Bernadine Bluntly, a prominent tradwife influencer, posted a video in April renouncing the movement she had championed for years. Bluntly, 36, had previously promoted patriarchal gender roles, pronatalist ideals and fundamentalist Christian values to her large social media following, including selling merchandise with anti-feminist slogans and developing a course called Simply Smitten to help women attract "traditional masculine men".
She left her husband last year, and her divorce was finalised this year. During the proceedings, she obtained a restraining order against her ex-husband, whom she said was abusive. He denies this.
In her April video titled "What I got Wrong About the Trad Movement," Bluntly said she no longer believes in "extreme gender roles, especially when they're wrapped in spiritual language and used to justify control, silence or harm." She said the tradwife movement, which she initially viewed as promoting "strong family values," has "become indistinguishable from the current wave of the red-pill manosphere." She remains Christian and believes in differences between men and women, she said.
"If my past content contributed to that, I am so genuinely sorry," she concluded.
The Guardian reports that in recent years, some of the most vocal tradwives have left their husbands, renounced their religious faith and promoted financial independence.