3 minute read

“Ballerina Farm” Defends Her Marriage and Family Life Amidst Controversial Recent Interview

August 13, 2024

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image credit: Yuganov Konstantin/Shutterstock

Hannah Neeleman, known online as “Ballerina Farm,” is as famous as one can get among a certain demographic of social media users. Her family was recently featured in an unflattering article which spurred many responses across the internet, including, finally, her own.

Hannah Neeleman’s Background

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Neeleman is a mom of eight, a former ballerina, a trad-wife and trad-mom, a cook, an influencer, a beauty queen, and an all-around icon and idol to many of her 9.6 million Instagram followers.

The Sunday Times Magazine Article

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A few weeks ago, The Sunday Times Magazine published a feature article titled “Meet the Queen of the Trad Wives (and Her Eight Children).” Quickly, many women took to their podcasts, YouTube vlogs, Patreon pages, substacks, and more to capitalize on the bombshell claims of the article.

Reactions to the Article

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Most of the responses to the article were centered on the main thrust of the feature, which painted Neeleman as repressed and oppressed by the burden of her husband and children. The article suggested that her life, such as it is, is not what Neeleman wanted when she wed her husband, Daniel, 13 years ago.

Neeleman’s Response

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Neeleman took issue with how the article portrayed her “as oppressed, with my husband being the culprit.”

Public Commentary and Neeleman’s Defense

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After days of commentary on the article’s claims swirling around the internet and social media spheres, Neeleman posted a video responding to some of the author’s claims.

She defended her family by saying, “A couple of weeks ago, a reporter came into our home to learn more about our family and business. We thought the interview went really well. We were taken aback, however, when we saw the printed article—which shocked us and shocked the world by being an attack on my family and my marriage.”

Neeleman’s Clarification on Her Lifestyle

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She emphasized that the life she is living is the one she choses for herself and continues to choose daily. She said of her marriage, “Together, we have built a business from scratch. We’ve brought eight children into this world and have prioritized our marriage all along the way. We are co-parents, co-CEOs, co-diaper changers, kitchen cleaners, and decision-makers.”

Criticism of the Article

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Many accused interviewer and article author Megan Agnew of writing her point of view into the storyline and approaching the interview with a bias against the Neelemans’ way of life.

Megan Agnew’s Perspective

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Agnew discussed the piece on a podcast, acknowledging that Hannah seemed to love her life and that Daniel was an equal participant in family life, including with their children. She also stated concerns about how glamorizing the “Trad-wife” lifestyle generally impacts women.

Neeleman’s View on the Trad-wife Label

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Hannah herself acknowledges the limits of the trad-wife label to characterize her lifestyle. She distanced herself from the label, saying, “I don’t necessarily identify with it because we are traditional in the sense that it’s a man and a woman; we have children, but I do feel like we’re paving a lot of paths that haven’t been paved before.”

Neeleman’s Many Roles

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Neeleman said, “I wear many hats–mom, wife, cook, business owner, content creator, lover of God, and all things butter.”

Broader Discourse on the Trad-wife Phenomenon

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The more extensive discourse on the “tradwife” phenomenon has taken over corners of social media. It presents a significant point of discussion among specific demographics of younger to middle-aged women and mothers in particular.

Arguments for and Against the Trad-wife Lifestyle

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Advocates and adherents of the “tradwife” concept claim that putting the focus on family and home life is natural and beneficial for women and their entire families. Opponents claim that the tropes hurt women’s advancement in society, make them dependent on men, and exacerbate gender inequality.

Directing Fans and Public to Read Her Own Words on Website

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Hannah directed fans and anyone else interested in reading her perspective on her decisions and family life to the website of her family business’s “About Me” section.

Hannah talks about growing up Latter Day Saints in Utah in a middle class family of florists before she moved to New York City to study ballet at Juilliard, when she met Daniel and gave birth to their first child before she graduated.