The hashtag Stay-At-Home-Girlfriend gained over 100 million views. Why do white women romanticize the idea?
You all have heard of stay-at-home mothers, commonly known as housewives, but what about a stay-at-home-girlfriend?
The phrase ‘girlfriend who stays at home” means precisely what it sounds like. It describes women who live with their partners, take care of the household’s requirements, and get financial support from their partners.
The hashtag stay-at-home girlfriend trend on TikTok is going viral. It gained over 117 million views on the short video-making platform. It all started with a 25-year-old American influencer who posted a TikTok video detailing her day in the life of a stay-at-home girlfriend. Her morning routine consisted of leisure activities, like making her boyfriend coffee, journaling, reading, preparing breakfast, running errands, going shopping, doing a workout, having an intensive skincare regime and making their home as welcoming as possible in advance of their partner returning from work.
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The viral video started a discussion online about the negative stereotype that some people think this way of life encourages. The “stay-at-home girlfriend” TikTok swiftly gained popularity as more similar videos appeared.
Creators on SAHG TikTok need to make their lives look as appealing as possible to attract views and gain followers, and here is where the problem lies. They make concentrated efforts to present the SAHG lifestyle as something to aspire to when they are setting a dangerous precedent.
The trend has also been critiqued as a cultural phenomenon where white women romanticize the idea of opting out of labour otherwise delegated to lower-income people and people of colour. Is a life of leisure in exchange for financial dependency on a partner really what women want?
Rather than forcing individuals to live a certain way, giving them the option is crucial. Instead of dismissing women’s domestic work as less demanding and significant than men’s efforts to earn a living, it is essential to recognize women’s labour in this area.
The idea of the housewife is, of course, nothing new – what is new, however, is that living a life funded entirely by your partner is suddenly aspirational to 20-somethings previously consumed with Girl Boss culture.
What are your thoughts on this trend?
