“I'm still bleeding a little bit,” Hannah Neeleman said.
She was sitting in a hotel room, rocking a newborn, while a makeup artist hovered nearby, eyeshadow brush in hand.
Two weeks after giving birth to her eighth baby, Neeleman, 33, said she no longer needed to wear postpartum diapers. That was convenient, because she was about to participate in the swimsuit round of the Mrs. World beauty pageant, for married women from around the world.
“I don't think it's embarrassing to show that I just had a baby girl,” Neeleman said. “I mean, I'm not going to have a perfectly flat stomach.”
A former Juilliard-trained dancer, she is better known as a social media star than a pageant queen. Online she is known as Ballerina Farm and millions of people watch her videos that portray her life in the countryside 50 kilometers from Salt Lake City, Utah.
On January 21, the day of the contest, 9 million Instagram followers watched her milk her cow, Tulip, and bake sourdough bread. The brand—and Ballerina Farm is as much a brand as it is a person—is wholesome and bucolic. Neeleman is listed as founder and CEO of Ballerina Farm. There is no cake she can't bake, no number of children or livestock she can't handle. Her husband, Daniel, makes cameos as the gourmand who happily devours everything she cooks.
Neeleman is simultaneously one of the most popular social media stars in the US and a target of criticism. Is she, as her fans would say, a woman who has made the commendable decision to stay home, raise the children, and support the family farm? Or is she, as her detractors would say, someone who uses social media to push for a return to traditional gender roles while she overlooks the privileges that allowed her to have that lifestyle?
Like many online influencers, Neeleman has monetized his popularity. Fans can purchase dehydrated packages of his sourdough for $18. Other items include a checkered apron and a set of enameled plates. Construction of a Ballerina Farm store and cafe is planned, as is a dairy operation, Neeleman said.
Her online followers are loyal. They rival in volume those who try to poke holes in their cheerful portraits of family life on the farm.
After the makeup session in the hotel room, Neeleman joined the other 37 Señora Mundo contestants in a preliminary round.
A key part of the pageant took place behind closed doors, when the contestants met with the judges. Neeleman said she had been asked if she would be able to balance the duties of a Mrs. World crown winner with her busy personal life. In addition to the new baby, her father is dying of cancer.
“Knowing that the end is probably near for him, and then having this newborn baby and welcoming this life into our family, it's been very emotional,” she said. “I think that's what a Mrs. World is. She is a woman who plays many roles.”
The contestant from Germany ended up winning the crown. The 37 contestants surrounded her. After a while, Neeleman slipped away. It was time to breastfeed her baby girl.
“I don't think it's embarrassing to show that I just had a baby.”
By: MADISON MALONE KIRCHER
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/7113228, IMPORTING DATE: 2024-02-13 23:48:04
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