Discourse around "tradwife" influencers has been steadily escalating all year — and perhaps the most prominent among social media tradwives, Ballerina Farm's Hannah Neeleman, is accusing The Sunday Times of making her look "oppressed."
Hannah and husband Daniel Neeleman are devoutly Mormon, a demographic rising among influencers in general.
The Neelemans were profiled by The Sunday Times on July 20th, for a piece entitled "Meet the queen of the 'trad wives …'"
Hannah, whose social media handle is @BallerinaFarm, shared an Instagram Reel yesterday objecting to the piece:
Ballerina Farm/Hannah's Sunday Times Statement
Ballerina Farm's Instagram Reel reacting to The Sunday Times' story sounded like a prepared statement read aloud, and she began:
"A couple of weeks ago we [Hannah and Daniel Neeleman] had a reporter come into our home … we thought the interview went really well.
"We were taken back [sic] however, when we saw the printed article, which shocked us and shocked the world by it being an attack on my family and my marriage … portraying me as oppressed with my husband being the culprit.
"This couldn't be further from the truth."
Comments on Hannah's reel were quick not only to agree — with some insisting the article's intent was to slander not just Hannah, but motherhood as a concept:
"To all mothers… this isn’t just an attack on Hannah… it’s an attack [on] families and this is how many people see family in our society today.
"There is a distain [sic] for the nuclear family which is what Hannah represents. There is a distain [sic] for children.
"Be aware and guard your hearts, homes, and seek God’s approval for your family and no one else's."
Based on those reactions, it would be reasonable to think The Sunday Times blindsided the couple with a hit piece … but in Hannah's own words, "that couldn't be further from the truth."
Ballerina Farm didn't say the article explicitly described her as "oppressed," but it's also hard to say which parts Hannah or Daniel found so objectionable.
The piece began by recapping Hannah's participation in a "Mrs. American" pageant in 2023, less than two weeks after giving birth, explaining in part:
"Was this the ultimate act of empowerment, Neeleman doing what she wanted, or the ultimate demonstration of oppression, her tender body encased in spiky sequins? Neeleman, whether she liked it or not, was declared leader of a new and controversial group of the internet: the 'trad wives.'"
If we had to guess, a shockingly mild portion of the article looked to be the "culprit" behind the ire, whether it's Hannah's or Daniel's:
"'Our first few years of marriage were really hard, we sacrificed a lot,' [Hannah] says. 'But we did have this vision, this dream and —' Daniel interrupts: 'We still do.' What kind of sacrifices, I ask her. 'Well, I gave up dance, which was hard. You give up a piece of yourself. And Daniel gave up his career ambitions.'
"I [the author] look out at the vastness and don’t totally agree. Daniel wanted to live in the great western wilds, so they did; he wanted to farm, so they do; he likes date nights once a week, so they go (they have a babysitter on those evenings); he didn’t want nannies in the house, so there aren't any.
"The only space earmarked to be Neeleman's own — a small barn she wanted to convert into a ballet studio — ended up becoming the kids' schoolroom."
Admittedly, the section doesn't necessarily flatter Daniel, who the outlet notes is the son of "billionaire" JetBlue founder David Neeleman, but it hardly reflects as badly on him as the "egg apron" video, posted by Ballerina Farm on TikTok, did.
On July 29, The Sunday Times published a companion piece by the same author, Megan Agnew, and it's possible a line in the second article set the Neelemans off.
It entailed Agnew reflecting on her now-viral reporting, and she observed in part that the Neelemans picked and chose from which "traditional" trappings of life they embraced:
"[Ballerina Farm's household] was also a life of contradictions. Children not allowed screens, but who are reality TV characters online for millions.
"A stay-at-home mother who has made a career out of being so. An analogue, old-fashioned farm, only working because it is underwritten by social media cash.
"A choice — modern in her ability to have one — to do something so very traditional."
Ballerina Farm's Hannah posted a second Instagram post a few hours later, vaguely suggesting followers read her story "in [her] own words" — interesting phrasing, considering that the Sunday Times noted Hannah's "own words" were routinely "interrupted" or "corrected" by Daniel.
