University Honors

The year 2022 marks the beginning of a period in the United States of economic stress marked by high inflation, surges in housing prices, and increasing competition in the job market. That same year, social media platforms Instagram and TikTok have witnessed a revitalization of traditional gender roles through the promotion of digital archetypes: the ìtradwifeî and ìstay-at-home girlfriend.î While both archetypes vary in how they negotiate femininity in their use of accessible short-form video content, they both prioritize domesticity and financial dependence on male partners. Recognizing that their rise in popularity parallels speculated stagflation, I argue that womenís reclamation of patriarchal expectations is a way to exploit traditional roles to evade responsibilities of the public sphere as workers under late-stage capitalism. Recalling the anthropological framework of cultural materialism, this article explores the relationship between women and the economy by navigating two distinct questions: how does the economy affect womenís roles, and how are women reacting to these changes? The first question is addressed through analyzing historical documents, policy, and changes in the economy during shifts in expectations for women. Using digital ethnography, I then address the second question by analyzing short-form videos posted by Tradwives and Stay-at-home-girlfriends, alongside content sampled from an algorithm curated by following such content creators, to observe how traditional ideology is utilized to express and avoid frustration. To highlight how economic disparity may be exaggerated for women, the history of womenís gender roles and policy is also factored into how women may employ gender roles.