Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Bitch Lit

Blogs are supposed to be for ranting, right? I have one this morning, inspired by a quote in a week-old article in the New York Times about the rise of "mom lit." Mom lit is, apparently, light and frothy narrative about the perils of choosing an Italian stroller in Manhattan. Or something. Anyway, it picks up where "chick lit" left off. Jill Kargman, author of the forthcoming "Momzilla," describes her readers as savvy and hip and, one has to infer, somehow better.

"They don't feel like the crusty, over-the-hill J.C. Penney moms with the tapestry vest," says she.

My first thought: Bitch.

My second thought: Why are publishers giving so much shelf space to these bitches?

Every mother who does the daily grind with her kids knows that we are all about one vomit-stain away from giving up on the artifice of looking good. If that means shopping at J.C. Penney for sturdy wash-and-wear items that are cheap enough to discard without guilt after the breast milk leaks through the breast pad for the 400th time, then so be it. Shit, who do we have to impress during the day?

Not Jill Kargman. I hate to think what she might say about my second-day hair and (gasp!) last year's shoes.

Did that sound judgmental?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ugh god forbid she knew that I have 3 pairs of shoes in my closet dating PRE--1998 and I still wear them!! Ha! I like to think of myself as hip and savvy because my hair looks its best on day 3 and all the other moms at the mall woke up extra early to shower...I only do that if I know there may be a possiblity that I am going to get lucky that night:) I think the moms she is writing about are all about impressing eachother. I just don't have time for that, I am too busy awaiting the Premier of MAui fever a new reality show on MTV and celebrating the fact that Justin and Cameron broke up!! Whoohoo!

susie said...

When did that happen? They were still together when he hosted SNL a few weeks ago!

Anonymous said...

Can you believe our kids are going to think we are not cool in about 8 years??? DUUUUUUDE It's been over since mid December. Did I mention I am making a special trip to see him in vegas in a couple of weeks...lucky me I hear he likes older women:)

Anonymous said...

Can you believe our kids are going to think we are not cool in about 8 years??? DUUUUUUDE It's been over since mid December. Did I mention I am making a special trip to see him in vegas in a couple of weeks...lucky me I hear he likes older women:)

Anonymous said...

Reality Mothering over in this part of town is more about making sure the baby is dry & clean, that the preschooler feels played with (usually involves Legos and train tracks), and then if I remember, check all my parts to be sure they're covered appropriately. Can I share an embarassing mommy moment for a minute? The baby has had a few sleepless nights due to teething so I am a bit tired. Between choosing my underwear yesterday (cute white pair with black polka dots) and walking to he pile of semi-folded laundry, I forgot that I was planning on wearing black pants and instead pulled out a pair of khakis that nicely showed off the black dots. Thankfully, I wore a raincoat as soon as I walked out of the house and the only people who saw my dots were my husband (who is in BIG trouble for not saying anything) and the babysitter. Sigh. -V