Trigger warning: Eating Disorders, Body Image, Fatphobia, Propaganda, Anti-Conservative sentiments, Mentions of children with cancer
Everything below is my opinion and should not be taken as fact.
What do Ariana Grande and Nara Smith have in common?
Well, if you’re online like me, the answer might be clear as day, but let’s start with the basics. Both are thin, both are appealing to a diverse set of audiences, including young children and teenagers, and both are currently under controversy for different reasons, though I promise I can bridge the gap between them later.
Context for Nara Smith’s Current Controversy
Nara Smith is thought of as a tradwife influencer. A tradwife, aka “traditional wife,” in my words, is what you think of when you think of housewives from the 1950s and 1960s. They’re women whose existence is about taking care of their husband and their home. They cook, clean, birth children, and stay home to take care of those children and since they don’t work, they’re reliant on their husband financially.
A tradwife influencer, in my words, is exactly how it sounds: Someone who promotes and influences others into adopting or striving for a tradwife lifestyle (whether influencers promote it intentionally or not is irrelevant to me). The thing about tradwife influencers though is that they aren’t actually traditional wives, themselves. Creating and posting content and curating their brands the way that big tradwife influencers do is a job in itself. They are working since they most likely get payouts from being an influencer and content creator.
This oxymoron is one of the biggest reasons why people, including Nara Smith herself, has rejected the tradwife label. She did so again recently on a podcast, which is why this conversation is coming up…again.
When I, and others, call her a tradwife influencer, it’s because her content leans into the tradwife aesthetic. In Nara’s content, she speaks in a soft, docile voice, showcases her husband and family life, (where she is holding her baby while cooking or making things that he tries), and makes things from scratch (going the all-natural route) – and it’s not only foods, like bread, either. She has gone as far as to make toothpaste, bubblegum, and Coco Cola from scratch too. Though she’s switched her look up over the years, she has worn clothes in line of what you would imagine a 50s and 60s housewife to wear, though this article goes into better detail about the tradwife aesthetic in general, but also how the aesthetic shows up in Nara’s brand and clothing even as she switched it up to “glamorize” her look it still leans into the tradwife aesthetic.
The tradwife aesthetic is all about being vintage, modest, feminine, and homey, with farm life and homestead aspects (like cooking from scratch). It’s content that shows an idealized version of what it looks like to take care of your home, husband, children, and family effortlessly and without complaints.
The content itself may seem harmless and even watching it you might think, this is what everyone is making a fuss about, but I think its harmless nature is why it’s so effective at being propaganda, because who would expect cooking and family content to send people down the pipeline into conservatism and alt-right ideologies?
Context for Ariana Grande’s Current Controversy
For the past year or two, Ariana Grande’s body has been talked about online with people believing she has an eating disorder. There are rumors that she had a Tumblr promoting pro-ana content in the past.
Before getting into it, I want to say that I am not confirming or denying nor do I know for certainty that she has an eating disorder or that she ran a Tumblr page; I’m simply providing context on the situation. I also want to acknowledge that eating disorders are complex mental illnesses and that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to treatment, so if Ariana Grande does happen to have an eating disorder, I am not faulting, blaming, or judging her for it and I don’t think it is something she has to publicly confirm or address.
Ariana Grande’s body has become a topic of conversation again because she recently released a new album and a music video. I haven’t seen the music video in full, but I have seen clips and images of it and the bones sticking out of Ariana’s chest are alarmingly prominent. It’s not just the music video though; this has been a topic of conversation since Wicked For Good has come out.
While I am not here to talk about her current mental state, I will be talking about her body, so if that makes you uncomfortable, I understand if you decide not to continue on.
What Do Nara Smith and Ariana Grande Have in Common?
So, this all brings us back to the question: what do Nara Smith and Ariana Grande have in common?
1. They’re both public figures who are the topics of online conversations at the moment.
As explained earlier, Nara Smith is under controversy for rejecting her tradwife label. There are people (including me) who believe her content has pushed tradwife sentiments and people who don’t.
Ariana Grande is under controversy for her body and rejecting the idea that something is wrong. I think all around people believe that she needs help with whatever is going on with her, but there are people who believe she shouldn’t be talked about because commenting on people’s bodies is inappropriate and people (including me) who believe it should be talked about because of the harm it can cause.
2. They have both caused or are causing harm, whether it’s intentional or not.
Nara Smith, in my opinion, is selling a fantasy that she doesn’t even live. Regardless of the age of her audience, her content can lead people to aspire to live similarly to what she portrays, where they’re in a position that they’re able to stay home often enough to make everything from scratch. Maybe they want to find their Lucky, Nara Smith’s husband, who in my opinion looks straight out of the 1978 Grease musical (and is blonde hair, blue eyed, and is/was Mormon). If they’re younger, maybe they start thinking getting married and, or having kids young is glamorous or that it’s the only way to tap into their femininity and their soft girl era.
