A self-proclaimed “traditional housewife” who spends six hours a day cooking and cleaning and celebrates being submissive to her husband says it’s “her choice” and “the way she likes it.”
Estee Williams, 25, of Richmond, Virginia, has described herself as a “trad wife” and spends her days tending to the house while her husband Conner, 23, an electrician, goes to work as the breadwinner for the family .
But far from resembling The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Estee says she leads a “humble” life and is “submissive” to her husband, but “in a sane biblical way.”
While Estee stays at home to bake bread, cook meals from scratch, do cleaning, and learn to sew her own clothes, Conner earns a living and goes foraging on the weekends.
The 25-year-old, who said she takes inspiration from the Bible, added that she has nothing against women who work and believes no one should be judged for their choices.
Estee Williams, 25, of Richmond, Virginia, has described herself as a “trad wife” and spends her days tending to the house while her husband Conner, 23, an electrician, goes to work as the breadwinner for the family
Estee said: “The husband is a provider, the protector and supports the family financially, and the wife is the housewife, in my view.”
“This is a decision my husband and I made together and I am very happy with it. It is very fulfilling and an honor for my husband and I to live this lifestyle.”
“People are afraid to rely entirely on a partner, but in an ideal world, that’s what marriage is about.
“I worked as a nanny until we got engaged in 2022, but I quit because it was a lifestyle that I had always aspired to.
“Since I started posting on social media, I’ve received a ton of criticism. A lot of people think I’m taking women back to the 1950’s and think it’s totally distasteful. But I don’t think anyone should be ashamed of their choice.”
“Tradwife” is a lifestyle trend that sees women adopting traditional gender roles in their marriage.
Beyond the division of gender roles, Estee and her husband’s lifestyle is steeped in tradition.
They have “a freezer full” of meat, which their husband hunts with his six guns and bow and arrows.
The couple met in 2020, and Conner expressed he wanted a housewife, which Estee was hoping for
She wears 1950s style clothing and prefers dresses to leggings. Also, she only watches TV on the weekends.
Although Estee makes small purchases — like buying coffee — without consulting her husband, she said he has the final say on any large purchases, including buying her home.
Estee’s Christian faith inspired her decision to serve her husband, which she described as “an act of honor in the sight of God.”
Despite online critics calling Estee “backward,” she believes being a tradwife has a “bad reputation” and said she and Conner “equally depend on each other.”
“Women don’t have to do what men do to be equally important in the world,” she said.
“I think we can be just as important if we believe in our roles.”
Estee cooks from scratch, bakes, cleans and has learned to sew her own clothes. She said she likes being “servile” to her husband
The couple both live by traditional “biblical” values, but Estee said she has nothing against women who choose to work
Estee and Conner met in 2020 and quickly found that they both longed for a more traditional relationship.
“I’ve always wanted this lifestyle but kept it to myself because I knew how people would view it,” she said.
“On our first date, he said he wanted one woman to be the housekeeper.
“When we started talking about the future, we developed this plan to live a more traditional lifestyle.”
Estee’s lifestyle is inspired by her faith.
“The Bible talks about home improvement and a woman’s place in the world,” she said.
“It’s not ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,’ it’s a humble lifestyle.
The pair live off the meat, which Conner hunts on the weekends. Estee said the couple chose to live a “humble” lifestyle
The stay-at-home woman said she spends three to five hours in the kitchen every day
“Baking your own bread, learning to sew, sometimes making your own clothes – it’s grounding.”
For Estee, cooking is a big part of fulfilling her responsibilities to her husband.
“I spend three to five hours in the kitchen every day,” she says.
“It’s important for my family to have home-cooked meals and not have overly processed foods.”
The pair also hunt their own food – including deer, pigeons and rabbits.
“My husband is an avid hunter, and we typically keep venison in the freezer year-round,” she said.
“Our freezer is full of hunted meat. The only other thing we can put in it is a bag of frozen fruit.”
Estee said she doesn’t want to be judged for her life choices, adding that the lifestyle she’s chosen isn’t “outdated.”
In addition to cooking for her husband, Estee keeps her house sparkling clean and believes in “serving him fully at home.”
“I usually clean for an hour a day,” she said.
“I tidy up everything in the house so we can spend time together when my husband comes home.
“He has no commitments at home other than heavy lifting and hanging up pictures.
“It’s important that he can relax when he comes home from work.”
But while she admits she’s subservient to her husband, she insists he doesn’t treat her “like a slave.”
“I am submissive to my husband, but in a wholesome biblical way,” she said.
“I like to do all the laundry, but he doesn’t just throw his shirts on the floor.
“He’s very respectful and will always take his plates to the sink – he doesn’t treat me like a slave.”
Cooking and cleaning aside, Estee and her husband remain very traditional in most aspects of their lives.
“We don’t have a TV in the living room or bedroom,” she said.
“We minimize usage and only watch on weekends. When we want to see a movie, we watch it on a laptop.
“A lot of women these days wear leggings all the time – and I used to be like that.
“But outside of the home, I believe in wearing clothes that cover your body a little better.”
Estee said the secret of their relationship is trust.
“A lot of people think because the division of labor is unbalanced, but the whole thing is that we’re both interdependent,” she said.
“We trust each other completely and that’s why we dedicate ourselves to each other.
“People think that being financially dependent on a man leads to domestic violence.
“But unfortunately, many women who go to work are abused by their husbands.”
Estee also has no issue with women choosing to be financially independent.
“If women want to be career-oriented, that’s entirely their choice,” she said.
“Women have fought for the choice to work and to vote.
“But when I say I don’t want to work and build a house instead, women call me a 1950s housewife and say, ‘You can’t do that.’
“What happened to the selection part?
“This is modern homemade with a touch of vintage.
“It’s not an outdated lifestyle — this lifestyle doesn’t have a date. It began at the beginning of time.’