Your analysis is 100% appreciated and accurate. So funny. You HAVE to laugh at it. I used to do improv and I'm such a believer in satire and such a child of the skeptic 80s and 90s. How can we be un-influenced by this? Why can't I just be average? I'm a white cis, housewife who hasn't inherited any money but who has what she needs. I love writing and talking about hospitality and housewifery, but I very often let the influencers get me down. Not because I'm trying to keep up, but because I can't believe they are taken seriously. Or that they took the time to take themselves that seriously! It's so self-focused that it's scary. And it makes me worried that doing any writing of my own is similarly too self-centered. Anyway.. And giving a window active attributes? Natural diurnal creatures? Yikes! Thank you for your camaraderie. I'm with you.
omg i am reading all your ballerina farm articles today and i am HERE FOR IT. couldn't help but to add that they TOOK OUT floor to ceiling windows/sliding door in that space and inserted this behemoth of a view-blocking-sunlight-inhibiting-bastard-to-clean window/wall to artificially match the yesteryear vibe they create that you have already mentioned
Thanks for this piece! I'm about to become a mom in May. I also follow some white-mommy accounts on Instagram and don't know how to engage with them honestly! The white mom experience still seems foreign to me because I come from South America with immigrant parents, and live in Miami. Latin moms are a whole study in itself in that they/we? perform at the intersection of "femininity," internalized machismo and carry indigenous cultural components that have also been colonized. Most of my friends who are Cuban, Venezuelan, Colombian, or from central America seem to have, or claim, completely different experiences regarding their role as mothers. They say they are completely happy being moms and it is the best job in the world, they are also working class or work as caretakers for special needs children, teachers, nurses, so they have full time jobs. They do not have much of a presence on social media except for a few, whom I follow too. And the mommy narrative/curation is substantially different. Plus, it's not like they get to stay at home or have a husband who supports them, yet I always hear "soy feliz" from them and it's sort of beautiful.
So many women don't fit into the either/or: "it's very hard" or "it's bliss" narrative. But maybe those are our only options? What do I know? I'm not a mom yet. Still, feeling like these narratives are so limiting: either motherhood is hard and unpaid labor, or it's "bliss" like how the influencer you write about makes it to be. I do wish more latinx and black moms could enter this conversation so that we hear about other narratives, and I did love how you interviewed a black mom in one of your articles, who explained why minority influencers engage in activism and politics while others don't feel the need to. I'm not sure I'm making sense but it's stuff I think about. I am currently writing about grief Instagram accounts for my own newsletter because I find them great in many ways, and problematic in others, just like mommy-influencers. Thanks for such an interesting article!
I do wonder who even wrote this post. Does Daniel ACTUALLY manage his own Instagram? Or did Hannah pose and style this photo and write the caption herself? Is she managing his online presence as she has done hers?
i am late to the discourse but this, whew, this was spectacular. would love to someday hear your thoughts (i know, not that ballerinafarm needs another essay, but maybe it could be coupled with the eventually baby reveal analysis?!) on daniel's handle "hogfathering." feels like a major missed opportunity for some wordplay on 'animal husbandry!' or maybe it's an attempt at that, but it doesn't land for me, especially since he sends the hogs to slaughter for profit... UHHH
Holy shit, I laughed out loud. “I’d love to hear from the window.” Sharp with depth. I can barely stomach the false projections, but I DELIGHT in experiencing them alongside your critique. It’s like a friend taking your hand to guide you through a fun house of horrors. 😘
So glad I'm not raising kids while this shit is going on. It was bad enough that we had Martha Stewart and her bucket of schlop to contend with back then. At least we got to feel a nice, warm sense of vindication when she went to jail. Brilliant writing, thank you. I think my fave, after 5 wasted minutes on the BF IG, was the flower bs. Is she literally pretending to be a floral designer? Are they literally selling flowers they don't grow? We will sell you ANYTHING WE CAN INCLUDING OUR CHILDREN FOR THE RIGHT PRICE BECAUSE WE ARE HEARTLESSLY EXPLOITING EVERY FUCKING BREATH THEY EVER TAKE IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR BILL!
I hate mom blogs and influencer accounts, but you're all bent out of shape that this post is his p.o.v. and his voice, but it's his account, so of course it is. You seem very bitter, for no real reason.
There is no way a clod like Daniel wrote that post. Look at Hannah’s posts from 6 month ago. They clearly have hired social media help, just like for homeschooling (which they rarely acknowledge.)
But when will we discuss their Disneyland trip and how dense they actually are? It was like the Clampetts showed up to California, never ever having heard of such a place.
How Ballerinafarm's husband made me start a newsletter.
Please do a future post on how they don’t celebrate the boys’ birthdays but the girls get a 90-layer cake.