All of this is harmful and not just because her content isn’t real life, (it doesn’t factor in that she’s actually a working mom, that she has the finances to making things from-scratch, that she has the resources and support to help look after her children) but also, tradwife content which inherently encourages financial dependency, is harmful. Encouraging anyone (but especially women) to be financially dependent on their partner is one-way people find themselves in abusive relationships.
Similarly, in my opinion, because of the size of Ariana Grande’s platform, I don’t think it’s wrong to comment on her body, and solely in a “this isn’t sustainable or healthy way.” I don’t know if this popular or unpopular, but I think people are very disingenuous and naive to say that people who see Grande’s body won’t be influenced. Half of a celebrity’s job is to be influential and whether intentional or not, seeing her body may be encouraging people who struggle with body image and want to lose weight (to the point that their methods become unhealthy) to try harder so that they can look like her. Her size and her body at its current state may be something people think is attainable through healthy means, so they beat themselves up for not reaching her size, or they strive to do it in unhealthy ways.
We’re at a time where “thin is back in”, lots of people (not just fat people) are on GLP1s for weight loss, and plus size influencers are being disrespected for calling out how rampant and engrained fatphobia and diet culture is in our society. And that’s without mentioning how expensive everything is, how the cost of food is rising, how people are losing their jobs and tightening up their budgets, and how not just Ariana Grande, but a lot of celebrities have lost a lot of weight to the point some of them look like sticks now (some of whom you could see their own bones showing too).
3. They’re both refusing labels they’ve been given.
Nara Smith says she doesn’t understand why she’s been given a tradwife label when she’s not a tradwife. But the thing is, I, and I’m sure other people who believe she pushes tradwife propaganda through her content, aren’t arguing that she is a tradwife. We’re saying her content embodies the tradwife aesthetic and people who don’t know better and who don’t research could buy into it.
Ariana Grande via her team has said she’s healthy. They’ve framed the concerns and criticisms as a personal attack on her and her body, and I can sympathize with how hurtful it is to have millions of people talk about you and your body, especially if you have your own body image issues (which I’m not saying she does), but I don’t think that means this should be swept under the rug.
With both Smith and Grande, I do think by nature of their jobs, with large platforms and by being public figures, they have responsibilities to their audiences, some of whom want to be like their perception of them or live similar lifestyles as they perceive them to have. I think they should be transparent to an extent and own the criticism in a productive way that is more than simply refusing the labels and more than not understanding where these criticisms and concerns are coming from instead of acting like people are pressed for no reason.
I think the conversation would go differently if Nara Smith acknowledged why people, including people who have written research papers about the tradwife movement, tie her into the tradwife movement.
I think the conversations would go differently if Ariana Grande wasn’t spouting through her team and her own page that she’s the happiest and healthiest she’s ever been, that she feels good, and is performing healthily. Anyone expecting her to tell the world she has an eating disorder is unrealistic and no one should want or expect that, but the option to not address it at all even is a better alternative, in my opinion, than to act like nothing is happening at all.
So because they’re both refusing labels they’ve been giving, it means they’re both refusing to acknowledge the harm that is being or was caused, harm that is very much real and has research to back it up:
How thinspiration (which Ariana Grande is contributing to) is harmful
How the tradwife movement can lead people into conservatism
4. They both have plausible deniability.
“Nara Smith isn’t actually a tradwife. She’s not your typical religious, white women that you see associated with the tradwife movement, and she rejects the tradwife label so of course she isn’t perpetuating tradwife ideologies.”
“Ariana Grande is just trying to live her life, and people are bullying her into take a break from the public eye so everyone just needs to stop. She says she’s happy and healthy. What more do you want from her?”
Both responses make it all seem harmless because it focuses on the intention and not the impact.
5. They’re both changing the narrative because it suits them.
Because of their plausible deniability, Nara Smith and Ariana Grande are changing the narrative because it suits them.
The tradwife movement isn’t as popular as it once was. Eating homemade and using all-natural products doesn’t prevent cancer and the treatment is worth it, even if it isn’t “all natural” (I’m happy to know their daughter is in remission), so naturally the type of content will switch too.
