From being a girlboss to being just a girl, there has been a shift in how feminism is presented in the mainstream. This reflects society’s move from corporate empowerment toward an ironic and introspective perspective on womanhood. However, this transition raises concerns about whether women are reclaiming their femininity or if it is a harmful outlook that takes away from the progress of feminism.
In the 2024 presidential election, there was an increase of female voters who supported the Republican candidate, Donald Trump. During the 2020 presidential election, Trump’s campaign focused on gaining support from young men, which resulted in more votes from young men compared to totals from young women. However, during the 2024 election, 41% of women between the ages of 18 and 29 voted for Trump — an 8% increase from 33% in 2020.
This increase in female voters is particularly unusual due to Trump’s notoriety of being blatantly anti-women. He has frequently made crude comments about women throughout his career that are both disturbing and disempowering.
This raises the question of what prompted more young women to vote Republican in 2024. On social media, several trends may have subtly foreshadowed this societal change.
On platforms like TikTok, there has been a rise in Mormon tradwife influencers — the term “tradwife” being social media slang for “traditional wife.” Interestingly, the Mormon religion only consists of around 17 million members worldwide, including over 6 million in the U.S. and Canada alone. Despite this relatively small population, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is estimated to have a net worth of $265 billion, making it one of the wealthiest religious institutions in the world. This substantial income comes with a greater influence in the U.S., which contributes to the rise of conservative femininity through methods such as social media promotion.
Although the LDS Church claims political neutrality, it has been closely tied to the Republican Party due to their shared conservative values. For instance, the Church played a significant role in supporting Proposition 8 in California, which aimed to ban same-sex marriage. Since the LDS Church has accumulated a large amount of wealth, it has gained political influence through lobbying efforts that align with Republican priorities.
Gender essentialism plays a significant role in Mormonism as their doctrine enforces the idea that gender is an “essential characteristic.” Under Mormonism, while men are expected to provide for their families, women are primarily responsible for raising children.
The LDS Church teaches its members to donate 10% of their annual income, which serves as the primary source of funding. Traditional gender roles connect to this economic structure as it ensures that women financially rely on their male counterparts. Mormonism also discourages women from pursuing their careers or education over childbearing, highlighting the gender roles enforced by the Church.
Mormon tradwife influencers showcase their devotion to their husband, children and maintaining appearances — all effortlessly so. For instance, the most popular Mormon tradwife influencers, such as Nara Smith and Hannah Neeleman, embody the image of the ideal Mormon woman by exhibiting these traits online. Though the majority of Smith’s audience questioned whether her online presence was ironic or satirical, her posts and persona remain consistent, creating meals from scratch while in luxurious clothing and perfectly done makeup.
The rise of the tradwife trend coincided with other microtrends in fashion, beauty and lifestyle — one of the most prominent being the girlification of everything. Women on social media justify certain reckless and irresponsible behaviors with the phrase “I’m just a girl” in a joking manner. Similarly, trends such as “girl dinner,” “clean girl beauty” and “girl math” have also surfaced.
The “just a girl” trend may be a pushback to the “I’m not like other girls” phrase which grew in popularity during the 2010s. This was used to describe women who claim to be uninterested in traditionally feminine things, implying that she is more mature and independent than other women. On the other hand, “just a girl” might be harmless escapism for women, reconnecting them with their inner child. However, it does have undertones of infantilization and is a far more privileged sentiment for white women, who have the luxury to embrace nostalgia in contrast to many women of color.
In contrast, many Black, brown and Indigenous women face racialized adultification due to systemic inequalities and historical traumas. When women simply rid themselves of maturity and responsibility — leaving it up to them being “just a girl” — it is important to be aware of the privilege it takes to enjoy such a life.
Ivanka Trump’s book “Women Who Work” is an example of women empowerment through a neoliberal feminist lens. Neoliberal feminism refers to the notion that every woman is fully responsible for her own success, disregarding other factors such as racial or economic disparities. Ivanka Trump expressed in her book that success comes to women who work hard enough for it, being ignorant about the privileges that she was born into and the reality that many women lack the same access to opportunities.
The “girl-ification” of TikTok trends is mainly a comedic way for women to bond over their desires to return to girlhood. With the potential burnout from the pressure to be girl bosses during the previous decade, it is no wonder that women now have a stronger yearning for an easier life that mirrors childhood. But when “girl dinner” starts to imply eating disorders and consuming smaller portions of food, it is important for society to be hypercritical of what messages this type of content signals, especially to younger audiences.
The increasing popularity of tradwife influencers online have obvious themes of tradition and conservatism, but even the girl-ification trend puts women in a box, dehumanizing them into a misogynistic stereotype and glorifying their lack of agency over their choices and actions.
Womanhood is complex and has many nuances, especially for women of color or queer women who face discrimination for wanting to also be “just a girl.” It is time we acknowledge this intersectionality, instead of forcing women into narrow categories that define the patriarchy. True equality celebrates the multifaceted nature of all women so we can define womanhood on our own terms.
Deanza Andriansyah is an Opinion Intern for the winter 2025 quarter. She can be reached at dandrian@uci.edu.
Edited by Zahira Vasquez