Your analysis is 100% appreciated and accurate. So funny. You HAVE to laugh at it. I used to do improv and I'm such a believer in satire and such a child of the skeptic 80s and 90s. How can we be un-influenced by this? Why can't I just be average? I'm a white cis, housewife who hasn't inherited any money but who has what she needs. I love writing and talking about hospitality and housewifery, but I very often let the influencers get me down. Not because I'm trying to keep up, but because I can't believe they are taken seriously. Or that they took the time to take themselves that seriously! It's so self-focused that it's scary. And it makes me worried that doing any writing of my own is similarly too self-centered. Anyway.. And giving a window active attributes? Natural diurnal creatures? Yikes! Thank you for your camaraderie. I'm with you.
omg i am reading all your ballerina farm articles today and i am HERE FOR IT. couldn't help but to add that they TOOK OUT floor to ceiling windows/sliding door in that space and inserted this behemoth of a view-blocking-sunlight-inhibiting-bastard-to-clean window/wall to artificially match the yesteryear vibe they create that you have already mentioned
Thanks for this piece! I'm about to become a mom in May. I also follow some white-mommy accounts on Instagram and don't know how to engage with them honestly! The white mom experience still seems foreign to me because I come from South America with immigrant parents, and live in Miami. Latin moms are a whole study in itself in that they/we? perform at the intersection of "femininity," internalized machismo and carry indigenous cultural components that have also been colonized. Most of my friends who are Cuban, Venezuelan, Colombian, or from central America seem to have, or claim, completely different experiences regarding their role as mothers. They say they are completely happy being moms and it is the best job in the world, they are also working class or work as caretakers for special needs children, teachers, nurses, so they have full time jobs. They do not have much of a presence on social media except for a few, whom I follow too. And the mommy narrative/curation is substantially different. Plus, it's not like they get to stay at home or have a husband who supports them, yet I always hear "soy feliz" from them and it's sort of beautiful.
So many women don't fit into the either/or: "it's very hard" or "it's bliss" narrative. But maybe those are our only options? What do I know? I'm not a mom yet. Still, feeling like these narratives are so limiting: either motherhood is hard and unpaid labor, or it's "bliss" like how the influencer you write about makes it to be. I do wish more latinx and black moms could enter this conversation so that we hear about other narratives, and I did love how you interviewed a black mom in one of your articles, who explained why minority influencers engage in activism and politics while others don't feel the need to. I'm not sure I'm making sense but it's stuff I think about. I am currently writing about grief Instagram accounts for my own newsletter because I find them great in many ways, and problematic in others, just like mommy-influencers. Thanks for such an interesting article!
I do wonder who even wrote this post. Does Daniel ACTUALLY manage his own Instagram? Or did Hannah pose and style this photo and write the caption herself? Is she managing his online presence as she has done hers?
i am late to the discourse but this, whew, this was spectacular. would love to someday hear your thoughts (i know, not that ballerinafarm needs another essay, but maybe it could be coupled with the eventually baby reveal analysis?!) on daniel's handle "hogfathering." feels like a major missed opportunity for some wordplay on 'animal husbandry!' or maybe it's an attempt at that, but it doesn't land for me, especially since he sends the hogs to slaughter for profit... UHHH
omg this was amazing. top notch analysis.
Diurnal sent me over the EDGE! Thank you for your gleeful incredulity!
Ahhh I feel like we were huddled around your computer doing a first look on this post together. Can’t wait for more!
Holy shit, I laughed out loud. “I’d love to hear from the window.” Sharp with depth. I can barely stomach the false projections, but I DELIGHT in experiencing them alongside your critique. It’s like a friend taking your hand to guide you through a fun house of horrors. 😘
So glad I'm not raising kids while this shit is going on. It was bad enough that we had Martha Stewart and her bucket of schlop to contend with back then. At least we got to feel a nice, warm sense of vindication when she went to jail. Brilliant writing, thank you. I think my fave, after 5 wasted minutes on the BF IG, was the flower bs. Is she literally pretending to be a floral designer? Are they literally selling flowers they don't grow? We will sell you ANYTHING WE CAN INCLUDING OUR CHILDREN FOR THE RIGHT PRICE BECAUSE WE ARE HEARTLESSLY EXPLOITING EVERY FUCKING BREATH THEY EVER TAKE IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR BILL!
I hate mom blogs and influencer accounts, but you're all bent out of shape that this post is his p.o.v. and his voice, but it's his account, so of course it is. You seem very bitter, for no real reason.
There is no way a clod like Daniel wrote that post. Look at Hannah’s posts from 6 month ago. They clearly have hired social media help, just like for homeschooling (which they rarely acknowledge.)
But when will we discuss their Disneyland trip and how dense they actually are? It was like the Clampetts showed up to California, never ever having heard of such a place.
Man, I loved this.