Nara Smith opens up about the backlash she’s received for promoting the “traditional wife” lifestyle.
The “tradwife” lifestyle, which has been a growing trend on social media, features women wearing 1950s-style clothing while embracing traditional gender roles and preparing home-cooked meals.
The 22-year-old model and influencer told the outlet that she has found it “very difficult” to digest the concept of a “traditional wife, whatever that is,” according to a profile of Smith published on Harper’s Bazaar Thursday.
The Bloemfontein, South Africa-born beauty, who was raised in Germany, said she is “a working mother” and that her social media posts “are not really that deep,” regardless of the controversies surrounding them.
Smith has been married to fellow model Lucky Blue Smith, 26, since February 2020, and the couple are parents to three children: daughter Rumble Honey, three, son Slim Easy, two, and daughter Whimsy Lou Smith, four months.
Nara Smith, 22, opens up about the backlash she has received for her promotion of the ‘tradwife’ lifestyle. The rising social media star pictured in November 2022 in London
Smith is also a stepmother to her husband’s daughter, seven-year-old Gravity, from his previous relationship with model Stormi Bree.
He IMG ModelsThe signed beauty told the media that she is still learning about herself and that she cannot put a label on what she does and the values she seeks to show.
“I never know what to say when people ask me (what I do), because technically, yes, I create content,” said Smith, who has 9.3 million followers. TikTok followers and 4 million Instagram followers. ‘But I just live my life and share it with people, which a lot of people do.’
Smith’s rapid rise to fame (which has led to fans calling for her to join a reality TV platform) has been fuelled by her clips of herself making things from scratch, giving internet users ASMR qualities.
The clips have generated some controversy at times, according to the profile.
Some commentators criticize her for adopting the cliché of the traditional housewife and for being nostalgic for a time when women’s rights had not evolved to the point they are now.
Smith said of her critics: “For the sake of my mental health, I can’t fall for that. I can’t keep correcting people or reading things and getting frustrated.”
Her husband Lucky defended her in the post, saying her online detractors are coming from a place of envy.
The ‘tradwife’ lifestyle, which has been a growing trend on social media, features women wearing 1950s-style clothing while embracing traditional gender roles and preparing home-cooked meals.
Smith has been married to fellow model Lucky Blue Smith, 26, since February 2020 and the couple have three children. Pictured in London in 2022
Smith said in the piece that she is expressing the essence of her individuality and hopes viewers find value in it.
The Bloemfontein, South Africa-born beauty, who was raised in Germany, integrates elements of ASMR into her social media posts.
“People are seeing that he’s having success with everything he does,” Lucky said. “If someone who doesn’t know you at all makes a video about you on the Internet with things that aren’t true, you can tell they’re doing it out of jealousy. Let’s call it what it is.”
Smith said in the piece that she is expressing the essence of her individuality and hopes viewers find value in that.
“For me, it’s about showing what I love and whoever can relate to that and get something out of it, that’s what I want to do,” Smith said. “Sometimes my outfits aren’t the most practical, but fashion isn’t always practical.
“That’s what I do. I post videos of me cooking for my kids and my husband. It’s not really that deep.”
In the article, Smith described herself as “a girly girl” and a “working mom who can go about her day in a very different way” than someone with “a normal nine-to-five job.”
She added: ‘You don’t see me getting on a plane, flying to New York, modelling and flying back, all while having a newborn baby, paying bills, filming content and dressing my kids.
“Being pigeonholed into a certain category just because people think I’m working like a slave is very strange to me.”