Hip Mama is a magazine bursting with political commentary and ribald tales from the front lines of motherhood. Edited and published by Bee Lavender (online) and Ariel Gore (print), the zine started as a forum for young mothers, single parents, and marginalized voices, but has grown to represent progressive families of all varieties. Hip Mama maintains the editorial vision that qualified it for the title "conservative America's worst nightmare."

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

"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 says "I was radicalized by my experience of being a parent, yet never saw my story or any honest stories in the media. Hip Mama was the first parenting publication to explore the real experience of parenthood; not just the superficial aspects, but the true challenges and rewards of creating a family." She notes that the web sites actively incubate real-life communities, as mothers who find each other on the Hip Mama sites organize in cities across the nation and continent. "People come to Hip Mama looking for perspectives not offered elsewhere. We cover it all, from organic baby food to sexuality to chronic illness."

" ...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

The brain child of Ariel Gore, Hip Mama began in 1993 as Ariel's senior project, a 500 copy publication created from a $1000 student loan. The print zine quickly gained national renown and a large audience of fans. Ariel has evolved from the welfare mom who debated Newt Gingrich on MTV to an established and sought-after expert on child rearing.

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

Bee Lavender joined the project in 1997. While publishing Hipmama.com, Bee also conceived new sites like Girl-Mom, a site for teen parents, and Mamaphonic, an arts resource site. 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 and Ariel co-edited Breeder: Real Life Stories from a New Generation of Mothers.

Bee recently finished a critically acclaimed memoir about danger titled Lessons in Taxidermy. She is also the co-editor of a new anthology about creativity and parenting, Mamaphonic. Previously she authored the zine series A Beautiful Final Tribute.

Ariel is the author of The Hip Mama Survival Guide, The Mother Trip, Atlas of the Human Heart, and Whatever Mom.

These titles can be purchased at an independent bookstore near you.

Providing a forum for fresh, authentic writing from the trenches of motherhood is Hip Mama's mission.

HIP 1.adj. slang Aware; Informed. 2.n. The part of the human body projecting below the waist on either side, formed by the upper part of the femur. [Old Englishhype] 3.n. A place where young children sit when tired of walking. 4.n. The fruit (red when ripe) of a wild rose. [Old English heope] 5. Whatever you want it to be.

MAMA 1. n. Mother, informal. [repetition of the infant sound MA] 2. n. One who has a maternal relationship to, nurtures, puts up with, teaches, encourages, constructively yells at, sends money orders to, heats from a can or makes chicken soup for, is available for long talks with, and generally makes it her (his) business to take care of the next generation. 3. n. A quality or condition that gives rise to another.