MAMMY

mammy n. 1523, a diminutive formed from earlier mam. Probably from children’s speech.

1523. Skelton Garl. Laurel 974 "Your mammy and your dady Brought forth a dodely babi?" 1560 Nice Wanton 452 (Manly), "All this our Mammy would take in good worth." 1562 Phaer Aeneid VII Ziij b, "Their mammies teats they lap with hungry lipps." 1611 Florio, "Mamma …a breast. Also Mam, Mother-mine, or Mammie." 1719 D’Urfey Pills V. 18"She’ll be a Mammy before it is long." 1773 Mme. D’arblay Let. To Crisp in Early Diary, "I…proceed to be sorry and glad that you and your Mammy have been ill and are better." 1993 Burns Bonny Jean 5 "And ay she wrought her mammie’s wark, And ay she sang sae merrillie." 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy I, "Andy grew up in mischief and the admiration of his mammy."

Combined, as mammy-sick a. (contemptuous), distressed at being separated form one’s mother.

Mammy (maemi) noun : A term of both endearment and subjugation in that it describes a maternal-like female African American caretaker, yet the term connotes a vulgar familiarity without reciprocity.

1837 Southern Lit. Messenger III. 744/I "(Aged Negro domestics) were greeted always by the kind appellatives of "daddy and mammy"." 1859 BARTLETT Dict. Amer., "Mammy, the term of endearment used by white children to their negro nurses and to old family servants." 1887 T.N. PAGE Ole Virginia (1893) 164 "The old mammies and uncles who were our companions and comrades." 1901 R. D. EVANS Sailor’s Log i.3 "Like most Southern children, I was brought up and cared for by a "black mammy"."

Mammy n. (1700"s-1930’s) a pejorative and ironic term when used by black people; form of address for a mother or grandmother; used as a positive term by white children in addressing their black female caretakers during slavery and after. In Ar’n’t I a Woman by Deborah Gray White, the author asserts that, "Mammy was the woman who could do anything, and do it better than anyone else." Therefore, mammy was the primary house servant and was completely in charge of the younger servants.

As a mythological figure, mammy was completely asexual, thereby creating an antithesis to the highly sexed Sapphire or Jezebel construction. In addition, mammy was entirely devoted to the white family for which she toiled. Not only did she love and adore the white children she looked after, she would often admonish them for playing with the negro children. In reality, the household mammy’s work was never done and she was often worked past exhaustion. A mammy’s struggle to make herself indispensable to her white family probably stemmed from a desperate attempt to garner some favor against the sale of her real family members. In addition, the myth would have us believe that mammy was a respected and revered servant who was almost a member of the family, in truth, when mammy became too old she was oftentimes turned out of the house with very little regard for her survival. This precise atrocity occurred to Frederick Douglass’ mother, a mammy who had outlived her usefulness and was then left in a mud hut in the forest to perish.

mammy n. Black E. (used with a possessive to emphasize amount, degree, etc.)

1942, American Mercury, in DARE: "I got money’s mammy and Grandma change."

1953, W. Fisher Waiters 124: "I’m gonna make money’s mammy."

1965-1970 T. Morrison Bluest Eye 40: "You rich, Miss Marie?" "Puddin’ I got money’s mammy."

1971 H. Roberts Third Ear: "A wealth person is said to have money’s mammy. There is confusion’s mammy in that room."

1993 in DARE: "You got so much milk, you got milk’s mammy."

Related Derivatives: mammy-jammer (noun) Often considered a vulgarity of the incestuous sort. A euphemism for motherfucker.

1946: Those Jim Crow mammy jamming whites.

1970’s: Stevie Wonder She’s a Bad Mamma Jamma: She’s a bad mamma jamma, just as fine as she can be…"

2001 Foxy Brown and Dru Hill: Big Bad Mamma

mammy-dodger (noun) Incestuous obscenity. A partial euphemism for motherfucker.

"My Mammy": The song entitled, "The Sun Shines East, The Sun Shines West," made widely popular by Al Jolson, American entertainer who routinely performed in blackface. The song was first performed by William Frawley, (Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy), but gained recognition when Jolson sang it in the film, The Jazz Singer in 1927.

Hattie McDaniels potrayed "Mammy" in the 1939, David Selznick film Gone With the Wind, adapted from the novel by Margaret Mitchell. Ms. McDaniels is quoted as saying, "I love Mammy. I think I understand her because my own grandmother worked on a plantation not unlike Tara." McDaniels’ portrayal of Mammy won her an Academy Award, making her the first African American to ever win an Oscar.

The "Mammy" persona is one that seems to live on in memorabilia and campy, kitsch-like collectibles. On July 15, 2001, a mammy ceramic cookie jar was spotted beaming a warm grin at passersby in Burlington Coat Factory. In effect, mammy collectible dolls are available at myriad web sites at reasonable prices. Essentially, the mythology surrounding the mammy figure creates a strong, sentimental pull. After all, the household mammy was selected for her warmth and reliability. However there exists a huge chasm between the mythology of the mammy persona and the reality of this grueling plantation position for which there was no monetary remuneration.

Rhetoric of Race Dictionary Project home

Rhetoric of Race Home