Ron DeSantis Official Pushes Back on 'Trad Wife&#039...

By Andrew Stanton

Weekend Staff Writer

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Christina Pushaw, a longtime aide to Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis, known for his embrace of conservative social policies, pushed back on tradwife social media accounts on Monday.

Why It Matters

The tradwife trend has taken over social media in the past few years. The trend involves influencers who present themselves as modern-day housewives who embrace traditional gender roles. Prominent tradwife content creators include Nara Smith and Estee Williams. They make content for social media around homemaking and childcare, garnering millions of views on platforms like TikTok or X. The trend has fueled discourse and debate about gender roles in contemporary society.

What to Know

Pushaw pushed back on Monday on how realistic some of the accounts on social media purporting to be tradwife influencers. Her comments come as a new feature on X allows users to see which country accounts are based out of, which has led to questions about the validity of some prominent X profiles.

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“At this point, I just assume all the ‘trad wife with 10 kids and a farm’ accounts on here are fake,” Pushaw wrote. “There’s no way you have time to care for that many children and a FARM when you’re posting on here 20 times a day.”

When reached by Newsweek, Pushaw said her account is personal—not an official account speaking for Governor DeSantis but declined further comment.

In a follow-up post, Pushaw wrote that she knows women who were “trad” before it became an online trend that and they have “not ever posted themselves on social media.”

“That said, I totally support everyone’s right to post what they want online. I think some of these influencers like Ballerina Farm are fun to follow and they are a much better influence on young women than Kardashians or whatever,” she wrote. “But Ballerina Farm is a successful business woman, despite being religious she probably wouldn’t call herself ‘trad.’”

Tradwife influencers often post about topics including cooking and taking care of children; others also sometimes post about homesteading, a lifestyle that focuses around growing your own food or clothes, rather than relying on shopping at stores.

The trend has drawn scrutiny from critics who view the lifestyle as being antifeminist—and have raised concerns that it promotes relying on men for financial support. But others believe that it is antifeminist to criticize women who choose to embrace being a “tradwife.”

Some conservatives have pushed back against the trend. Influencer Emily Wilson told Newsweek earlier this year that promoting the lifestyle is "inauthentic and bad advice."

"What these women are promoting is not super-realistic," Wilson said. "I think there's an increase of women who promote these lifestyles that aren't always attainable. I hate to say it because right-wing people don't want to hear it, but not all women are going to be fulfilled by being moms."

What People Are Saying

Writer Sarah Lee responded to Pushaw on X: “I watched my mom care for seven, plus two brothers whose mom worked at the CDC so she was their daily nanny in our home until they went to pre-school. Can confirm, there's no way.”

Estee Williams, a popular tradwife content creator, said in a 2022 video explaining the trend: “The misconception about the tradwife movement—it’s not really a movement, nobody’s pushing it. People are typically just living it and maybe showcasing their lifestyle like me. We believe our place, specifically us as individuals, believe our purpose is to be homemakers. It doesn’t mean we are trying to take away what women fought for.”