Bernadine Bluntly once argued the tradwife’s cause with passionate intensity. Yet privately, she said, she was considering leaving her marriage — a step she took last year.

Last year, Bluntly left her husband and got a restraining order against him. A Missouri court found that she had proved allegations of domestic violence, and forbade him to come within 300 feet of her. After their divorce was finalized this past spring, she posted a video titled “What I Got Wrong About the Trad Movement.” It signaled a new life for her, and a new job: as an ex-tradwife influencer.

“I no longer believe in extreme gender roles, especially when they’re wrapped in spiritual language,” she says in the video. “If any belief system creates a power imbalance that puts women or anyone in a position of fear, isolation or total dependence, I reject it,” she adds.

The “tradwife” trend is showing its cracks. Nara Smith recently denied that “tradwife” had ever described her. Hannah Neeleman told New York Magazine, “If there’s...