Slate is joining the Notes from the Underbelly pile-on that began a few days ago here at Babble. As predicted by Babble's Lynn Harris, reviewers of the new married! with! children! television show won't be able to pass up yet another hipster parenting bashing opportunity, particularly not those "curmudgeonly newspaper
columnists looking for yet another reason to complain about affluent,
angsty, thirty-something parents." Slate curmudgeonly? Oh yes. Younger and prettier than David Brooks, but stodgy nonetheless. Watch out, folks, there's a brand-new alphabet in town Did you hear?
"A is for Alterndad. B is for Babble."
Yup that's right. Babble is part of the world represented by "Notes." Nevermind that we skewered the show several days ago.
Apparently, Slate concurs with James Poniewozik's analysis that most Gen X parents (especially those who write about their experiences) are narcissists.
Snark aside, Babble and Slate both find the show ultimately unable to deliver anything but trite, superficial commentaries on the wealthy and privileged few. As if everyone has the ability to choose whether or not to work once their baby is born, or whether to buy a Bugaboo or MacLaren stroller, or bigger car. As if that is what parenting boils down to these days.
