[R]ecent signs suggest young adults may once again be embracing the idea that men should be dominant, while women play a supporting role.
Our research explored a concept called benevolent sexism – a set of patronising attitudes that appear positive while reinforcing women’s subordinate status.
This type of sexism is “benevolent” because it offers praise and protection to women who support traditional gender roles, while protecting patriarchal dominance as the status quo.
Our research, not yet peer reviewed, looked at two aspects of benevolent sexism.
1. Protective paternalism (“paternalism”): the belief that women need men’s protection
2. Complementary gender differentiation (“gendered roles”): the belief that men are naturally providers and protectors and women are naturally best suited to looking after home and family.
In the 2010 cohort, 57% of women disagreed with gendered roles, compared to 43% in 2024. In the intervening years, the dial shifted from “no” to “yes”.
In my 2010 focus groups, many young Australian women believed their male partners would be unlikely to share household and caring duties with them. As a result, they (reluctantly) expected to give up or reduce investment in their careers once they were partnered and had children.
Why do young women seem to expect even more conservative outcomes in their relationships 14 years later?
Some insight may be gained from two online trends that actively promote a return to traditional gender roles: the manosphere and the tradwives movement.
Denizens of the manosphere are loud and aggressive in expressing their criticisms of women.
One criticism has been gaining prominence: that men’s wellbeing is suffering as a result of women becoming more independent.
Misusing ideas from evolutionary psychology, the manosphere promotes the view that women and men are “naturally” suited to different roles.
The female equivalent to the manosphere is a collection of online female influencers. Many of these are “tradwives”, short for traditional wives.
Tradwives mirror the ideals of the manosphere, encouraging women to focus solely on looking after the home, the man and the family.
A key message of the tradwives movement is that “having it all” is too hard and women should allow themselves the freedom to focus on home and family.
This may appeal to young women feeling pressured to achieve in a world where the system is stacked against them.
But in romanticising the homemaker role, the tradwives movement wilfully ignores the risks in these traditional arrangements for women. One such risk is women who are financially dependent on their partners may find it harder to leave abusive relationships.
Source: From the manosphere to tradwives – why are young women embracing traditional gender roles?