Sorry, ‘Real Housewives.’ Gen Z is all about Mormon wives

By Alicia Park, CNN

(CNN) — 27-year-old Sydney Nowak was surprised to see dirty sodas – a non-alcoholic beverage that has gained popularity because of its frequent appearance on Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” – on the menu at a Top Golf in Las Vegas. But she was even more surprised that her 19-year-old cousin visiting from the UK knew what it was.

“I would have never expected someone else who’s not from this country to know what a dirty soda is, but we connected over the fact that it’s so relevant in pop culture amongst the younger groups today,” Nowak said.

“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” follows a group of eight married Mormon women in their 20s and early 30s living in Utah. A second season is currently in production after its first season premiere was the most-viewed Hulu unscripted original series this year, and the third most-watched original series across major streaming platforms the week of its release, according to Nielsen data.

In some ways, it’s the streamer’s buttoned-up answer to the sometimes-salacious lifestyle shows that dominate reality TV. It’s also part of a larger trend that has put some unlikely voices in the spotlight.

Nowak and Hannah Jaeger, both Southern California locals, noticed their friends talking about “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” nonstop, prompting them to discuss it on their lifestyle podcast BusyBabes. They believe the show’s popularity is being driven by Gen Z and young millennials, who made up 54% of viewers during the show’s peak viewing week, according to Nielsen.

“You know how our parents or people a little bit above us in age group were obsessed with ‘The Real Housewives,’” Nowak said in one podcast episode. “Is this our ‘Real Housewives’?”

Before the eight Utah-based women were featured in the Hulu series, they were known for sharing their lives as young Mormon mothers on TikTok as #Momtok, helping them gain nearly 16 million followers across their accounts.

Carnegie Mellon University English professor Kathy M. Newman said their popularity may just be a part of America’s longtime fascination with unique religious or cultural groups.

Certain elements of Mormon culture – like forgoing vices like coffee and alcohol and instead indulging in “dirty sodas,” beverages concocted from mixing flavored syrups – are fascinating for those unfamiliar with Mormonism.

“It’s more of a prurient fascination with some sort of culture that’s perceived as different,” Newman said.

As the Mormon wives began to gain an audience on TikTok in 2022, one of the mothers Taylor Frankie Paul revealed she and other Mormon couples had been taking part in “soft-swinging” – or consensually sharing partners. Lisa Filippilli of Select Management Group said in an interview with Collider that a show was already in the works at the time the scandal began attracting attention. The show came together soon after.

“This group (of women) in particular, we always knew was going to be very special. It was just waiting for our perfect time to bring on the right partners,” Georgia Berger, also of Select Management Group, told the publication.

Fascination with the #Tradwife life

Nara Smith and Hannah Neeleman, known to many as the Mormon women leading the “tradwife” trend, have attracted young audiences by the millions this year, whether they are reacting to the extreme impracticality of Smith’s fashion and cooking or searching Neeleman’s social media for signs she is the oppressed wife portrayed in a viral Sunday Times article earlier this year.

Montclair State University communications associate professor Joel Penney doesn’t think their popularity among young generations is driven by a shock factor alone. The pandemic, global conflicts, a cost-of-living crisis and increasing mental health issues have plagued the young generation during their most formative years and brought about a sense of dissatisfaction and hopelessness.

“There’s a sense of ‘we’re losing a sense of meaning’ and ‘we need some direction,’” Penney said. To remedy that, some – whether intentionally or not – are turning to traditional values to find more structure and meaning, most noticeably through reclaiming traditional gender roles, he added.

“That (popularity of #Tradwife ) definitely goes into this anxiety about gender roles and gender norms. The conventional way of life tells this very neat story – it gives very clear answers to what are people’s roles in society, what are people’s identities. There’s a pattern of this historically,” Penney added, referencing the rise of the Christian fundamentalist Moral Majority group in the 1970s as a reaction to the social movements of the 60s counterculture.

But, in many ways, the show embraces the Mormon wives’ progressive desires – from talking about their sex lives to getting divorces – and pushes back on the conservatism within their own community. That, producers have said, is the point. And it seems to be working.

“It’s keeping me on the edge of my seat,” Nowak said.

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