Zac Affleck from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives isn’t a lot of things. He’s not a great husband, he’s not employed, he’s not Ben Affleck’s cousin, and he’s almost never right. But one thing you cannot deny about this man is that he kind of gagged MomTok when he called them out for being the antithesis of female empowerment. Zac was one of the biggest villains on Season 1 and he’s not faring that much better on Season 2. When he’s not butting heads with estranged pregnant wife Jen Affleck, he’s sparring with his wife’s supposed “friends” Jessi Ngatikaura and Demi Engemann. It’s abundantly cleear that Zac’s maladaptive tendencies as a result of absorbing some of the most oppressive parts of Mormonism. Although he’s indoctrinated by this patriarchal religion, Zac totally shocked viewers when he called out MomTok for not supporting women.
Takes One to Know One!
Throughout Season 2 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, the ladies keep referencing what MomTok is and isn’t about. The defintion seems to rather amorphous, and it’s truly whatever they want it to be when it suits them. When Whitney Leavitt wants back in the group, MomTok is suddenly about “forgiveness.” When Demi wants Taylor Frankie Paul to be ostracized, she claims MomTok is about “standing on business.” MomTok is somehow even cultier than Mormonism, and these women have an unyielding devotion to it to the point where it’s almost self-debasement.
One consistent claim these women have about MomTok is that it’s about female empowerment, and Jen maintains this when arguing with Zac about the group. Zac shut that down real quick, saying that it’s clearly not because these women are so mean to each other, both online and behind the scenes. In fact, one could argue that most of their engagement and money comes from being mean to each other on TIkTok. He’s not winning anyone from MomTok over, and he’s not doing a great job at taking accountability and being a good husband. But one thing you can’t deny is he’s the only one that’s right about MomTok. Zac is one of the biggest misogynists on the show, and it speaks volumes that even he is calling out MomTok for being misogynistic. It’s instances like these that you know these women have no self-awareness.
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Seeing More of Taylor Frankie Paul’s Parents on ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Explains So Much
At least Taylor’s trauma made her really funny.
MomTok Misses the Point of Women Empowerment
The ladies of MomTok are constantly pontificating what MomTok is and isn’t about, and they’re operating under the woefully misguided apprehension that it’s all about female empowerment. We only get a small glimpse into these women’s lives, and from what we’ve seen, they frequently verbally incinerate each other under the guise of “honesty” and forcing each other to “take accountability.” Passive aggressive digs on social media happen almost daily with these women, with Mikayla Matthews being the main culprit. Clearly, all of her TikToks are about Whitney, but when Whitney confronts her about it, she thinks it’s narcissistic that Whitney thinks “everything about her.” Well, Mikayla, every single word out of your mouth is about Whitney this season, so it really is all about her in your world. They expose each other through insidious games like “The Truth Box” and Mayci Neely’s “Sinner Sunday’s,” both of which are opportunities to throw accusations at each other with little credibility and hurt each others’ feelings anonymously. Imagine what they don’t show us!
These ladies are obsessed with “healing” and “doing the work,” and they do a great jobs of making it seem like they do that. They emphasize the importance of therapy, both talk and ketamine, most of them don’t drink alcohol, and they’re disciplined and live healthy lifestyles. However, despite all these things they spend time and money on to preserve their mental health, they contaminate it with social media toxicity. They try to compensate for it by posting inspirational quotes and pop psychology infographics about accountability and being the bigger person, but often balk at the opportunity to do any of that in real life. I truly curse whatever therapy account taught these girls therapy speak because they weaponize it in the most obnoxious way possible. These girls talk about how MomTok is about uplifting each other, but it’s evident that with all of the hazing, aggression, and toxicity, it’s anything but that. It pains me to admit a man is right, especially if it’s Zac Affleck, but that speaks to how awful these girls can be to each other if I’m siding with him. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is available to stream in the US on Hulu.
