TikTok ruined my husband of 12 years — now he wants a ‘tradwife’ and we’re getting divorced
TikTok has long been accused of ruining attention spans — now but the app is under fire for destroying marriages, too.
A distraught wife has taken to Reddit to reveal that the social media app completely changed her husband’s character, causing the end of the 12-year union.
The anonymous woman, aged 37, said she and her hubby were seemingly happy together before he became hooked on TikTok’s “tradwife” videos.
A “tradwife” — short for a “traditional wife” — refers to a woman who has proudly eschewed a career in favor of domestic duties, such as cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing. A tradwife typically believes a working woman hurts the nuclear family, and aims to cater to her husband’s every whim.
On TikTok, the “tradwife” hashtag has clocked up a whopping 296.5M views and has made unexpected stars out of several woman who show off their happy home lives.
In her Reddit post, the divorcing woman explained that her husband happened upon the videos earlier this year.
“We were not a traditional couple,” she explained. “We both work, we both do chores and child care. He didn’t complain about it.
“[But] Around March this year, he started acting weird,” she further stated. “He complained about how I looked. He complained about the food. He complained about me working long hours. I work the same hours as he does. Throughout our marriage, he never had any complaints about the food I cook. I dress up in a more comfortable attire when I am in my house. He never had a problem with that ever.”
The devastated wife learned that her spouse had started becoming obsessed with one particular “tradwife” TikTokker whom she did not name.
“Her content look made up and not realistic to me because it was 100% made for the male audience,” she declared. “I told him this was all an act that she puts up for the world to see. This is not reality. Plus nobody cleans their house wearing pretty dresses. The dresses will get dirty.”
However, the husband was undeterred. He purportedly began comparing his wife to a friend who was a stay-at-home mom. He subsequently urged her to quit her career to be at home with their daughters on a full-time basis.
“He knew I wasn’t the type of woman who wanted to be a homemaker,” the Redditor wrote. “He had no problem with it. I tried to tell him to stop watching this type of content. It really hurts me that he would idolize another woman rather than his wife.”
Shockingly, she claimed her husband became verbally abusive for the first time in their marriage, and insisted that she be a “submissive” wife.
The marriage continued to break down, with the final straw recently coming when the wife discovered that her husband had been talking to another woman online.
“He wasn’t even ashamed or felt remorse,” she said after busting her beau’s clandestine communications. “He told me he deserves better.”
Readers flocked to the comments section to offer sympathy and support for the woman, while railing against the corrosive effects of TikTok.
“I hope your heart can heal and you can move on,” one well-wisher wrote. “Good luck to him supporting his new unemployed girlfriend whilst he still pays for everything that you previously contributed towards.”
“Take him to the cleaners,” another advised. “Let him learn the hard way that he can’t afford a SAH trophy wife. Before he starts his new life, he has financial responsibilities to his current life and children. He can die trying to keep up that superficial lifestyle.”
“If you don’t think 95% of Tiktok are made up, you are stupid,” a third slammed, hitting out at the husband. “The chances he will realize he f–ked up in some time, is quite high.Like the good old saying: ‘You don’t know how good you have it until you don’t have it anymore.'”