In a twist of historical irony, some of the loudest voices attacking modern feminism aren’t men, they’re women. Figures like Marjorie Taylor Greene and influencers like Pearl Davis are reviving 1950s-style gender roles under the guise of “traditional values,” using platforms built by the feminist movements they denounce.
The alternative rightwing media ecosystem is targeting young female American audiences who tend to lean left. A lot of Democratic women have criticized the impossible expectations placed on women in a capitalist society that offers little support to working mothers.
In response to this criticism, rightwing women want to return to an idealized past where being a wife and a mother was a woman’s sole purpose, going back years of women fighting for their rights in society.
The type of woman these rightwing women want to go back to is the thin, straight, fertile, feminine, and conventionally attractive woman to white men. This vision of a woman strips women of their freedom and economic independence. Why are we trying to go backwards?
Young women are vulnerable to these appeals, and influencers like Pearl Davis and Candace Owens capitalize on a real crisis. They’re not helping women, they’re hurting them.
These right-wing female influencers want to return to a world where women are submissive homemakers and men are strong providers, which, to that, I say, how offensive. This is a strike in the face to our mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers who fought to have the rights that we have today.
A lot of these women call themselves “independent thinkers.” Yet, their ideals line up quite well with the Trump administration’s mission to cut reproductive rights, protections for LGBTQ+ people, and create an anti-science agenda that puts the health of millions of Americans at risk.
If you want to know more on this topic, I would recommend reading “Now comes the ‘womanosphere’: the anti-feminist media telling women to be thin, fertile and Republican” by Anna Silman and “Are “Tradwives” Part of Our Past or Our Future—Or Neither?” by Ivana Greco.
This offensive mindset is only going to continue hurting vulnerable young girls who are going to grow up thinking that our sole purpose is to serve men. This is not the 1950s; it’s 2025, and we need to stop looking to the past for answers.
