A (0:00)

Hey, Ryan Reynolds here wishing you a very happy half off holiday because right now Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not half the service. Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price. So that means half day. Yeah, give it a try@mintmobile.com switch.

B (0:22)

Upfront payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow, 135 gigabytes of network fizzy. Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com foreign. Hello and welcome to this episode of Kennedy Saves the World. Earlier this week, I wrote about a trad wife for the Daily Mail because this is a trend that is a trend that is fascinating to me because it is such a massive once again pendulum swing from the style of self deprivation feminism that has taken over so many women's lives. So instead of being career focused and childless and partnerless, the pendulum now goes to getting married after a quick engagement at a young age, having as many children as possible as soon as possible, being a stay at home mom. And if you're a real trad wife, you make sourdough, you make your own bubble gum, you churn your own butter, and you basically make Amish women look like digital strippers in Las Vegas. It is so diy, it is so analog. And it is also really head scratching because I oftentimes these trad wives, like Hannah Neilman and the young woman that I wrote about, Madison Pruitt, she goes by Maddie, she was the first runner up on the 2020 season of the Bachelor. And. And then Peter broke up with Hannah and tried to get back together with Maddie, then broke up with her two days later. And then Maddie found this guy, Grant Trout. They had a very quick engagement, three months, and then they got married because they didn engagement. And so now she's got a podcast and she talks about being a trad wife. They have one child, they're probably gonna have 15 more. And the idea that these women who put their husbands at the center of their lives are morally superior to everyone else. But here's the interesting thing. You can honor your husband, you can be devoted to your family, you can cook, you can clean, you can do all of that and still have a life of your own. But there is something about this where women give up their identity and their independence in order to be, you know, really demonstrably subservient to their husbands. And it's like if that is part of your faith, that's Fine, but why does all of this have to be demonstrated? Why is all of this so performative? Why is all of this done by the ballerina farms, Hannah, and by Maddie in order to get more social media engagement? Because we know engagement comes from extremes and you're not going to make money and you're not going to break through unless you are doing something that is so extreme you're out extreme the extremists, which is what these trad wives are doing to each other. And they have wars between the feminists and the trad wives. And it's like, can't you just settle on normal for a little while? Do you have to give everything up and live on a farm in Utah and have more kids than you've got fingers? Which is fine for people who have the means for. For people who have the religious aim. I know a lot of people who have more than five kids, but they don't have to broadcast every second of it. They also don't have to romanticize it. The most fascinating thing about those people is not only their faith, it's their systems. And I've told the story many times. When I got pregnant with my older daughter, I found a friend who at the time had six kids, she now has seven. And I had her walk me through the things you actually need when you are having a newborn and how to parent. And her whole thing was all about systems. Well, the systems for these women is, you know, these curated glimpses into their lives that show that they are better than you, that they work harder than you, that they get up earlier than you do, and their family lives are neat and chaos free and full of bliss. Which at times that's true. At times, if you're honest, it's the opposite. But why do you have to go so far in one direction? Because for a lot of these women, if you're getting married and having kids in your early, early 20s, you're not going to college, you're not studying and improving yourself and pushing your own intellectual boundaries. And as an individual, that is a really important thing to do. It is important to know what you love, and it's not just your husband. And that's great if your family is at the center of your life. I think the more people who live like that, the happier they will be. But at what expense? You still have to know who you are as a human being and as an individual. In order to be happy. There still has to be a level of personal, spiritual, intellectual fulfillment and a sense of completion before you can complete the circle in other people's lives. And that's what is missing here. What's also missing is the disclaimer that Hannah Nealman and Matty Pruitt are married to filthy rich guys. And it's a lot easier to claim that you churn your own butter and that you have forsaken a consumerist lifestyle if you've got a billion dollars in the bank. If you don't have to worry about money ever. That is by far the biggest anxiety that plagues people, especially younger people who are trying to start families and own their own homes. But if you never have to worry about that, sure, you can indulge in this luxury. And there are people who say, like, remember the girl who got made fun of because her engagement ring was too small? And that's so petty. And it's like saying, well, you can't be a trad wife because your ring's not big enough. That means that your husband won't be able to provide for you. Okay, well, let's say your husband does provide for you. And let's say, like Maddie Pruitt, she talks about this on her podcast. What if your husband develops a porn addiction? She was addicted to porn and masturbation for years, and she was finally able to break free from it. Good for her. It's an honest conversation she's having. It's also the conversation that people tune in for because they're not as interested in sourdough starters as they are about her clam slapping when she was in high school. You know, which she talks about pretty openly. But, you know, what if your husband, I don't know, develops some depravity? If he's in his early 20s and then he gets into his 30s and this entire life becomes very boring to him, and he has a midlife crisis and he goes out and starts plugging hookers, then what are you going to do when you don't have a backup plan? You don't have a side hustle, You've never had a job, you don't have a college degree. There are reform trad wives who are talking about how, you know, there's this one woman who has like six jobs because she has to support her children, because her husband that she was devoted to, that she put at the center of her life became a deadbeat and they divorced. And it happens in life and it sucks, but you have to be prepared for it. You have to make sure that before you put on someone else's mask that yours is already secure. And that means you should Have a nest egg. You should have your own savings. You should have a way of making money if the world falls apart. Because I'm sure people start out on this very traditional path with great intentions. Not all of those marriages survive. And you know, men in those kind of cultures, they tend to skate a little bit easier and are extended a lot more grace than women. Don't go anywhere. More Kennedy Saves the World right after this. This is Ainsley Earhart. Thank you for joining me for the 52 episode podcast series the Life of Jesus.