Hannah Neeleman on Yesteryear: Women Stop Tearing Each Other Down

When a novel about a viral tradwife influencer lands a movie deal with Anne Hathaway attached, it’s fair to assume the real-life muse might feel some type of way about it. But Ballerina Farm influencer Hannah Neeleman, 35, isn’t taking the bait—or the insult.

In a recent interview with Vulture published Tuesday, June 16, Neeleman addressed the swirling speculation that she inspired the main character of Yesteryear, a book released in April by Caro Claire Burke. The novel follows a social media influencer named Natalie who curates an idealized traditional lifestyle with her husband and six children—until she wakes up in 1855 and discovers the reality of 19th-century domestic life is far grimmer than her carefully edited feed suggests. Rather than bristle at the comparison, Neeleman leaned into what she sees as a deeper issue: women’s tendency to tear each other down instead of supporting one another’s choices.

“I’ve had an online presence for enough time to know that people like to be entertained,”she said, acknowledging that the discourse around her life—particularly the skepticism about how she manages a nine-child household and her various ventures—likely fed into the fictional narrative. She noted that the tradwife conversation itself isn’t new, tracing it back to the mommy-blogger era when audiences were equally fascinated (and critical) of women profiting from their domestic roles online.

What struck Neeleman most wasn’t the premise of the book, but what it reflects about how women engage with one another. She pushed back on the notion that certain life choices—whether working outside the home, staying in, or doing both—represent a win or loss for women as a category.“I think it’s a step backward”to frame motherhood and homemaking as winning or losing, she explained. Her argument is straightforward: women possess the capability to lean into their talents, whether that’s a career in finance, baking sourdough-bread kits, or raising children. The real problem, she suggested, is that women often police each other’s choices rather than celebrating the freedom to choose at all.

Neeleman didn’t shy away from naming what she sees as a gendered pattern.“I think it is something about women, like, thinking that if we tear them down, we’ll feel better about ourselves,”she said. She contrasted this with how men seem to navigate similar territory without the same competitive undercurrent. Her point cuts both ways: yes, there’s legitimate discourse about gender roles and equality, but the current tenor often feels less like constructive debate and more like tribal warfare dressed up as feminism.

The irony isn’t lost here. A book designed to critique a certain aesthetic of femininity and domestic performance has become a mirror reflecting how women actually talk about women. Whether Neeleman was the direct inspiration for Yesteryear’s protagonist is almost beside the point. What matters, according to her, is that women stop treating each other’s life choices as personal threats. That’s the conversation worth having.