How “Mormon” Are the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives? ExMormons React Pt. 2 | Ep. 1940

What Makes Someone "Mormon"? Reality TV, Identity Politics, and the Church's Rebranding Problem

When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially discouraged use of the word "Mormon" in 2018, church leaders likely didn't anticipate that a Hulu reality series would reignite the exact cultural conversation they hoped to bury. Yet that's precisely what has happened with Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, a show that prompted detailed analysis from the Mormon Stories Podcast in their September 2024 episode. As millions of viewers encounter the faith through the lens of eight women navigating marriage, sexuality, and religious identity, a fundamental question emerges: who gets to decide what "Mormon" actually means?

The answer reveals far more about the church's institutional anxieties than it does about the women on screen.

The Church's Strategic Abandonment of Its Own Brand

For over 150 years, "Mormon" was the church's preferred identity marker. The faith spent billions of dollars cementing that terminology into public consciousness through the "I'm a Mormon" campaign. Members wore the label proudly. Institutions bore the name. Then, in 2018, President Russell M. Nelson issued a directive: the term was now discouraged. Going forward, members should identify as belonging to "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

This wasn't a pastoral adjustment, it was a branding pivot, executed with corporate precision. According to Mormon Stories Podcast hosts John Dehlin and Herald, the church faced a losing battle in digital spaces. Podcasts, blogs, and websites with "Mormon" in the title, including critical and post-Mormon platforms, were dominating search engine results. By distancing itself from the terminology, church leadership could theoretically reclaim narrative control.