Of Course Fetishes Are Political

One recent examples of the limits of viewing sex and fetishes as apolitical is in the case of the tradwife TikToker. A few weeks ago, a video from a woman named Estee Williams bombarded timelines. In the video, Estee, a beautiful young woman with Marilyn Monroe-esque hair and an affinity for 50s-inspired sundresses, laments how the world condemns “traditional wives” who enjoy staying home to cook and clean while their husband provides financially. Despite the criticisms, she says she will continue to live “her truth.” I’m not sure who exactly is condemning her lifestyle — it seems like a blessing to be able to afford to focus on taking care of the home rather than work for an income, I’d like to do that — but much of the critiques I witnessed focused upon the performativity of it all, and that her bread looked like a rock. But as the initial wave of reactions passed, a second emerged to say that the video was actually fetish content.