Mutha Magazine Alison Mutha Magazine Page

The story began, as all good stories do, with a mistake.

Martha didn't throw the magazines away. She drove them to her book club. mutha magazine alison mutha magazine

She used the $200 to print 500 more copies. She wrote a new column called "Ask Your Mutha," where she answered questions with brutal honesty. ("Dear Mutha: My child only eats beige food. Is she dying?" Answer: "No. She is thriving on a diet of air, spite, and chicken nuggets. You are doing fine.") The story began, as all good stories do, with a mistake

Dear Alison Mutha, I don’t know who you are, but you have written the thing I have been swallowing for fifty years. Enclosed is a check for $200. Print another one. Tell the truth again. She used the $200 to print 500 more copies

The cover story that issue was called "The Sacred Mess." It was about how the pressure to be a perfect mother is a form of patriarchal control. Martha read it while sipping her morning coffee. She snorted at the Lego comic. She cried at the essay about post-partum rage. She had felt that rage forty years ago, alone, with no name for it.