Hip Mama was founded by my contemporary, Ariel Gore as student project when she, too was a low-income mother attempting to juggle college classes, work and parenting. She wanted to reach out to other feminist, progressive mamas with young children - mothers who didn't fit the traditional suburban mom demographic. And it turned out there were a lot of us. The little 'zine became a full-fledged magazine, and then one of the earliest online destinations for mothers, never losing its edgy point of view. It also became a launching pad for many of the women writers - my generation of women writers, I am proud to say - who pioneered the whole "momoir" genre of literary nonfiction, including Gore herself, Bee Lavender, Gayle Brandeis, Andrea Buchanan, Spike Gillespie, and yep, even me. One of my earliest essays - about my decision not to terminate my second pregnancy after being diagnosed with a serious complication - was published in Hip Mama, and I was as proud as punch.
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