Aidin Vaziri the pop music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle and contributor to its parenting blog, The Poop, spotlights a Time magazine article which essentially says that today's "new generation of ("hipster") parents (are) so much more insufferable than the last." In fact, Vaziri refers to them as "douche bags" and then later says "we're hanging our heads in shame as we type this."
And all I want to know is, "Why?"
Why be ashamed? People want to label every aspect of parenthood nowadays. Why be suckered into someone else's definition of what kind of parent you are? You're either a "hipster parent" or a "hippy parent" or a "grup" or a "martini mom" or a "mom-jeans-wearing parent." You practice "attachment parenting" or raise "gourmet kids" or you're a "spanker" and you better stay pigeon-holed in your parenting category because that's how "the experts" like it.
I'm sorry but is everyone writing these insufferable articles 21 and fresh out of college? Why apologize for being a "hipster parent" to other "hipster parents" writing about how douchey "hipster parents" are?
I read the Time article and laughed. Both the writer of the article and Vaziri imply that they are the kinds of parents that the article describes (the Time writer lives in Brooklyn, hipster-parent-central...who cares?), so why not just stand up and say, "You don't like that I don't fit your stereotype of what a parent should be? Well, fuck you. That's your problem, not mine." Be ashamed? Please.
I doubt that anyone would ever confuse me for a hipster parent, but you can be damn sure that if anyone did, I certainly wouldn't be hanging my head in shame about it. I'd just crank up the Cars soundtrack a little louder.
[For further reading: I rounded-up reaction here.]
