An ode to hipster parenting
Categories: Just For Dads, Media, That's Entertainment
Is it cool to be a parent?
Judging by the media's reaction to the release of Alternadad, the new Neil Pollack book on hipster fatherhood, the answer is, surprisingly, yes. USA Today is the most recent newspaper to hop on board -- profiling Pollack and the growing number of parents who are redefining what it means to be "grown up."
So what exactly does it mean to be an "alternaparent?" Just 'cause you lull the baby to sleep with songs by the Essex Green are you still cool? Kind of, according to Jason Avant, the founder of Dad Centric, who was also quoted in the article. He "loves to skateboard and loves rock music. I'm just passing on the culture to my kid, something parents have done through the years." And that's great, says Pollack, whose 4 year-old son Elijah knows who Johnny Cash is, but "there are more essential questions: What makes a happy family?"
And what do you think? is this just hype, or is this generation actually changing our impression of parenthood?
Recent Posts
- Senators Question $1 Million Pay for Charity's CEO (3/15/2010)
- Student Journalists Yell 'Stop The Press' on Principle (and at Principal) (3/15/2010)
- Babymama Drama: John Edwards' Mistress Finally Speaks Out (3/15/2010)
- Teen Girls Drawn to Cigarette Ads in Fashion Mags (3/15/2010)
- Survey: Teachers Believe in High Expectations, but Standards Fall Short in Practice (3/15/2010)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
katie e. 1-24-2007 @ 3:22PM
you know, the more i think about this, the less convinced i am that this whole media cycle means anything - which isn't to say that i'm not going to read alternadad, because i think neil pollack can be pretty funny (mostly in small doses). jonathon, i think i'm about your age - or just a few years older - and i have to say that i was basically raised by an "alternaparent." my mom played the clash and talking heads for me when i was tiny, and i was a punk for halloween in second grade. etc etc. i suspect that these sorts of books and trend-watching come out generationally and there's a big fuss for a year or two, and then everyone moves on to the next story. there's just a larger focus on this cohort due to the exposure of bloggers etc.
Reply
creative-type dad 1-24-2007 @ 3:43PM
When does the book come out about weird parents who blog/write about their kids to strangers?
Because I can relate to that one.
Reply
Sandyone 1-24-2007 @ 4:04PM
I think this generation is changing it's impression of....itself.
I'm still baffled by this "I-used-to-be-cool-but-now-I'm-a-parent-and-that-automatically- makes-me-uncool-so-I-have-to-do-all-I-can-to-prove-that- I-actually-am-still-cool".
Maybe because I never was cool so I just eased right into parenthood?
Reply
toddo 1-25-2007 @ 12:00AM
if the president thinks you're cool, are you? slate.com ragazine decided to trash BabyEinstien creator Julie Aigner-Clarke because the president recognized her work as a working mom who tried to help other working parents and parents who lost a child. it's pretty cool to get recognized as a national hero. but for slate.com to call her a "flamboyant charlatan", and make wildly inaccurate claims about her and Baby Einstien are pretty uncool.
Reply
lisa F. 1-25-2007 @ 10:23AM
I'm sure we are doing the same as the last few generations. Who's to say that my parents knew exactly what raising a child entailed before they had me? I mean, is any couple really ready for the total lifestyle change? Even if you did not go out and party almost every night (yes, like we did) before having having a baby, I'm sure most of us didn't get up every three hours just for fun all night long like we are doing right now. And for all my husband's tattoos and piercings, and for all the weird looks he gets pushing a baby stroller, he is truly the best darn father my baby can have!
Reply
whithonea 1-25-2007 @ 11:59AM
I believe the first comment mentioned the key difference between our generation and those past. The internet.
We may not be doing anything ground-breaking, but thanks to personal blogs and the very popular group blogs like DadCentric, StrollerDerby and Blogging Baby, the world is aware of what we do. Perhaps we have brought this glorification upon ourselves.
I don't believe that we have strayed that much from what our parents taught us. I grew up on the Beatles and Willie Nelson, and my kids are growing up on, well the Beatles and Willie Nelson. My apple didn't fall too far.
I do think that there is a wider acceptance of fathers being less "traditional", that is staying at home and being active in the actual rearing of the child rather than dishing out words of wisdom across the dinner table.
There are other considerations as well, one being that many people are starting families later in life, and this is leading to a generation of parents that are already established in their own identity when the child arrives. That identity likes to have fun. 30 is the new 20 you know.
That said, I'm not going to go all Public Enemy on you, because I think you should believe some of the hype. I'll take something as refreshing and solid as good-parenting in USA Today any day of the week (except Saturday or Sunday apparently). Whether or not the movement deserves such recognition, hell, whether or not it is even a movement, that's a matter of opinion.
Me? Yes on the former, eh on the latter.
Reply