tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post95154476742181999..comments2024-03-14T00:16:32.077-07:00Comments on 50 Books: ETC: Hip CheckTammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16613804843380827691noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-34250653461747739062008-08-23T15:13:00.000-07:002008-08-23T15:13:00.000-07:00erm, i meant hearts of gold, but good works too :)...erm, i meant hearts of gold, but good works too :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-53039170801418894932008-08-23T15:12:00.000-07:002008-08-23T15:12:00.000-07:00As a non-hipster (I say that matter-of-factly) I f...As a non-hipster (I say that matter-of-factly) I frequently find "hipster parents" to usually be the least friendly and most smug parents in the room, so to speak. It's intimidating and their devotion to the material world is mind-boggling to me (Subaru, the finest in hemp wear and a fair trade coffee all in the right neighborhood.)<BR/><BR/>At 34 I have ceased to worry about impressing my peers with my taste in music or movies. My joy comes from raising my son (who loves R&B and YTV) and my work. I have also surrounded myself with lovely caring friends, some of whom can't dress themselves worth shit but who have hearts of good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-91150957834020228842007-02-01T14:56:00.000-08:002007-02-01T14:56:00.000-08:00Apart from being appalled at the hipster=monied ur...Apart from being appalled at the hipster=monied urban classist garbage in the Grup article (which I read yesterday)... I was amused by the assumption that 'hipster' parents have little kids. <br /><br />I have a fourteen year old... because not every university student who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant by that roommate with the mohawk and tattoos has an abortion. So my glimpse of the future is this: it doesn't matter a damn whether you are a hipster or not. You still have to parent. And your kids will eventually think you are an idiot with impaired fashion and music taste. Mine sneers at my docs, and approves of my stilettos. She tolerates my alterna-rock and obscure jazz with the same sigh, and then asks if we can please listen to some Justin Timberlake now. My toddlers were rocked to sleep with Kids in the Hall songs, and mock me for my fondness for old Star Trek. (ok, I'm actually a geek, not a hipster)<br /><br />But they are unlikely to accept authority without questioning it. They know that I love them to pieces. There are times when they wish I would get a normal job, and we could have more money. (No one wears $100 jeans in our house, nevermind $500 jeans.) We figure it out as we go, and we're a family. I care about how my kids are doing. And they seem to be ok. They get decent marks in school, treat their friends reasonably well, question everything they see in media, and are good company. Sometimes they do the dishes, and I don't know how they manage to use all the towels.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-39803022500520743022007-02-01T14:08:00.000-08:002007-02-01T14:08:00.000-08:00I just re-read Adam's excellent Grup article, link...I just re-read Adam's excellent Grup article, linked in Dopp's post, and was reminded that hipster parenting is really just an extension of hipster-ism period. That is, this group of well-educated, financially-advantaged, authority-conscious people in their 30s and 40s who don't want to end up in middle management working way too hard and giving up their passions. They (including me) want to have a life that doesn't result in having to morph into this image of an adult that probably excludes being able to work part-time from the cafe down the street, or traveling a lot, or exploring alternative art, or whatever makes them happy. <br /><br />And then throw kids in the mix. The next question becomes: can I be a decent <i>parent</i> without having to morph into this image of a parent that probably excludes the music, clothes, books and lifestyle I like? Obviously parenting involves a big change in lifestyle, but does it have to radically alter the things that make me me?<br /><br />I haven't read Pollack's book and I don't know his website at all, but there are books and sites that I really enjoy reading that wade into this topic (including Dopp's). So, fine, you can not like Pollack or his tone or whatever, but I can't see any reason to be outraged that a book such as his is appealing to a lot of people (not that any of the commenters here are saying that).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-37702155710837098702007-02-01T13:25:00.000-08:002007-02-01T13:25:00.000-08:00What August said! The issue to me isn't whatever c...What August said! The issue to me isn't whatever choices the alternadad makes (though lord knows I feel free to judge them -- and the homeschooling wackos and creepy beauty-pageant moms and so on and so forth); it's the attitude.<br /><br />(And Dopp, for the record, I hated Pollack before he had kids too.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-70902862244932810582007-02-01T10:43:00.000-08:002007-02-01T10:43:00.000-08:00I have no particular stake in this debate, althoug...I have no particular stake in this debate, although I've been following it (most of the anti-hipster stuff I've seen has been directed towards Steve Almond, however), but the complaint as I see it isn't so much about how they're raising their kids. It's about how every single piece they write is written from the point of view that they are the first parents in the history of parenting to a) not want their kids to become drones b) face all these cool parenting challenge and c) realize just how fulfilling it really is to be a parent.<br /><br />In my best '80s voice: Gag me with a spoon.<br /><br />With Neil Pollack everything has to be taken with a grain of salt simply because of the nature of most of his work, but with people like Steve Almond it's really, really difficult not to think of it as sanctimonious (or "sanctidaddious" as Gawker put it).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-43182189700840314252007-01-31T22:05:00.000-08:002007-01-31T22:05:00.000-08:00"My kids are going to be tiny replications of my o...<i>"My kids are going to be tiny replications of my own hip self -- I'll even indoctrinate them into my own musical tastes the better for them to express my essence like living, breathing iPod skins!"</i><br /><br />I guess I've never gotten that impression from reading Pollack's site, which I've been doing for a while now. To be honest, that argument has always seemed like a bit of a straw man (or straw hipster... ha!) that detractors bring up. <br /><br />I can totally accept that a <i>person</i> might seem hipper-than-thou, but I just don't see where this extends to parenting. I mean, I can see where an expectant parent might have all these delusions about imposing their will and tastes on their offspring, but faced with the reality, most every parent I've ever read or talked to seems to accept the fact that kids are these crazy little contrarians (in other words, they're totally nuts) who do what they want. Sure, Pollack brags about the fact that his kid likes The Hives and Johnny Cash, but hey, I brag about the fact that Sam likes kiddie classics. And Pollack also concedes that his kid likes The Wiggles, just as I concede that Sam likes Thomas and Maisy and friggin' books about talking Nascar cars, may god have mercy on my soul. <br /><br />But let's not break up! I got you something real purty for Valentine's Day!Tammyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16613804843380827691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-60764778716102969102007-01-31T21:35:00.000-08:002007-01-31T21:35:00.000-08:00Oh...oh no. If you're on Neal Pollack's team, we m...Oh...oh no. If you're on Neal Pollack's team, we may have to break up.<br /><br />(I can't speak for anyone else, but what bugs me about self-described hipster parents is the smugness -- <i>especially</i> in Pollack's case. "My kids are going to be tiny replications of my own hip self -- I'll even indoctrinate them into my own musical tastes the better for them to express my essence like living, breathing iPod skins!")Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com