Mélissa, married and mother of soon to be four children, is 32 years old and has provided care as a nurse for years. “I couldn’t imagine continuing with hospital hours while leaving my children to be raised by someone else. If I have children, it is to see them grow, support them and instill our values in them”she declares. This is what pushed Laure and Adrien to change to this way of life. “We bought a 36m2 cottage and 3 hectares of forest. We sleep 4 people in a bed, we have a wood stove. Everything is homemade or as local as possible”, testifies the one who tried to meet the expectations of her family of entrepreneurs. “I had to work harder to balance the books. Everyone helps where they are best”adds his partner, convinced that this traditional model suits most people.
“Women are going to be the big losers from the policies led by Arizona,” complains Caroline Désir
Anti-feminist?
This financial dependence upsets some people. French women deny being anti-feminists. “Having a choice is feminism. I didn’t want to have a career but I can go back to work.”argue Tatiana.
For Mélissa, these criticisms go against feminism and demand that we respect the choices of all women. “I prefer to share everything with the man I have chosen, whom I love, who has all my trust rather than to enrich an employer. Our lifestyle is a partnership: I manage from the inside, he manages from the outside. I trust him to meet the financial needs of our lives and he trusts me to ensure the distribution of finances according to domestic needs, while raising our children.”
These tradwive couples advocate on social networks another model which is no longer offered and which highlights the complementarity of roles. And it pleases, these women are thanked by stay-at-home mothers who feel neglected and frowned upon by society.
