Calling little girls "mama"?

[Anonymous]

My family is from Texas, as in several generations over 1-2 hundred years, the term "mamas" is used in our family when talking to daughters. We come from a higher socioeconomic class. Perhaps a nanny used it and it stuck. In any case, it is a term of endearment. Nothing more, nothing less. My parents and I were born in the U.S. Midwest. No one in my family ever called their toddler daughter, or any aged daughter, "sexy". While I don't speak Spanish and grew up in "white" suburbia, we do have a few lingering Spanish words. For example, chancla, it means "slipper" in our family, not "flip-flop". Of course, when any of my family members actually lived in Mexico, flip-flops were not yet used. We were never spanked with one. We only use it to talk about house slippers. I only bring this up to point out that these words were used "north" of the border long before there was a border. People should never be treated harshly for what they use as a term of endearment. Loving and caring for your children is a personal endeavor and it is always appropriate to use a term of endearment for your child. No matter the word used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's normal in black or Latino communities to call children mama, mami, pop, or papi. I personally call my dd mama pretty much every day. It's only odd if you're not familiar with different cultures I guess.

This is more socioeconomic than race/ethnic. You rarely hear children called mama/papa among my middle to upper income hispanic and black friends (and I'm hispanic). i have, however, heard it among family members in lower socioeconomic classes.

I disagree with this. My boyfriend does this and he is upper middle class. His entire family of lawyers and accountants do the same. I think it's cute.

I'm South American (Argentina) and I agree that it's really used more the lower classes. You'd never hear anyone in my social circle calling their kids "mani" or "papi." I think in other countries it might be more common, though.

Given Argentina's history (more European), I'm not surprised that this may not be common there among the upper classes, but it is VERY prevalent in much a Latin America, across all SES.

[Anonymous]

All throughout the Mideast as a PP noted, mothers call both their male and female children "mama" and fathers call them "baba" or they use a variant like "yama" or "yaba."

This surprised me at first, and my surprise was probably equal to that Middle Easterners feel when they first hear a man calling his wife "Mom" or a woman calling her husband "Daddy."

[Anonymous]

Well, I just learned something new here. Never heard this before, had no idea of this custom among different cultures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's normal in black or Latino communities to call children mama, mami, pop, or papi. I personally call my dd mama pretty much every day. It's only odd if you're not familiar with different cultures I guess.

This is more socioeconomic than race/ethnic. You rarely hear children called mama/papa among my middle to upper income hispanic and black friends (and I'm hispanic). i have, however, heard it among family members in lower socioeconomic classes.

I was raised in an UMC Latino household and this is common practice in our family. (I, too, call my DD 'mama' and 'mami.)

That said, six pages?? Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's normal in black or Latino communities to call children mama, mami, pop, or papi. I personally call my dd mama pretty much every day. It's only odd if you're not familiar with different cultures I guess.

This is more socioeconomic than race/ethnic. You rarely hear children called mama/papa among my middle to upper income hispanic and black friends (and I'm hispanic). i have, however, heard it among family members in lower socioeconomic classes.

I disagree with this. My boyfriend does this and he is upper middle class. His entire family of lawyers and accountants do the same. I think it's cute.

I'm South American (Argentina) and I agree that it's really used more the lower classes. You'd never hear anyone in my social circle calling their kids "mani" or "papi." I think in other countries it might be more common, though.

Given Argentina's culture (snobbish), I'm not surprised that this may not be common there among the upper classes, but it is VERY prevalent in much a Latin America, across all SES.

Fixed that for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the whitest thread I've ever read on DCUM.

+1

And that's really saying something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lately, I've been hearing a lot of mothers calling their daughters, "mama"...For example, I've heard a mother tell her child, "C'mon mama, let's go" or something like that...
I'm so curious why people do this and I'm hearing it more and more..can anyone explain this odd trend?

It's cultural. What's the problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's normal in black or Latino communities to call children mama, mami, pop, or papi. I personally call my dd mama pretty much every day. It's only odd if you're not familiar with different cultures I guess.

This is more socioeconomic than race/ethnic. You rarely hear children called mama/papa among my middle to upper income hispanic and black friends (and I'm hispanic). i have, however, heard it among family members in lower socioeconomic classes.

I disagree with this. My boyfriend does this and he is upper middle class. His entire family of lawyers and accountants do the same. I think it's cute.

I'm South American (Argentina) and I agree that it's really used more the lower classes. You'd never hear anyone in my social circle calling their kids "mani" or "papi." I think in other countries it might be more common, though.

Given Argentina's culture (snobbish), I'm not surprised that this may not be common there among the upper classes, but it is VERY prevalent in much a Latin America, across all SES.

Fixed that for you.

You're an ass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the whitest thread I've ever read on DCUM.

+1

And that's really saying something.

DCUM white, not universal white

My hippie/rainbow tribe/pagan/burner friends from the west coast and Midwest use it to refer to little girls sometimes. And they're all pretty white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the whitest thread I've ever read on DCUM.

+1

And that's really saying something.

DCUM white, not universal white

My hippie/rainbow tribe/pagan/burner friends from the west coast and Midwest use it to refer to little girls sometimes. And they're all pretty white.

I appreciate the distinction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's normal in black or Latino communities to call children mama, mami, pop, or papi. I personally call my dd mama pretty much every day. It's only odd if you're not familiar with different cultures I guess.

This is more socioeconomic than race/ethnic. You rarely hear children called mama/papa among my middle to upper income hispanic and black friends (and I'm hispanic). i have, however, heard it among family members in lower socioeconomic classes.

I disagree with this. My boyfriend does this and he is upper middle class. His entire family of lawyers and accountants do the same. I think it's cute.

I'm South American (Argentina) and I agree that it's really used more the lower classes. You'd never hear anyone in my social circle calling their kids "mani" or "papi." I think in other countries it might be more common, though.

Given Argentina's culture (snobbish), I'm not surprised that this may not be common there among the upper classes, but it is VERY prevalent in much a Latin America, across all SES.

Fixed that for you.

You're an ass.

Prove me wrong.

[Anonymous]

I'm white and call baby ds papa frequently. I don't even know where it came from.

[Anonymous]

This is also common in Yiddish culture (where it still exists) - calling a little girl "mamale" and a little boy "totele"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's normal in black or Latino communities to call children mama, mami, pop, or papi. I personally call my dd mama pretty much every day. It's only odd if you're not familiar with different cultures I guess.

This is more socioeconomic than race/ethnic. You rarely hear children called mama/papa among my middle to upper income hispanic and black friends (and I'm hispanic). i have, however, heard it among family members in lower socioeconomic classes.

I disagree with this. My boyfriend does this and he is upper middle class. His entire family of lawyers and accountants do the same. I think it's cute.

I'm South American (Argentina) and I agree that it's really used more the lower classes. You'd never hear anyone in my social circle calling their kids "mani" or "papi." I think in other countries it might be more common, though.

Given Argentina's culture (snobbish), I'm not surprised that this may not be common there among the upper classes, but it is VERY prevalent in much a Latin America, across all SES.

Fixed that for you.

HAHA! I married into an Argentinian family and they are pretty smug (I assumed it's just this family).