Offsprung
Neal Pollack put together a parenting site.
If you don’t recognize the name, just picture Rob, the main character from High Fidelity, with kids.
I was interested enough in the site concept to take a look. And, I’m glad that it is not pink and blue, and it doesn’t have any of those line drawing of super-skinny parents with cell phones and martinis, pushing strollers.
However, I must assume that despite the fact that the site asserts that life doesn’t end when one becomes a parent, political life does indeed end when you have kids.
Why must I assume that?
Well, see, if Amanda Marcotte, who doesn’t want children, er, wait, I’m sorry, she calls them ‘Virility Objects,’ has to do the political writing at Offsprung, then I must assume that there aren’t any parents out there that care about politics. There must not be any feminist moms out there. Any democratic dads. That’s really the only explanation I can come up with.
Otherwise, surely a parenting site would use parents for political writing?
tags: internet
Haha, good call, Veronica.
— kactus May 6, 08:29 PM #
Virility objects?!
— Andrea May 7, 08:26 AM #
Great catch.
I predict, if you voice this widely, you’ll get some comments along the lines of the ones I got in discussing Shulamith Firestone’s views on how to best raise children on IBTP. I offered that I did not think a 25-year-old who’d never had a child and who referred to giving birth as “shitting a pumpkin” was perhaps not the best to opine on child development. Then came the attack for prejudice against the childfree. I was about as flat as a pancake after the onslaught.
And yet you’re exactly right. I wouldn’t want an art teacher teaching me math, and I wouldn’t want my politics-with-a-parenting-spin from a non-parent.
— Octogalore May 7, 03:18 PM #
Oh, christ, don’t even get me started on IBTP. Are you aware that it’s impossible to wear a skirt without directly injuring women all over the world, but you can ironically define yourself as a Spinster Aunt, perpetuating the notion that women should be solely defined by their relationship to familial progeny, with no such trouble at all! It’s a miracle the way that works, I tell you! Looks like Marcotte has taken up the Aunt thing, too, at the new blog.
Apparently, "Auntedness" gives one license to make all sorts of bizarre proclamations.
— Veronica May 7, 03:40 PM #
Hmm, hadn’t thought of that. Interesting.
— Octogalore May 7, 06:44 PM #
Ya know, The Handmaid’s Tale had aunts.
I’m just saying.
— Amber May 7, 08:01 PM #
Oh, yeah. Creepy aunts.
Ya know, I actually am an aunt, but that certainly isn't a good reason to tell my sister how to raise her kid. And, it doesn't give me Extra Fun Eccentricity points. Some folks have watched "Mame" one too many times.
— Veronica May 7, 08:08 PM #
Jesus.
Good catch. God forbid parents get to write for a fucking parenting magazine!
— Vanessa May 9, 12:45 PM #
Ugh, looking at it more closely I see that it is even more irritating than I thought.
Having decided to quash her parents’ hopes for tow-headed grandchildren, blogger Amanda Marcotte has plenty of time to follow the thick-headed, irritating world of politics
Imagine if she said ‘being a man, I have more time to follow politics.’ Ugh. And I actually like Amanda’s writing, so this is even more annoying to me.
— Vanessa May 9, 12:51 PM #
Vanessa, us moms just don’t have time for that current events stuff. Oh, noes, poopy diapers are much more critically important. And daddy can keep track of all of it for me and tell me what issues I should care about.
— Octogalore May 10, 11:13 PM #
I’m afraid I’m a week late, and this might not ever be read, but I’m the managing editor at Offsprung, and I feel obligated chime in. First of all, thanks for looking at the site and for offering feedback. We’re only a little more than a week old, so we definitely welcome the constructive criticism.
As for Unsprung, while Amanda’s blog is the only one on the site written by a non-parent, it’s far from the only one that covers politics. Hausfrau, Mombian and Lock the Bedroom Door are all written by mothers and all take on politics and feminist issues. That said, we’re fans of Amanda and are proud to have her unique perspective as one of the voices shaping the Offsprung community.
Thanks again for reading.
— matt May 16, 03:06 PM #