NARA SMITH HAS A PROBLEM

Nara Smith says she was never a tradwife.

After years of being associated with the online tradwife movement, Nara recently pushed back against the label on Call Her Daddy, arguing that women are multidimensional and shouldn't be reduced to one identity.

And she's right.

But there's a problem.

The audience didn't completely invent the box.

For years, millions of people watched Nara make bread, pasta, cereal, marshmallows, crackers, tortillas, ice cream, butter, cheese and even homemade versions of things most of us would never dream of making from scratch.

And she did it while looking like she had just walked out of a fashion magazine.

Young wife.

Young mother.

Beautiful family.

Beautiful home.

Domesticity presented as an aesthetic.

So why did the internet see “tradwife”?

In this deep dive, we go back to the beginning of Nara Smith's rise and examine how her online persona became associated with traditional wifehood, the role of religion and her Mormon family connections, her association with Ballerina Farm, and the contradictions at the heart of today's tradwife movement.

But this isn't simply a video about Nara.

Because we are part of the story too.

We watched.

We clicked.

We shared.

We turned real people's lives into characters and brands.

And then we became surprised when those people told us that the character wasn't the whole story.

We'll also look at the very different experience of former Mormon tradwife Jennie Gage, whose story raises an uncomfortable question:

What happens when the domestic lifestyle that an influencer can monetize is the same labour another woman is expected to perform for free?

And then there's the bigger contradiction.

Can someone advocate traditional gender roles while running a multimillion-dollar business, building a media empire and enjoying the economic opportunities created by modern feminism?

Maybe.

Because women are complicated.

But so are brands.

And sometimes the lifestyle being sold online is very different from the reality of actually living it.

Nara Smith is allowed to change.

But is the audience allowed to remember?

Let's talk about it.

⚠️ DISCLAIMER: This video is commentary and analysis based on publicly available information, interviews, statements and media coverage. It is not intended to make definitive claims about anyone's private beliefs, religious identity or personal life. Where opinions or interpretations are discussed, they are presented as such.

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