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First modification: 04/29/2026 - 17:30

In this special episode of Ellas Hoy we explore, together with the expert Rosa Márquez, the phenomenon of tradwives as one of the new forms of machismo that is taking hold, especially among young people on social networks. With the support of figures, we show how more and more men from Generation Z are attracted to the figure of the obedient and submissive woman, an imaginary that the author Júlia Salander questions in her new book on feminism.

"Building a farm, a family and a strong community of 20 million followers around the world." The cover text of 'Cowgirl' magazine accompanies a blonde woman in a plaid suit and a cowgirl hat who proudly poses in a vertical split. The model is Hannah Neeleman and she is one of the most famous wives on the Internet.

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Known in the social media universe as 'Ballerina Farm', Neeleman has been called "the queen of tradwives" and represents a growing culture of women who decided to take their lifestyle to the last century and show their transformation as influencers while billing for their performance.

Former Juilliard Academy dancer, married to the son of the founder of JetBlue Airways and mother of eight children, Hannah transformed first her networks and then her farm into a large family business where she sells dozens of products to the public under her own brand.

Like her, there is an army of tradwives, or in Spanish traditional wives, flooding the networks with their recipes made from scratch, with organic ingredients and masterfully decorated dishes, while they pose in floral and pristine dresses, surrounded by their children - the more the better - and smiling while waiting for the husband's arrival.

The staging looks like a photograph taken in the United States of the 1950s, but it is 2026 and millions of users observe with interest their alleged choice of life at the service of the family and immersed in a declared pleasure of unpaid work, denying decades of feminist militancy that, unlike the reality of the 1950s, have represented financial freedom, paid jobs outside the private sphere of the home, and sexual reproductive rights to plan and decide whether or not to have daughters and sons.

For Rosa Márquez, doctor in gender studies and author of the article 'Tradwives: the female reaction to the feminist advances of the fourth wave', tradwives are clearly an attack on feminism "and are part of this reaction to the achievements we have achieved through the fourth wave of feminism, also being a great political opposition by right-wing groups and by the so-called manosphere on the Internet."

"It is quite paradoxical that these women who have so much public projection - because many of them have millions of followers on social networks - advocate for the return of women to the home (...) but they are monetizing all of this through brand sponsorships, be it the publication of cookbooks, advertising, even going to television programs while telling other women not to work," says the expert.

Should a wife always obey her husband?

It is precisely this particular trait of influencers who glorify service to their husbands, which attracts massive audiences and curiously arouses the interest of Generation Z.

A recent global study by Ipsos and King's College London for Women's Day reveals that 30% of Gen Z men—those born between 1997 and 2012—believe that a wife should always obey her husband. A figure that contrasts with 18% of women of the same age.

The gap widens when talking about intimacy and care: 3 in 10 young men believe that a "real" woman should never initiate a sexual relationship.

And regarding parenting, 56% of them maintain that women are better caregivers "by nature." A deep-rooted conception that seeks to nullify the task of equal rights for women and girls and on the contrary privileges submission and motherhood as natural destinies.

One in two men thinks that the fight for equality has gone too far and that it discriminates against men.

Still, some believe things would improve with more women leading. Six out of ten support more women in positions of responsibility in government and companies.

It is as if Generation Z lives in a contradiction: they admire successful women, but distrust their independence.

A distrust enhanced by the hyperconnectivity of social networks and by a rising extreme right in the world, under figures such as Donald Trump in the United States, José Antonio Kast in Chile, or Giorgia Meloni in Italy.

How to combat the new machismos?

Regarding the actions of far-right leaders, who frequently use conservative and anti-rights statements as a propaganda strategy, the Spanish author and feminist influencer Júlia Salander sat in front of the France 24 cameras, speaking about her new book: 'Fire to modern machismo'.

"Every time there are elections, the extreme right rises. What all these characters - extreme right leaders - have in common is that they are very anti-feminist. I think they manage to capture the vote of heterosexual men who have not been able to accept the advances of feminism," explains Salander.

Regarding the way of seeing the world from a staunch commitment to equality, the author expressed on France 24 that when there is any doubt about whether a certain action is sexist or not, she questions from the outside how a man would act. "In a 100% egalitarian world, how would we behave?" reflects Júlia.

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