Why We Keep Underestimating Conservative Women

2026-08-20

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For years we've been laughing at tradwives. We've mocked the prairie dresses, the sourdough starters, the "submit to your husband" content, and the endless parade of blonde influencers telling women to embrace traditional femininity. Meanwhile, conservative women have been building one of the most effective political movements in modern American history. Today's guest, sociologist Katie Gaddini, spent nearly a decade embedded with Christian conservative women across the country. What she found challenges almost...

For years we've been laughing at tradwives.

We've mocked the prairie dresses, the sourdough starters, the "submit to your husband" content, and the endless parade of blonde influencers telling women to embrace traditional femininity.

Meanwhile, conservative women have been building one of the most effective political movements in modern American history.

Today's guest, sociologist Katie Gaddini, spent nearly a decade embedded with Christian conservative women across the country. What she found challenges almost everything we think we know about who these women are and how they wield power.

We chat about the influencer ecosystem shaping political beliefs, the pageant-to-politics pipeline, why appearance can be a political strategy, and why reducing conservative women to tradwives may be blinding us to what's actually happening.

Because while everyone was busy making fun of the aesthetic, these women were building institutions, winning elections, shaping culture, and changing the country.

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