The Trad Wife meme as a Wojak is a blonde white woman in a floral blue prairie dress wearing a small smile. She represents the general concept of the “trad wife,” short for “traditional wife,” who stays at home to do the chores, cook, and raise children, as some believe is the natural state for women.
The Trad Wife trend has been growing into the mainstream throughout the first half of the 2020s and is often presented in opposition to modern feminism. As nice as the Trad Wife Wojak may appear, she suffers from some dark roots.
Meme basics:
- Meme Creator: Anonymous
- Meme Type: Wojak
- First Appearance: July 9, 2019
- Origin Source: 4chan
- Used to Convey: Traditional/conservative values
What is a Trad Wife?
As a Wojak, the Trad Wife is a demure woman in a modest dress sporting a gentle expression and either natural pink in her cheeks or light makeup.
As a larger trend, a trad wife is a woman who pursues or lives a life she thinks is “traditional” by being a stay-at-home mom, wearing sundresses or other modest but feminine clothing, making meals from scratch, and pretending she’s living in a specific version of the 1950s.
For the vast majority of women, this lifestyle was never the norm but a dream presented in ads and fiction.
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‘Me at 29’ Trad Wife and Yes Chad Wojaks
In the Wojak’s early days, people often paired her with the Nordic man of the Yes Chad meme. In one popular version, the Trad Wife and the Yes Chad would propose marriage to each other in their early to mid-twenties to represent past generations and compare them to today’s young people. Some of these memes are more serious than others.
The depiction of these “traditional” types as blonde white people as well as their association with 4chan resulted in many people assuming their origins are steeped in racism and antisemitism, and they have good reason to do so.
People may also pair the Trad Wife with Doomer Girl, often as friends but sometimes to compare the two’s presumed traits and interests.
Trad Wife meme origins
As recorded by Know Your Meme, the Trad Wife Wojak we know today first graced 4chan on July 9, 2019, presented with the comment “anon I want to make mixed babies with you.”
The idea of the trad wife and the basis for the Wojak’s depiction, however, are significantly older. In the early 2010s, a meme emerged comparing “The ‘Liberated” Feminist” to “The Tradwife.” The former is labeled as “only attracted to black men” while the latter is “Knowledgeable about her European roots.”
The earliest post showing a version of this image on Reddit dates Sept. 17, 2018, but TikTok user @domesticblisters claims to have seen it as far back as 2009.
Variations
The Trad Wife meme as a Wojak has been dressed up more than perhaps any known Wojak to date. There are Trad Wife Wojaks from many different nations, cultures, and religions, as well as from specific periods or dressed as historical figures.
Her look also inspired the Wifejak—a more modern and politically neutral wife Wojak. Many meme fans feel that the Wifejak represents a better evolutionary path for Wojaks and representations of married women as a whole. She may have a job and even pants, but she remains a loving and supportive partner.
Trad Wife meme examples
Related memes:
- The Zoomer Wojak immortalized Generation Z hate
- ‘Why? Why? Why’: Daughterjak joins the Wojak family
- Husbandjak: The husband Wojak
- These Black Wojak memes are here to throw shade at white wokes
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