Ariana Grande is taking a break, and it’s not announced to be because she’s getting help or because she’s tired or sick. People have framed it as though the public scrutiny has gotten to be too much, though she said at her own show out of her own mouth:
6. They have people defending them in droves.
Because of their plausible deniability and because they’re changing their narrative, Ariana Grande’s and Nara Smith’s fanbases are speaking out against the people speaking out about them. In fact, as briefly discussed above, the people calling out the harmful behavior are getting the blame moreso than the people who are inadvertently (or not) creating the content they’re creating. Every criticism is getting written off as an overreaction or a lack of empathy, and I will go as far as to say, that the grace given to them is because they’re both thin and conventionally attractive by Western standards and because they’ve leaned into conservative ideologies (meek, submissive, docile), they’re seen as fragile and deserving of protection and care.
People defend Nara Smith, saying this isn’t a good conversation to have when their daughter was diagnosed with cancer (mind you, their daughter is in remission now). People are told they have no critical thinking skills for thinking she’s a trad wife because she’s not, when in reality, to end the conversation at “she is not the thing [a tradwife] so there is no way she perpetuates the thing [the tradwife aesthetic]” or to say “she says she is not the thing [a tradwife] so she can’t be the thing or benefit from the thing [a tradwife]” is an actual display of a lack of critical thinking and comprehension skills (which includes making connections and forming your own conclusions).
People defend Ariana Grande, mainly focusing on how harmful it is to talk about people’s bodies and worried about what this is doing to her mental health even after she 1) basically made a statement saying she didn’t give a fuck and 2) you guys don’t actually care. I posted this on threads, but you say it’s inappropriate to talk about people’s bodies, but call people (including yourselves) “big backs.” You dismiss fat people’s commentary about fatphobia and diet culture. You assume a fat person can’t be athletic. You criticize what a fat person wears, insisting they must wear something flattering at all times. You flood Samyra’s comment section with horrible words dripped in fatphobia because she refuses to shut up and be quiet. You talk constantly about not wanting to look fat, about dieting, and try to compare the pushback skinny people get for being skinny to the systemic oppression and societal consequences fat people face.
I can name three instances in the past two months where fat people were bullied online for being fat: 1) Samyra and the Skinnylicious menu, 2) Daven and her snack plate, 3) the women who was airlifted out of a hike because she had heat exhaustion and all three of those fat women didn’t get a fraction, not even a sliver, of the grace and care that people are giving to Ariana Grande when majority of people aren’t actually bullying Ariana Grande.
You guys don’t care about “not talking about people’s bodies” or “Ariana’s mental health” the way you say or think you do. Part of the problem is that people don’t even want to acknowledge Ariana Grande’s body as sickly or leave the “extreme” part out of “extreme thinness” and that’s because you care about upholding society’s fatphobia and desire for people to be thin no matter what. And the scary thing is, I don’t think a lot of people recognize how they’re reaction actually aids in the harm.
7. They’re both showing how effective propaganda is.
Nara Smith and Ariana Grande are (whether knowingly and by choice or not, and of course, in my opinion) a part of this movement where all the progress that was made in regard to body positivity and acceptance (which was originally about fat bodies) and feminism and women’s rights, which are being inched back, which is actually harmful for everyone.
People expect propaganda to be a scary monster in the shadows or something that you see coming, and it is not. Effective propaganda is subtle and seems to be harmless. It can be found in something you have always known to be true or societal norms and through palatable means.
You don’t tell women straight out of the gate you think they shouldn’t have rights. You inch them towards wanting to make everything from scratch. You tell them they deserve to rest and time to make the things they want. You tell them they don’t have to work anymore and you’ll take care of the bills.
You don’t tell people to be thin no matter what. You just don’t check people who are alarmingly thin and make it seem like nothing is wrong. You paint the people speaking out as haters or unempathetic or bullies. You enable the people who are thin to the point that thinness, including extreme thinness, becomes the only acceptable norm. You push weight loss drugs and pull plus size clothing out of stores so now fat people feel even more societal pressure to be thin by whatever means necessary.
People like to think they’re immune to propaganda but everyday I’m reminded that no one is.
Added after publication (8:10 PM PST)
***I want to be very clear. I’m not faulting Ariana Grande for her current circumstances or her weight. I’m faulting her and her team for doubling down on the fact that she is healthy (and happy) and acting as if nothing is wrong and that people are just spreading negativity.
***I want to be very clear. My criticisms of Nara Smith is her consistent denial of how she’s contributed to the tradwife movement even as she’s named in research papers because she is/was thought of as one of faces of said movement.
***I want to be very clear. My criticisms also are to their audiences and fans who refuse to understand why people are speaking out against both of these women and refusing to look at the bigger picture.
I HAVE TO SAY... 
What do you think?