High school ‘Tradwife’ debate topic divides

Controversy has erupted after a certain topic was put forward for Year 9 students to debate in a statewide competition – but not everyone is offended.

A hot button topic put forward for Year 9 students to discuss during a statewide debate competition has caused a stir online.

Debating SA, a non-profit organisation that runs debating competitions in South Australia, revealed its latest topics ahead of next week’s debates. However, it was the topic for round three — “The ‘Trad Wife’ movement is good for women” — that has raised eyebrows and sparked fierce discussion.

The ‘Trad Wife’ movement has been popularised by the likes of influencer Hannah Neeleman, also known as Ballerina Farm, who has more than 10 million followers on Instagram, and Nara Smith, a US-based model and influencer with nearly 5 million followers.

The movement is often rooted in “traditional” values, based on the idea of a woman looking after the home and children while the woman’s husband goes off to work and earn money.

Typically, it is associated with conservative values where the woman is seen as submissive, however defenders say those who follow it, do so as a matter of personal choice.

The topic will start being debated next week as part of the third round of Debating SA’s competition, for which all schools in the state are eligible. Picture: Getty Images

Debating SA’s topic choice left many questioning whether it was appropriate for Year 9 students to research and discuss, let alone be aware of the phrase ‘Trad Wife’.

“Personally I think being able to debate around a topic even one that is clearly terrible is still an important skill,” one social media user said.

“But the point of contention is that tradwife stuff promotes not only staying at home, but actual straight up misogyny. And it would always be controversial to debate ‘is it okay to hate women?’.”

Nara Smith is one of the biggest faces in the 'tradwife' movement. Picture: Instagram/Nara Smith

Another said: “This is a huge misstep by the debating orgs (and I’m saying this as a former high school debater and coach).”

“Sounds like those who champion ‘critical thinking, cultural nous and debate’ to set this topic have NFI of the current cultural implications of the ‘tradwife’ movement online, especially its direct pipeline to white supremacy and misogyny,” another added.

But others argued there was no real issue.

“I thought one of the points of debating was arguing for a side you don’t necessarily agree with. My son recently was involved with a school debate where the topic was ‘Is the current climate change man made?’. I don’t see a trad wife debate being much different,” one parent wrote.

Another weighed in: “Honestly, if the goal is to teach kids how to think critically about the content they’re bombarded with online, this isn’t the worst topic to explore.

“The tradwife movement is something they’ll run into on TikTok or YouTube eventually, so better to unpack it in a guided, moderated classroom than leave them to figure it out through algorithm-fed echo chambers. Context and intent matter. If this was framed as a critical discussion — not an endorsement — then it’s literally education doing its job.”

Students are set to debate whether the 'trad wife' movement is 'good for women'.

Following the outrage, Debating SA sent a clarification to schools, saying that students “must look critically at sources”.

“It goes without saying that any websites that denigrate women (or any person) are not a good source of information and are not relevant to the topic,” the clarification, which also appeared on its website, said.

“To avoid any confusion about the topic, the following definitions for the purpose of the debate apply:

“Tradwife is a portmanteau for ‘traditional wife’, a woman who embraces traditional gender roles, primarily focusing on home making and family care, while her husband is the primary breadwinner. This can include cooking, cleaning, child-rearing, and maintaining the home. “This term is intended to be synonymous with the idea of a stay at home parent.”

It caused uproar, and the organisation has since clarified that it meant 'stay at home' mum. Picture: Instagram/@ballerinafarm

“The tradwife movement is therefore a group of people who support a lifestyle such as the above. Note that this does not include any concept of ‘submission’ as some sources may define.

“Good for women generally refers to something that has a positive impact on women’s lives and wellbeing. Note specifically that the definition does not infer ‘all women’.”

In a further email provided to news.com.au, Sonja Lowen, the chairman of Debating SA, said: “The positive response to the topic and our organisation [has] been well expressed by a number of people in the mainstream media.

“The negative response from some of the public has been very illuminating in the way in which they chose to express not only their views. but also the idea that there can be no debate about this subject. It seems that thinking about a subject that they don’t agree with has become a radical act. Shutting down discussion is not a good idea and is the antithesis of a free society.”

Ms Lowen said it made her realise debate provides a regulated forum for students to be able to present a case in a measured way, “something some of the public would do well to emulate”.

“We expect our debaters to present their case with evidence and reasoning. It is very necessary for young people to be able to develop the skills to navigate their way in what is now a very complicated social landscape and those skills are perfected and refined by debating,” she said.

“Debating is an intellectual and academic discipline that allows the participants to examine both sides of a topic regardless of their own personal beliefs. This ability to explore both sides makes us tolerant of other views. Thinking is hard work and we should not surrender our intellectual independence because a topic may be difficult or in this case deemed unacceptable by some of the public.”

But some were not satisfied with the reasoning from Debating SA.

“This isn’t moderated in class discussion, it’s a discussion topic for a Debating Competition, and the organisers have said that they used trad-wife as a synonym for ‘stay at home parent’,” one said.

“Honestly, their excuse sounds pretty pathetic – trad-wife is not a synonym for stay at home parent, it’s a controversial social movement with significant connections to right-wing politics and influencers.”

Another added: “They’re engaged enough to know the term, but not the context. ‘Tradwife’ is absolutely not a synonym for “stay at home parent”. They’ve gone awry from the outset.”

“The issue is them conflating SAHM with Trad Wife. Trad wife is a social movement. They are vastly not the same thing. And the Trad Wife may not necessarily have children,” another said.

Originally published as High school ‘Tradwife’ debate topic divides