Ep. 239: The Teenage “Tradwife” and a Biblical Worldview of Marriage

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that teens have taken up the “tradwife” mantle and have begun building their personal brands and influencer content by adulterating the sanctity of marriage.  Over the past month, there has been a whirlwind of commentary surrounding the teen tradwife trend – teens who’ve opted to get married early and share on social media how much they love marriage, submitting to their husbands, and not working. It’s obvious that teens absorb and assimiliate to much of the viral content they see on social media. Now, teens and young adults are creating content around traditional marriage values in order to be seen, gain followers, and go viral.

In today’s episode, Kelly explains the tradwife trend and the real motivation for capturing pieces of your marriage and posting them as content for public consumption. Kelly argues that the motivation is nothing more than performance aimed at gaining attention. Examining the most popular TikTok video (the video that “broke” the internet), it’s easy to see how this content can deceive young girls into thinking this is what marriage is (and not liking the social media portrayal) or to jump into a romanticized version of marriage because the influencers make it look so blissful. Either way, it’s not biblical. Kelly ends with emphasizing the biblical definition of marriage and calls women to step into teen girls’ lives, ask questions, and help shape a biblical understanding of the institution of marriage.

Articles referenced:

Teenagers are buying into the tradwife fantasy, literally and figuratively
Pew: 12th Grade Girls are Less Likely than Boys to Say They Want to Get Married Someday
TikTok: Ava Ahavat
What Does Coram Deo Mean?

Scripture referenced:

Genesis 2:24
1 Thessalonians 4:11
Matthew 6:1
Ephesians 5:22-23
Matthew 5:14-16
Proverbs 31
Revelation 19:7-9
1 Peter 3:3-4
Romans 12:2

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