about us

Hipmama.com is an independent online magazine bursting with political commentary and ribald tales from the front lines of motherhood. Providing a forum for fresh, authentic writing from the trenches of parenting has always been our mission.

" ...it is the quality of the writing that sets Hipmama.com apart...This site ultimately provides succor to moms who cannot relate to our culture's mawkish notions of motherhood." -- The New Yorker

Bee Lavender established the site in 1997. Under her direction Hipmama.com became a renowned venue for new writing and a massively popular online community.

"Proof that being a mother doesn't have to be boring - or apolitical." -- Fast Company

Hipmama.com started as a forum for young mothers, single parents, and marginalized voices, but the project has grown to represent progressive families of all varieties. The site maintains the editorial vision that qualified it for the title "conservative America's worst nightmare."

Bee Lavender says "I was radicalized by my experience of being a parent, yet never saw my story or any honest stories in the media. I wanted Hipmama.com to explore the real experience of parenthood; not just the superficial aspects, but the true challenges and rewards of creating a family. My intention from the start was to give the audience a new and innovative way to find each other in real life."

She notes that the web site incubates real-life communities, as people who find each other at Hipmama.com organize in cities across the nation and world. "People come to Hipmama.com looking for perspectives not offered elsewhere. We cover it all: ambivalence, education, health, joy, food, politics, sexuality - and beyond."

"No sanctified endorsement of the usual myths about motherhood here. No neat checklists of all-too-easy parenting solutions or slick write-ups of professional experts telling how it's supposed to be. Hip Mama speaks (and listens) to parents who want or need to raise kids their own way.... Hip Mama explores the real stuff of parenting with a proper recognition of the ambiguity of it all--and plenty of love and humanity." --The Utne Reader.

"Bee Lavender-- writer, activist, mother of two-- is definitely hot. She is the very embodiment of extreme motherhood." -Borders.com

Bee Lavender was a working class teenage girl with cancer when she became a mother. Defying the odds, she worked her way through graduate school and pursued a career in youth and civil rights activism. Hipmama.com is an extension of her fierce commitment to independent media and grassroots organising.

While developing Hipmama.com Bee also conceived Girl-Mom, an advocacy community for teen parents. She is the creative force behind the dynamic online community and many large scale collaborative events such as the historic Hip Mama Gathering.

"The reigning mother superiors of the crowd are Ariel Gore and Bee Lavender..."--Time Magazine

Bee Lavender started Hipmama.com in 1997 as an independent, collaborative sister project to Hip Mama: the parenting zine. The site instantly became a phenomenal success, with an enormous audience extending across the world. From the start Bee has been committed to maintaining the site as an activist community. Hipmama.com exists to serve the needs of parents who do not find their stories reflected elsewhere.

The idea for Hip Mama started in 1993 as a 500 copy print publication created from a $1000 student loan. Published by Ariel Gore, the print zine gained a national audience. Over the next fifteen years Ariel evolved from the welfare mom who debated Newt Gingrich on MTV to an established and sought-after expert on child rearing. Ariel left Hip Mama in 2008 to pursue new projects.

Bee is the author of a critically acclaimed memoir about danger titled Lessons in Taxidermy. She is the co-editor of Breeder: Real Life Stories from a New Generation of Mothers and Mamaphonic: Balancing Motherhood and Other Creative Acts. Previously she authored several cult zines including A Beautiful Final Tribute. Her work regularly appears in magazines, newspapers, anthologies, and radio programs in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

"You know how sometimes you read a book that's so powerful, you find you keep flipping to the back to look at the author's photo? Lessons in Taxidermy has that effect. The memoir is so openhearted and deft and laden with trauma that you'll want to keep checking that the writer really made it through alive. You'll also want to get a good long glimpse at the individual behind this steely, graceful voice." --Time Out NYC

"It is one of the many charms of this book that Lavender is not only aware of the conventions of such autobiographies but that she consciously rejects them. Her powerful, elegant memoir should be read by everyone....an example of what truly well-written and unflinching self-examination can be like." --The Sunday Telegraph

These titles can be purchased at a bookstore near you or by clicking here.

Hipmama.com continues to provide audacious editorial content and an incubator for real-life communities. The site is both a social experiment and a reader-written magazine run by and for the audience. Want to join the Hipmama.com community? Click here.

Publisher | Bee Lavender
Producer Hipmama.com | Susan A. Presley
Resident DJ Hipmama.com | Lindsey Campbell
Editor Hipmama.com | Maria Rowan
Producers Girl-Mom.com | Christi Birch and Charlie Rose
Technical Assistance courtesy of Lynn Siprelle
Design & Graphics by Xtina Lamb
Girl-Mom Design & Graphics by Abigail Hunt
Radio Logo by Aubrey Cook
Music by Marisa Anderson

Want to know more about the history of Hip Mama? Click here.

Need more information? Email tinker@hipmama.com

Please note that all content on the site reflects the genuine interests of the staff and community. If you are a publicist, please pitch accordingly.

Want to advertise on Hipmama.com? Click here.

Interested in submitting work to Hipmama.com?

We are currently accepting submissions on all topics, including: