Four years is a good run: why Offbeat Families is ceasing publication (and how it will live on)
Over the years, I’ve made no secret of the fact that Offbeat Families (formerly known as Offbeat Mama) has been a challenge. The site launched in September of 2009, and I invested four years and about $40,000 toward growing the site into a sustainable, financially viable business. Ultimately, these efforts have failed. Offbeat Families will no longer be producing new posts.
Offbeat Mama is becoming Offbeat Families
This weekend we’re flipping the switch: Offbeat Mama will become Offbeat Families. The title of the site will change, the URL will be switch to offbeatfamilies.com (although all the old offbeatmama.com links will still work), and one of the header characters has undergone a transition from “blonde soccer mom” to “blonde soccer butch/transdad/pretty SAHD/fey uncle/gender-queer auntie/whatever ze wants to be.”
This re-brand has been under consideration for a long-ass time, and we’re super excited about what it means for the site…
20 year goals
So, today’s my 37th birthday. I celebrated last night by doing a reading at the Salon of Shame from my 1993 diary, about losing my virginity in a turqouise lace bra & panty set from Fredrick’s of Hollywood. (Keepin’ it classy!) As I was flipping through the diary, I stumbled across this little cartoon that I drew almost 20 years ago…
When is it cultural appropriation and when is it just kids playing dress-up?
Last week we ran a sponsored post for a family photographer that featured this image of two children playing dress-up, one of them in a Native American head-dress.
The photo struck several readers as objectionable. Let’s talk about why, and what it might mean.