Customer Reviews

Hip Mama Survival Guide, The: Advice From the Trenches On: Pregnancy,Childbirth,Cool Names,Clueless Doctors

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book provides a few funny moments, but is not so much a humorous take on parenting as an essay on feminist, ultra-liberal viewpoints.
Three cheers to the author for acknowledging that there are many different kinds of families. And that motherhood can be so much different than acknowledged by mainstream parenting books and magazines.
However, Ms. Gore allows her own politics to color the book much too frequently for my taste. I found her statement that only liberals can practice attachment parenting, and that political conservatives are insensitive parents that just let their babies cry, ridiculous if not insulting. It is great that she is a successful single mother; however she has a subtle anti-male, anti-nuclear family slant to her writing.
Many may enjoy this book; I personally prefer the "Girlfriend" series by Vicki Iovine--much funnier and minus the male-bashing.

I loved this book. Adored. It's for real life situations. Definitely for teenage moms, young moms, student moms, and any mom who has a sense of humour. Even if the situation is not directly applicable, you can learn from what she says. She deals mainly with aspects related to unexpected pregnancies, which I found was extremely useful. It's hard to find books on that topic. It is not about the perfect family, which is also fantastic for anyone who is in such a situation. It tells single mothers that it is possible to raise a child and live life at its fullest.

WARNING: It is to be remembered that she was 19 when she had her baby. Some older, more secure mothers may think the information does not apply to them, but there is much humour and comments on how to laugh at certain situations.

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.

I picked up this book at the library because I do not relate to most parenting things and find myself spending an absurd amount of time trying to find alternative parents, clothes, toys and activities. I don't know if I am hip but I am definitely not mainstream.

What a disappointment this book is!

It's all about white sophisticated liberal single teen moms living on food stamps. Yup. Broad demographic, ay! While I am sure there are about 100 women out there who are similar to the author and would enjoy a how-to guide uniquely tailored to these circumstances, this 35 year financially secure married woman who practiced birth control in her teens and 20s so as to avoid being a single mom living on food stamps really found little of value in this very auto-biographical tome.

Moreover, I find it almost insulting that someone who comes from an educated liberal background would presume to speak for destitute single moms who did not have access to the same choices she did.

When I think of women struggling to raise their children, I think about women who were raised in extreme poverty who do not have access to information about family planning and education/job training. I think about immigrant women who work 4 jobs just so their kids will have a better life. I certainly don't think of some clueless teenager partying in Mallorca who had a birth control lapse and then did not allow a little detail like pregnancy to upset her extended vacation in nearby Italy. Who upon arrival to the US, believes its her birthright to have taxpayers support her as she decides it's now time to go to college.

The saddest commentary I can make about this book is that while I despise Newt Gingrich and was overjoyed by his demise, the author succeeded in making me relate to him when she recounts her debate with him on MTV.

I think Ariel Gore is a wonderful writer. She's funny & she writes about feminist issues without being too preachy. I guess my problem with this book is that it wasn't for me. I'm a liberal, young, hip mom -- but not hip enough I guess. This book is geared toward really young moms, unwed moms, poor moms, moms without traditional partners, moms without partners at all, moms without cars, moms without shelter, etc. Having a husband, a house, a car & some money in the bank made a lot of this book irrelavent. The author makes it seem that if you aren't fighting to just get by that you aren't hip. Well, fine, I'm not hip then, I guess.

If you don't think you'll need to know how to get cheap legal advice to sue for custody, balance school & your kids from 4 different dads, or take the bus with your infant, you could probably just read another book. I suggest Naomi Wolfe's Misconceptions -- it's for the truly hip feminst mom, not the down & out one.

for all mothers and mothers-to-be who don't buy into the status quo of a "typical" womyn, you need something other than the "typical" baby book. wheather you are single, queer, married, female, male, straight, a first timer, or been here before, the hip mama survial guide will bring you insight, humor, and real help. from non-marital hell to how to give yourself a time out, what to name your new bambino to legal guidance, hip mama is the first book to make me feel like not everyone in the world is starring at me and my kid in that funny way. with a sigh of relief, i closed this book. not because it was over but because i realized that there's more of you like me out there. we're everywhere sisters! and we're all making it! not only does this hand out practical advice but gives you a sense of empowerment and makes you want to give yourself a pat on the back. i'd like to give ariel and all the hip mama's a high five.

This book is informational and REALLY funny. I have given it to several pregnant friends who have loved it.

I keep "snort laughing" as I read this book! It's wonderful, liberal and totally entertaining!

This book saved my sense of humor, perhaps even my mind, while I was pregnant and about to become a single mom by choice.

Other books will tell you about developmental stages, what's considered 'normal' or conversely, what's not -- but this book is the only one written directly to the person who exists, thinking and feeling, alongside the growing fetus and burgeoning identity of mom-to-be. For sensible, down-to-earth parenting advice I recommend pediatrician Penelope Leach, but for writing that speaks to your soul and can make you laugh out loud with wry recognition and/or joy, Ariel is the goddess.

My only disappointment is that Amazon sets a limit of five stars for us to bestow -- I'd happily give this book eleven: ***********!!

When we were expecting, my wife bought every child-rearing book under the sun. I bought her this one.

While the other books have caused her endless consternation, Ms. Gore's advice speaks to the world we live in.

We have bought copies of this for our friends as they became parents and all agree: there is great wisdom herein.