Zeno's Bar & Grill
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Alpha Moms Gone Wild
We’ve written a novel set inside the world of perfect motherhood. This week, we were sent an article about self-styled “Alpha Mom”, Isabel Kallman, whose views on parenting reminded us of the ubermother, Nikki, in our novel.
The article, "Empire of the Alpha Mom", by Randall Patterson appeared in the June 20th issue of New York magazine. In it, we learn that Kallman is a former senior VP at Solomon Smith Barney who has turned to preaching the gospel of perfect motherhood. She has even started her own channel, Alpha Mom TV, to spread the word. Kelly watched two segments on Comcast yesterday: about Babies and Sleep and How to Raise a Thinking Child. Overall, she was underwhelmed by the production and editing and felt that neither segment did much to open a discussion about these issues. The solution for babies and sleep was to let them cry it out. Period.
Considering how hard the transition to motherhood can be, it’s perhaps understandable that Kallman sought to find order in a chaotic world. Her solution, however, is a bit extreme, to say the least. The Alpha Mom credo assumes that there really is a “right way” to do things—a Platonic ideal of perfection. As Patterson puts it in his article, “Simply by calling herself and her network Alpha Mom, she presents an ideal and promotes the notion that perfection can be achieved. Isabel ratchets up the tension; more mothers go nuts. The work of Alpha Mom TV, like that of the church, will be to allay the fear it creates.”
--Melanie & Kelly
The article, "Empire of the Alpha Mom", by Randall Patterson appeared in the June 20th issue of New York magazine. In it, we learn that Kallman is a former senior VP at Solomon Smith Barney who has turned to preaching the gospel of perfect motherhood. She has even started her own channel, Alpha Mom TV, to spread the word. Kelly watched two segments on Comcast yesterday: about Babies and Sleep and How to Raise a Thinking Child. Overall, she was underwhelmed by the production and editing and felt that neither segment did much to open a discussion about these issues. The solution for babies and sleep was to let them cry it out. Period.
Considering how hard the transition to motherhood can be, it’s perhaps understandable that Kallman sought to find order in a chaotic world. Her solution, however, is a bit extreme, to say the least. The Alpha Mom credo assumes that there really is a “right way” to do things—a Platonic ideal of perfection. As Patterson puts it in his article, “Simply by calling herself and her network Alpha Mom, she presents an ideal and promotes the notion that perfection can be achieved. Isabel ratchets up the tension; more mothers go nuts. The work of Alpha Mom TV, like that of the church, will be to allay the fear it creates.”
--Melanie & Kelly
