flâneur

"I don't even know what feminism means anymore."

sarapetersen.substack.com · 2,166 words · saved by 1 readers

In the days since the now infamous Times profile of Ballerina Farm has gone viral, we’ve seen backlash to the backlash to the backlash. Many (including me) have noted the thread of patriarchal control that seems to undergird the Neeleman lifestyle. But after the first round of “free Hannah” pieces were published, there’s been an onslaught of pieces decrying “bitter feminists” for unfairly judging Hannah Neeleman’s choices, particularly since she posted this response to the profile, and this updated “About Us” page on the Ballerina Farm website. The rose tinted conservative online magazine Evie has published defenses of Ballerina Farm, but so have plenty of mainstream journalists and influencers, implying that the Times profile was a hit piece written by a feminist with an agenda, that Megan Agnew deliberately “attacked” the Neeleman family. I don’t agree with this assessment (read Agnew’s reflection on the profile here). But I do think Hannah Neeleman’s response to Agnew’s question abo

Quick note before you keep scrolling! In Pursuit now lives over at Patreon. So if you enjoy this piece, and want to read more like it, join me there! In Pursuit is now on PATREON In the days since the now infamous Times profile of Ballerina Farm has gone viral, we’ve seen backlash to the backlash to the backlash. Many (including me) have noted the thread of patriarchal control that seems to undergird the Neeleman lifestyle. But after the first round of “free Hannah” pieces were published, there’s been an onslaught of pieces decrying “bitter feminists” for unfairly judging Hannah Neeleman’s…

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