to the omnipresence of the tradwife trend.
Many tradwife influencers defend the movement, arguing that they ‘want’ to serve their husband, and while many of them don’t outwardly tell women what to do, their positive presentation of themselves floating around the house, doing chores, or showing what they cooked for their husband that day is clearly having an influence.
But why is it having such an influence?
Well for one, as we know, social media is extremely influential in general, with influencers providing a personal connection scarcely seen in mainstream media, and algorithms driving this home by showing audiences similar content once they have consumed it.
Even I, a person who is most definitely against the tradwife trend, would see its content repeatedly online, due simply to a fascination with it.
Researchers have also often pointed towards economic struggles when trying to pinpoint the cause of Gen-Z’s shifting gender dynamics.
For men, traditional content (such as that of the ‘manosphere’ and alpha males) appeals to them because of a feeling of not being heard by politicians on their issues, as well as a jealously towards the men of older generations and the opportunitiesthey had, such as being able to get on the housing ladder.
For women, recent trends suggest that more women are returning to traditional home-making roles in order to protect themselves from overwork and the mental health risks associated with the workforce.
But researchers warn that this trend could lead to a reversal in progress and a return to the stereotypical roles of the household.
Is social media presenting a shiny new alternative, to the working women we are now familiar with?
