The Hip Mama Survival Guide: Advice from the Trenches on Pregnancy, Childbirth, Cool Names, Clueless Doctors, Potty Training, and Toddler Avengers

by Ariel Gore

Book Overview

"The Gen-X Dr. Spock" and the founder of Hip Mama: The Parenting 'Zine gives readers advice from the trenches on pregnancy, childbirth, cool names, clueless doctors, potty training, domestic mayhem, right-wing losers, the evil patriarchy, nervous breakdowns, and way more. Line drawings.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786882328
• ISBN13: 9780786882328
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 17 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 12 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

A moment of respite in the sea of nervous pregnancy books

I found this book to be so reassuring that it was all going to be ok. That I was going to be able to be a mom and not sacrifice my sense of identity. That being an SUV-driving Soccer Mom was not the inevitable result of my pregnancy. It is a good reminder that "you are enough" and that being an edgy, alternative, opinionated socially progressive mom is a great thing.

Buy This to Keep Your Sanity

Sadly, this was the 14th pregnancy book I bought and not the first... yet it was the one I was looking for all along. Entertaining and Informative... "Hip Mama" contains info that no other pregnancy book contains... such as "Can you breastfeed with pierced nipples" and "Are vibrators OK during pregnancy?" You may not be that alternative, but still the book is a good one...filled with good advice....and will help free you from the Bonds of "I Must Do Everything Perfectly (Including Have a Traditional Family Structure and a Gazillion Dollars) or Else My Baby Will Be A Freak" mentality. Five stars...absolutely.

"real life" parenting

I'm not a parent yet but working on it. Although my current situation is pretty mainstream (married and middle class) I have no intention of parenting traditionally. I really appreciated this book because I grew up in a non-traditional family, and it is nice to see other configurations of "family" acknowledged. Also the book was just plain fun!

What a great book... finally!

After years of books telling us that the only way to have a baby is with a million dollars and a husband, Ariel Gore's book shows women that it's possible to be both hip and a mom.Gore gives practical advice to women both approaching motherhood and those already knee deep. Her conversational style of writing makes the book easy and enjoyable reading... something that can't be said for most motherhood manuals. With chapters covering health, childbirth, coparenting and the like Gore gives practical advice for hip women everywhere, taking the fear out of childbearing.With so much pressure today telling us that we can't be young moms and hip femminists at the same time, I found Gore's book empowering for our generation, and those to come.

Ariel, Thank You for writing this book!

If traditional pregnancy and parenting books make you feel inferior and inadequate, get this book! This book deals straight up with the reality of pregnancy and newfound motherhood for those of us who were not exactly waiting anxiously for the stick to have two lines. This book will assure you that you can do it and offers many wonderful and practical ideas for parenting solo, going back to school, and dealing with issues that no one ever talks about, like having a nervous breakdown, or how to keep the baby's dangerous father away. I wish this book had been written 6 years ago when I was pregnant with my first, but I estatic that it's here for my second.