Dads Refuse to Grow Up, and Journalist In Denial Thinks It's a Good Thing

'Hipster dads' trying hard to keep their cool

From a recent posting on media-skewering blog Gawker: "Self-consumed male hipsters have suddenly discovered parenthood, and we'll be forced to listen to them for years on end."
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Babble readers aren't "vain or adolescent just because they have an iPod," says editor in chief Ada Calhoun, 30. They want to hold onto the culturally rich life they had as childless adults, "and they want to be good parents."
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The rise of the alternaparent makes sense, says Robert Lanham, who archly documented pre-spawn hipsters in 2003's The Hipster Handbook. As hipsters come of age, they wonder: "When is the expiration date on being cool? Is being a hipster parent an oxymoron?

"If you're resting your kid on a pool table so you can hang out at the bar, maybe it's not cool," he says. "But maybe a pool table is a good place to change a diaper."

The expiration date on being cool is set firmly at the point in life when a station wagon or minivan becomes a practical necessity. Keeping your Beatles albums is one thing, but if you refuse to grow up to the point that you think its OK to being a kid into a bar or change a diaper on a pool table, you are definitely not cool. Just dangerous - but not in a good way. In a health hazard way.

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