I confess I’ve never paid much attention to Ballerina Farm but I’m old enough to remember Pioneer Woman. And in the early days of blogs and the internet she really did seem like a woman who had it all. Wannabe career woman who meets a cowboy and winds up on a ranch, has a gaggle of kids, homeschools them and photographs it all for no less than THREE websites? At one point she had a cooking blog, a homeschool blog and her main blog. I confess I was naive enough to think she was doing this all herself and wondered how she had enough hours in the day to cook and homeschool and go on a cattle drive and take pictures of all of it and then write three blog posts. I actually felt so inadequate when I compared my life to hers. It was only later when she mentioned some assistant that I had a light bulb moment and realized she had all sorts of help and that she was marketing herself and her brand and this had all been calculated. (Of course she wound up famous and had a cooking show and brand deals and all the things). At least with ballerina farm, they are selling the beef and the protein powder and whatever else they sell and you KNOW there are people working for them to get it all done. I can’t imagine reading Yesteryear because I have zero interest in a feminist take on tradwives, however I do think women everywhere need to remember that the internet isn’t reality and the curated glimpse someone gives you into their lives are just the highlights. And it can be frustrating to realize that the people you idolize are marketing themselves to you, or hiding the reality of how three blogs are managed. There’s a larger discussion that women need to have about real vs fake, the competition to make people think our lives are perfect, and also the idea that somehow women need to push themselves hard enough to have it ALL.
I feel like you are able to take a small point and turn it sideways and reveal a wide swath of things to think about and be aware of, Meseidy! Well done
So many things appear to be one thing on the surface but underneath there is a whole index of facts surrounding and leading up to the point
Like someone else said in a comment, it’s disturbing some people will read a book like this and not see the context and negative place it’s coming from, and so popular bcz it’s affirming a certain view
Love your article on this. It’s been so hard to see the reviews, especially from Christian people, who don’t seem to understand where this book is coming from and how narrow the feminist perspective is. The author feels bitter to me. How dare we participate in capitalism as influencers if we don’t have feminist values. It’s just so hypocritical. Reminds me of the reaction to Sarah Palin back in the day too.
The so called feminist attack of Ballerina Farm is an overused trope. The Neeleman’s don’t say “you can have this life, too”. They don’t try to sell the life. They don’t hide the wealth they both came from, too. They don’t hide their assistants and team, either. So many put Hannah on a pedestal just to tear her to pieces. It’s lazy.
I agree with everything you said and would just add how incredibly lazy it was (is). She did the least amount of research possible to confirm her bias and then when pushed on it, said "it's satire, duh."
I confess I’ve never paid much attention to Ballerina Farm but I’m old enough to remember Pioneer Woman. And in the early days of blogs and the internet she really did seem like a woman who had it all. Wannabe career woman who meets a cowboy and winds up on a ranch, has a gaggle of kids, homeschools them and photographs it all for no less than THREE websites? At one point she had a cooking blog, a homeschool blog and her main blog. I confess I was naive enough to think she was doing this all herself and wondered how she had enough hours in the day to cook and homeschool and go on a cattle drive and take pictures of all of it and then write three blog posts. I actually felt so inadequate when I compared my life to hers. It was only later when she mentioned some assistant that I had a light bulb moment and realized she had all sorts of help and that she was marketing herself and her brand and this had all been calculated. (Of course she wound up famous and had a cooking show and brand deals and all the things). At least with ballerina farm, they are selling the beef and the protein powder and whatever else they sell and you KNOW there are people working for them to get it all done. I can’t imagine reading Yesteryear because I have zero interest in a feminist take on tradwives, however I do think women everywhere need to remember that the internet isn’t reality and the curated glimpse someone gives you into their lives are just the highlights. And it can be frustrating to realize that the people you idolize are marketing themselves to you, or hiding the reality of how three blogs are managed. There’s a larger discussion that women need to have about real vs fake, the competition to make people think our lives are perfect, and also the idea that somehow women need to push themselves hard enough to have it ALL.
🔥🔥🔥 Yes! This! Thank you for putting my disorganized thoughts into words.
GIRL. Giving you a STANDING OVATION from Weatherford, Texas. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Meseidy, this is an incredible article. Thank you for writing it.
Cut to the chase, look under rocks— you do it so well. Love this piece and that you present information without telling someone how to think about it!
I feel like you are able to take a small point and turn it sideways and reveal a wide swath of things to think about and be aware of, Meseidy! Well done
So many things appear to be one thing on the surface but underneath there is a whole index of facts surrounding and leading up to the point
Like someone else said in a comment, it’s disturbing some people will read a book like this and not see the context and negative place it’s coming from, and so popular bcz it’s affirming a certain view
Love your article on this. It’s been so hard to see the reviews, especially from Christian people, who don’t seem to understand where this book is coming from and how narrow the feminist perspective is. The author feels bitter to me. How dare we participate in capitalism as influencers if we don’t have feminist values. It’s just so hypocritical. Reminds me of the reaction to Sarah Palin back in the day too.
The so called feminist attack of Ballerina Farm is an overused trope. The Neeleman’s don’t say “you can have this life, too”. They don’t try to sell the life. They don’t hide the wealth they both came from, too. They don’t hide their assistants and team, either. So many put Hannah on a pedestal just to tear her to pieces. It’s lazy.
I agree with everything you said and would just add how incredibly lazy it was (is). She did the least amount of research possible to confirm her bias and then when pushed on it, said "it's satire, duh."
It’s a loathsome book. I stopped reading it.