The Trad Wife Controversy – What’s Going On With Hannah Neeleman?

The Trad Wife community has been swept up in yet another controversy, one involving their so-called queen, Hannah Neeleman.

The ballerina, content creator, and mother of 8, recently shared a video of herself running through a field, baby on hip, detailing her dream to become a dairy farmer.

“When we started our farm, I was swept up in the beauty of learning to make food from scratch,” she said. “It’s the world we created and I couldn’t love it more.”

This video came after a somewhat damning (and slightly concerning) interview with The Times of London, in which Hannah spoke about quitting her ballerina career to become a trad wife, baking sourdough from scratch, and giving birth to most of her eight children at home without pain medication.

She had an epidural for one, and said it was “amazing.”

@ballerinafarm I’m calling it “Dairy Date Night” 🐄🌾♥️ @Daniel ♬ original sound – Ballerina Farm

Hannah lives on Ballerina Farm in Utah with her children and husband, Daniel, the heir to JetBlue. She dubs herself the Mormon Mrs America but everyone else knows her as the Queen of the Trad Wives – a term that, according to the Times of London article, she doesn’t necessarily agree with.

In fact, Hannah doesn’t agree with a lot of what was said in the article, a piece that suggests her husband makes all of the decisions regarding family life, her career choices, and their date nights.

“Together we have built a business from scratch,” she said after its publication. “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.”

But the controversy around the life of the trad wife doesn’t stop there… and didn’t even begin with Hannah. The term is used to describe a ‘traditional wife,’ a modern woman who forgoes the rules (or freedom?) of contemporary society to focus on making cereal from scratch, birthing kids, and making a home.

 

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A post shared by Hannah @Ballerina Farm (@ballerinafarm)

Trad wives can usually be found in the American midwest, down the local farmer’s market or, as of the past few years, on TikTok. The ‘tradwife’ hashtag has garnered 74.3 million posts on the platform, documenting women’s decision to quit their jobs, don an apron, and look after their husbands.

Where Hannah’s @ballerinafarm account currently boasts over 9 million followers, she is far from the only trad wife amassing serious eyes online.

You may have stumbled across Nara Smith, a 22 year old model turned trad wife, mother to 3 under 3, and wife to Lucky Blue Smith. Nara’s content is fascinating – literally. She glides through her home with a baby on her hip, her dulcet tones narrating her day to day, before she decides to make her kids some cheese toasties from scratch.

As in, she makes cheese from milk curd, and whips up a fresh loaf from dough. One time she even made Lucky Blue some Coca Cola from sugar and fruit. Yes, really.

Nara has become a bit of a meme on TikTok – followers can’t look away, but they’re also happy to parody her, emulating her slow, gentle tone as they state that they didn’t have time to go to therapy, so they’re going make some self esteem from scratch.

Unlike other trad wives, Nara seems to be in on the joke. Marc Jacobs recently shared an ad where she pretended to make a tote bag from scratch, red food dye and everything.

@marcjacobs The Tote Bag, made from scratch by @Nara Smith ♬ original sound – marcjacobs

But Nara’s slightly tongue in cheek content isn’t the trad wife norm. Usually, they can be seen defending their life choices while wearing a floral ruffle summer dress and milking a cow. They often present an archaic view of womanhood, one that focuses solely on the needs of their husband and children, rather than their own.

Estee Williams, a Trump supporting trad wife who seemingly aspires to live her life alá Mad Men’s Betty Draper, argues that being a trad wife isn’t about taking rights away from other women, but about recognising that your own role is in the home.

@esteecwilliams What it means to be a Tradwife. #fyp #tradwife #homemaking #housewife #traditional #tradwifecontroversy #womenschoice ♬ Music Instrument – Gerhard Siagian

On her TikTok, she says that ‘submitting’ to your husband doesn’t mean that you are less than him, and that serving your family as a trad wife isn’t all that different from the roles than many Christian women have taken on for years.

Such is the reality for most trad wives. They’re staunchly religious, often Mormon, and use their connection with God as a means of justifying their role in the home, their ever growing families, and relationships with their husbands.

Hannah Neeleman is no different. A practising member of the Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints church, she often cites religion as the reason behind her lifestyle choices. When asked whether she was going to have more children, she told The Times of London: “It’s very much a matter of prayer for me. I’m, like, ‘God, is it time to bring another one to the Earth?’ And I’ve never been told no.”

Husband Daniel then interrupted to say: “But for whatever reason it’s exactly nine months [after a baby] that she’s ready for the next one.”

Hannah may be actively defending her lifestyle, but some followers remain concerned that she doesn’t have a choice, and that she isn’t happy.

The 34 year old once had a dance studio on her 328 acre farm, but that was soon converted to a play area for her kids. She is a co-business owner, but she’s also expected to care for her 8 children without any help. She was trained in one of the State’s most prestigious ballet schools, but gave it all up for this.

The argument rages on on TikTok, but one thing is for certain – beyond all of the cosy knits, homemade bread, and growing broods, living as a trad wife simply isn’t realistic… unless you have money. A lot of money.

And doesn’t that negate the entire experience of making something from nothing, really?

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