Her days are focused on fertility, faith, and farming. This trifecta is at the core of her “training” to become something called a ‘tradwife’, short for ‘traditional wife’.

Instead, Cali believes “all women should be, like … in the kitchen”, she said with a laugh.

Wife supremacy? Trad living and its potential links to alt-right content

Accounts like Cali’s are emblematic of what the trad movement is: a revolt against the modern world and return to traditional living. But for critics of the broader trend of tradwife content, in some cases the paisley dresses and pastoral scenes are a pipeline to alt-right content. 

The tradwife movement is also closely linked with conservative Christianity and many tradwives — including Cali — view this lifestyle as Biblically ordained. According to Cali, women “were made to be mothers and wives” by God.

Cali views part of the trad wife lifestyle as practising ‘Biblical femininity’. Credit: SBS Dateline

Online, the ‘tradwife’ trend first gained significant traction around the time Donald Trump was first elected US president in 2016.

Some social media influencers associated with the tradwife movement have audiences in the millions.

The influence of tradwives

“The reality of it is that it’s financially inaccessible for the majority of women because it’s not really possible for a family or a couple, or an individual even, to survive on one salary in the cost of living crisis,” she said.

But for some women who’ve tried the trad life, the reality tore their families apart.

Abandoning the trad life

She sits in her Denver home, looking at photos of her wedding day, reminiscing about the more than 10 years she spent in a traditional marriage that she says nearly destroyed her.

Enitza says that as a tradwife, her role was “to have as many babies as possible”. Credit: SBS Dateline

Born to Puerto Rican parents, Enitza was raised as an evangelical Christian. She says it had been instilled in her since childhood that a husband should have total authority over his wife.

“Everything was secondary to just looking for a husband,” she said.

While her husband managed their finances and made all decisions in the house, Enitza said it was her job “to have as many babies as possible”. After having four children, including one with complex health issues, she fell into a deep depression.

She is now one of the most prominent anti-tradwife voices in the United States.

Potential harms of tradwife content

“You don’t see tradwives in their 40s,” she said. 

Enitza fears the tradwife lifestyle can expose women to coercive control. Credit: SBS Dateline

Enitza believes young women are blinded by the bucolic aesthetic of trad living and don’t understand the real purpose of the movement.

“The goal is to create disciples who believe everything you believe so that the girls can grow up and continue serving and the men can grow up and continue leading.”

With additional reporting by Kathleen Farmilo.