The Fascinating World of Trad Wife Influencer Nara Smith
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If you consider yourself a TikTok fiend, your For You Page has most likely turned into a Nara Smith fan page over the past few months. With over 226 million likes and an average of five million views per post, Nara has become the internet’s ultimate #TradWife. Her traditional homemaking content has a chokehold on viewers, but it brings into question the root of our obsession: are we glamourising her as the ultimate Trad Wife Mormon Influencer?
Who Is Nara Smith?
Blowing up on TikTok in late 2023, Nara Smith changed the game for the trad wife aesthetic. Sharing her seemingly perfect family life to the alluring homecooked meals she prepares, Nara has created a cult following with millions worldwide. The 22 year-old model shares three children with her husband of the same profession, Lucky Blue Smith, who shot to popularity during the 2015 Tumblr days for his striking looks and high-class modelling gigs.
You need only watch a couple of Nara’s videos to grasp her aesthetic. The soothing (and somewhat monotonous) voiceovers paired with the almost unbelievable from-scratch cooking and baking invite audiences into the allure of her peaceful, simple existence—a family dynamic where each meal is an art form. From 40 million views of her cookie dough recipe to the more eccentric ‘cinnamon toast crunch’ concoction and viral mango sticky rice recipe, no detail is left to the imagination.
@naraazizasmith drooling watching this😮💨 #baking #husbandwife #pregnancycravings #easyrecipes #coupletok #fypシ #homecooking #cookies ♬ Jazz masterpiece “As time goes by” covered by a Jazz violinist by profession(962408) – ricca
Aside from her love for home cooking, the internet is deeply fascinated by Nara’s affinity for unusually eccentric baby names. Giving birth to Whimsy Lou only weeks ago, her other two children with Lucky go by the names of Rumble Honey and Slim Easy—a source of much perplexity and commentary for TikTok users.
The Rise of the Trad Wife
Nara Smith embodies the trad wife resurgence we’ve been witnessing across social media over the past year. A neologism for ‘traditional wife’ or ‘traditional housewife’, the trad wife aesthetic plays on the traditional gendered roles of women to become doting and loyal wives. Nara Smith’s ‘What My Husband Eats in a Day’ videos epitomise this aesthetic, idolisng the desire to fulfil her husband’s cravings before he’s even thought to ask.
@naraazizasmith It’s been a while!🫶🏽 #whatieatinaday #fulldayofeating #husband #coupletok #homecooking #fypシ ♬ original sound – Nara Smith
The careful choice of dressing extends to colour-coordinated outfits to match her meals, and the perfectly manicured nails and styled hair-do all play into the trad wife trope of existing for the male gaze. As Rolling Stone deduces, “She makes the daily drudgery of motherhood and household labor look not just easy, but impossibly sexy.” Creating an aspirational home lifestyle goes hand in hand with this idea, but is there more than meets the eye?
Trad Wife x Mormon Crossover
Nara Smith is hardly the first influencer to be branded as spreading Mormon propaganda through her content. Fellow TikTok creator, Hannah Neeleman, has too gained an incredible following from her farm-life, family-focused content; however, the mother of eight has come under fire for allegedly using her platform to spread Mormonistic values—most notably the doting wife persona that many have accused Nara Smith of entertaining.
It’s essential to look at the core conversation at hand when discussing this. Lucky Blue Smith, Nara’s husband, has been a long-time follower of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and hasn’t been shy about preaching his beliefs across social media.
@itsluckybluesmith Jesus is the only way home, the time is now guys💕 i love you all please reach out if you need someone to help you through those dark stages of life. #lds #thesecondcoming ♬ original sound – Lucky blue smith
As E. J. Dickson so eloquently puts it, “there is a well-documented history of women in the LDS church — particularly young, attractive mothers — wielding their influence to promote values that are traditionally associated with the church to a secular audience, even if they are not explicitly promoting the religion in itself.”
So, is Nara Smith the newest face in the game for spreading Mormonistic traditions through aspirational content? Or is she simply sharing her personal lifestyle and values, which just happen to align with her faith? It’s a nuanced discussion that requires taking into account the intentions behind the content, the perception of the audience, and the broader context of religious influence in social media.
What we do know, though, is Nara’s eccentricities are far from growing old; from her collection of Gustaf Westman bowls to her eye-watering collection of skincare products, she’s creating the ultimate aspirational lifestyle for millions of TikTok users daily.
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