Tradwives and Torah chic: Is adopting an Orthodox aesthetic suddenly cool?

(Photo by cottonbro studio/Pexels)

The “tradwives” trend has taken off lately—a lifestyle fad wherein “traditional wives” espouse their happiness in cooking, cleaning, keeping working husbands happy, and raising children with a constant smile. And with Passover coming up, we wanted to dive deeper into the phenomenon, and how it intersects with a new fashion fad Vogue dubbed “Torah-teacher aesthetic”: what should we make of the intersection between genuinely Orthodox women who identify as “traditional” and tradition being touted as a modern style?

To dissect the issues, Avi and Phoebe are joined by writer Jesse Martin-Miller for a deep dive into these trends and why people are talking about it.

What we talked about

Credits

Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy. Zachary Kauffman is the producer and editor. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.