Ring/buzz/trill.

“Hello?”

“Hey Dad.”

“Hey!  It’s my number one son!  How’s it going?”

“Good, Dad.  Good.”

“And how are all my grandbabies?”

Gentle chuckle.  “They’re fine.”

“And my daughter-in-law?”

“She’s good.”

“Planted the next seed yet?”

Another chuckle.  “Not just yet.  The baby’s only a few months old, figured I’d give her break. 
Maybe have another next year.”

“Good, good.  So what’s up?”

“Need some advice.”

“Hmm-hm?”

“We got a call from a reporter who wants to do an interview with Hannah.  You know, she’s got a lot of followers online, people interested in our lives.  You remember that pageant, not too long ago? Her social media really blew up.”

“OK …”

“So, this woman wants to do a story about us, our lives on the farm, the kids, all of that.”

“Hmm.”  Pause.  “You think that’s a good idea?”

“She said she’d like to.  Told her I’d think about it.”

“Well, my advice to you is let her do the interview, but stay involved.  Don’t think it would be wise to let this reporter influence Hannah in some way.”

“What do you mean?”

“This reporter.  A woman, correct?”

“Yes …?”

“Well, if she has time to fly all around the country asking questions then I don’t expect she has time to be a proper wife and mother.  She is likely” (pause for sneer) “a feminist, trying to convince women marriage and children somehow equal oppression, and flat-out refuse to accept that a woman’s highest and best purpose is to marry and bring children into the world.  No,” he continued, “Hannah is happy right where she is, and I would not to give this reporter the opportunity to convince her otherwise.”

Contemplative. “OK. Thanks, Dad. ‘Preciate the advice.”

The “trad wife” phenomenon, which 75 years ago would simply have been a woman’s life on a farm, is now a S&M lifestyle choice, typically for younger women with six-figure husbands.  Working-class women have always worked; that MadMen, noon-martini existence was only allowed to the pretty white few. 

Hannah Neeleman has been crowned the queen of the modern trad wife, eight kids on a farm and cooking all meals from scratch, married to the strapping heir of the billionaire JetBlue fortune.

The article, however, leans towards a certain bias, with the author finding it necessary to include a statement from a social scientist detracting from the entire trad wife trend, who suggests that flipping the script on the career-driven, girl-boss MF could result in “circumscrib[ing] women’s lives.”

Not likely.  Men who earn enough to support that lifestyle are roughly one percent of the population … even though many are Mormon still can’t envision that many wives. 

Anyhoo, the nascent Mrs. Neeleman left home at 17 for NYC to be a ballet dancer, studying at Julliard.  Six months after meeting her future husband, they were engaged.  A month later – married.  Two months after that – pregnant; Hannah was actually the first pregnant undergrad at the creative arts school. 

Pause, and think about that:  she was married and pregnant with a year of meeting her husband, and she wanted to be a ballerina.

So much for that. 

There likely is fear that she’s living his dreams, not hers, which is why she did not get the full four hours with the reporter.  He easily could have taken a chunk of the kids out somewhere on the farm for a few hours, let her unburden herself to a stranger. 

But – as discussed above – was likely counseled by his elders to ensure that did not happen
… can’t burst the bubble of fantasy. 

They might be co-CEOs but trust&believe – he’s chairman of the board.

Hillbilly Vance is currently getting castigated for his “childless cat ladies” comment from a few years ago.  Man’s under the impression that breeding makes women better people, more conscientious about the future of the world.

Um, no. 

Having children is inherently selfish, personifies the belief that the world needs more of you in it.

Taylor Swift.  Oprah.  AOC.  Jennifer Aniston.  Kamala Harris.  Betty White.  Dolly Parton is a national treasure, been married for 3,000 years, and totally childfree.  She is also highly philanthropic, constantly making the world a better place. 

Where is the joyful medium for women? 

Popular opinion?  Guess there isn’t one.

If women have dreams beyond becoming a wife and mother … best bet is to not become a wife, and certainly not a mother.  {Numbers 31:18}

Childless cat ladies are the women who lived out their dreams, or at least got closer to them.

Women living their dreams leave little room, patience, or tolerance for the dreams of men. 

And therein lies the real problem.

Many men believe women owe the debt of their wombs
… and some women are simply choosing to have bad credit.