Publish at September 10 2025 Updated September 10 2025
They are present on social networks, the "trad wives", antifeminist women who propose a lifestyle like that promoted during the interwar period or after the Second World War. For them, a woman's role is to look after the house, cook for her husband and be a mother. They'll often be dressed in classic 1950s or '60s garb, looking like contented wives in a kitchen.
What if the whole image of the happy housewife wasn't just marketing manipulation? This France Culture capsule reminds us, for example, that one of America's best-known names, Betty Crocker, is a fictional character - though many people will mistake her for a real person - who promotes baking, cooking and the like. All this, initially, for a brand of flour.
Switzerland and France also had their perfect housewife role models, but in the end, they were just one of the tools used to promote the housewife: Betty Bossi and Françoise Bernard. Each of them entered the households of millions of people, anchoring the almost ideal image of the good wife.
Running time: 6 minutes
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