A FORMER trad wife has revealed the struggles she faced when she got divorced and had to learn basic skills like driving a car.
A trad wife (short for traditional wife) is a woman who chooses to take on an ultra traditional role in marriage, meaning she makes dinner and looks pretty whilst her husband goes to work.
Tradwives choose to dress in the style of clothing popular in this period ( think floral dresses and frumpy cardigans).
Additionally, the values considered important to tradwvies are similar to strict Christian values.
Tradwives state that they are not forced into this way of life, and believe that it is their purpose to be homemakers.
Ophelia Maraschino revealed that she had been a trad wife for 10 years, after getting married at the extremely young age of 17.
In a TikTok video, Ophelia, who is from Melbourne, Australia said that by the time she was 21, she had two children under three, and spent her entire time caring for them and her husband.
She explained that the children were only allowed to go to a Steiner school, where they weren’t allowed to use any screens or tech.
The mum described the school as ‘culty’ and said that she wouldn’t have chosen to send the children there herself, but had no choice.
Ophelia said that when she was a trad wife, she loved her husband “unconditionally” and would do anything that he said.
Unlike many trad wives, Ophelia said that she did work, but it was only seven hours a week.
She said: “It was not enough to have financial independence, but enough to have a bit of pocket money.”
Upon realising that the trad wife life was not for her, Ophelia decided to leave but said that she had no ability to make money, due to her lack of employment history.
The mum of two is now 34 years old and is just starting a degree, and has learnt how to drive.
“I’m a good 10-15 years behind everyone else my age in terms of setting up my finances and building a career for myself”, she said.
Ophelia warned other women against following the trad wife lifestyle, as she said if they ever get divorced, they will find it extremely hard to find a job.
The mum’s video, which was posted under the username @ophelia.maraschino, has likely struck a chord with many people, as it has racked up over 174,000 views on the video sharing platform.
TikTok users raced to the video’s comments section to share their thoughts.
One person said: “I’m so proud of you.
“I left last year and it was the best thing I ever did”.
A second person said: “I was a trad wife and got divorced at 28 and I couldn’t be happier”.
A third added: “This is exactly why I would never be a trad wife”.
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