A baby mama is a slang term for a mother who is not married to her child's father, although the term often carried other connotations as well. This term is associated with African Americans originally, coming from Jamaican Creole and finding its way into rap music. The equivalent term for a male would be baby daddy, but that term is not used as frequently. However, a sitcom of that name premiered in 2012.
Origin
The term originated in Jamaican Creole as "baby-mother", with the first printed usage appearing in the Kingstonnewspaper, The Daily Gleaner in 1966. Another Daily Gleaner use dates from November 21, 1989. Originally, the term was used by the fathers of illegitimate children to describe the mothers of their children. The term is now in general use to describe any single mother. Peter L. Patrick, a linguistics professor who studies Jamaican English, has said, " definitely imply there is not a marriage—not even a common-law marriage, but rather that the child is an 'outside' child". Since entering currency in U.S. tabloids, the terms have even begun to be applied to married and engaged celebrities.
Usage
In music
Baby mother and baby mama had entered wide-spread use in Americanhip-hop lyrics by the mid-1990s. One of the first representations of baby mamas in hip-hop lyrics was by southern rapper Krazy, from Tampa, Florida. One of his songs was titled "I Hate My Baby Mama." The Outkast song "Ms. Jackson", released in 2000, was dedicated to "all the baby mamas' mamas". American IdolwinnerFantasia Barrino released a song entitled "Baby Mama" in 2004. In this song she is writing an ode to black single mothers and how to be a baby mama should be a "badge of honor". She makes firsthand acknowledgements as a single mother and empathizes on the thoughts of baby mamas and how they are "fed up with makin' beds up." Planet Earth, an album by Prince released in 2007, features a song called "Future Baby Mama". Three 6 Mafia had a song called "Baby Mama" on . Tupac's "Dear Mama", and "Brenda's got a Baby" are two hip hop songs that show a strong Black woman/ mothering trope.
In television
All My Babies' Mamas was an unaired reality show starring rapper Shawty Lo, showcasing his lifestyle as the father of 11 children, mothered by 10 different women. The show was cancelled due to it stereotyping black families and polygamy.
In 2008, Universal Pictures released a comedy entitled Baby Mama starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, in which Poehler plays a woman Fey hires to be her. In many films, including some like Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns", that was released in 2008, there are many stereotypical representations of black baby mamas. Brenda, who is played by Angela Bassett, is one of the main characters in the film that is portrayed as a stereotypical Black single mother who is caught in an endless cycle of poverty and struggle. She has three children from three different men, none of which have a presence in their child's life. Throughout the film there is not indication that Brenda is on welfare but nevertheless, she is a clear representation of a contemporary "baby mama". In stereo-typically fashion her character is someone who is powerless.
