Year 9 students were asked to debate tradwives. Then came the phone calls.

Ah, school debates. They offer the chance to show off your quick wit and critical thinking skills in front of a room full of your peers. It's supposed to be a formative experience — one that teaches kids how to respectfully argue both sides of a tricky issue.

But this week, one topic being debated by Year 9 students in South Australia has sparked its own conversation, and controversy, amongst adults. The students haven't even stepped up to the podium yet.

The topic?

"The 'tradwife' movement is good for women."

It's one of several chosen for a round of inter-school debates being run by Debating SA, the state's leading school debating organisation.

On the surface, you might assume it's a discussion about stay-at-home parenting. But the term 'tradwife' has taken on a much darker and more politicised meaning online.

In 2025, being a "tradwife" isn't just about keeping the house tidy and raising the kids.

But first, listen to the trad wife life of Ballerina Farm's Hannah Neeleman. Post continues below.

The movement, which has been popularised on TikTok and Instagram, often leans into ultra-conservative ideals: submission to husbands, rejection of feminism, and a return to rigid 1950s-style gender roles.

Some tradwife influencers romanticise the idea of being financially dependent and obedient to their husbands, framing it as a return to 'femininity'.

They peddle the idea of finding a man who loves to work, so you can stay home, bake sourdough, and raise children in a home filled with fresh flowers and perfectly folded laundry.

Give up your career to treat your husband like one of your children! Women don't need to work!

Think Nara Smith's polished version of her homemaker life where she makes toothpaste from scratch. Or Ballerina Farm's Hannah Neeleman, who makes warm bread and prepares fresh mozzarella for her $30k AGA cooker.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hannah Neeleman (@ballerinafarm)

Neeleman's story can be read two ways: a successful Juilliard ballerina who married a wealthy conservative and traded in her city dream for a Mormon life, where she's since had multiple kids, without pain relief.

Some argue it's a personal choice. Others say it glamorises oppression and encourages young women to embrace outdated, and frankly dangerous, ideas about their worth.

So, when 14 and 15-year-olds were asked to debate whether that's "good for women", many parents were understandably furious.

Teen educator and author Rebecca Sparrow shared an email she'd received from one concerned parent that said they were "horrified" by the topic.

"Fourteen and fifteen-year-old girls and boys are being asked to argue that this is good for women … that women being subjugated is good," they wrote.

Sparrow agreed, calling it a "messed-up" choice.

"'Tradwife' is not code for stay-at-home-parent. It's not that. It's not a debate about should one parent (whatever the gender) stay home with the kids," she wrote.

"'Tradwife' (to my knowledge) is a term that refers to women adhering to strict gender roles akin to a 1950s housewife who eschews a career in place of homemaking because that's her role/place," she wrote.

She wasn't the only one concerned.

Dozens of people chimed in to express confusion and frustration over why this was ever approved as a topic for teenagers.

The Year 9 debate topics. Image: Debating SA.

Debating SA has since responded to the backlash, and said the intention behind the topic had been misunderstood.

A spokesperson told The Guardian that once the organisation became aware of how the term was being interpreted online, it wrote to schools to clarify that the intended topic referred to a "traditional wife", as in a stay-at-home mum, with no connotation of submission or subservience.

They also said the organisation, which has been running for more than 30 years, had been inundated with abuse from people "ringing up screaming, ranting, raving and carrying on" and accusing the not-for-profit of undoing centuries of women's progress.

"They were outside people who've got nothing to do with debating, who don't know how it works," the spokesperson told the publication.

"Debating is very formal … and not only do we not tolerate incivility, it never happens. If you follow the rules and regulations, there's no room for rudeness. It's an intellectual, academic exercise bound up in civility, politeness and good manners."

Debating SA also issued a public statement defending the topic and how it was framed.

"The ability to think, to question, to reason and to challenge ideas in a civilised, respectful and disciplined manner, is needed more than ever, as our society is constantly re-evaluating its structures, its processes and sometimes even its own values," it said.

It said debating topics are "intentionally crafted to challenge students to think critically, reason logically and engage with a wide range of perspectives on complex social issues".

"These topics often reflect contemporary debates … not to dictate what is right or wrong but to foster thoughtful analysis of how ideas are formed, communicated and interpreted."

Encouraging critical thinking is one thing. Asking teenagers to argue for a movement that romanticises obedience and self-erasure? That's a whole other debate.

Feature image: Getty.