"That's Just My Baby Daddy"

Song: My Baby Daddy
Artist: B-Rock and the Biz
I've always been interested in the evolution of language and etymology. It's pretty fun to find out where words come from, even when words like Bootylicious and Webinar are added into the lexicon. However, there are some words you can't help but hate. My pet peev is "Baby Daddy/Mama," we all know where it came from, and people have come to accept and bring it into popular culture and their daily vernacular. Featured in movie titles, song lyrics, and even newspaper headlines the word is a refreshing novelty. Although it's funny to say, it is a rather offensive term that connotates inferiority and the lackadaisical approach to parenting in a certain parts of America.

When using the term Baby Mama or Baby Daddy what do you mean? First of all, the grammar is all wrong, and I hope everyone understands that. It should be, Baby's Daddy/Mama however the deletion of the proprietary apostrophe and "S" is a relinquishing of ownership of responsibility. (of the english language and of the child) In fact, with the term Baby Daddy the child in question is not really relvant, we're describing more the man or the woman and their relationship to their partner (or ex-partner), than their actual relationship to the child. When a man speaks of having "Baby Mama Drama" He's talking about the drama he has with the mother-of-his child, whether it has to do with his child or not.

Also, calling someone a Baby Mama or Baby Daddy denigrates the relationship the user once had with said person. It distances them, even if it was a one-night-stand that ended up in an unplanned pregnancy, there was still a sharing of intimacy, in which this word neglects to mention. Ex-Girlfriends, and Ex-Wives are distinctly different than Baby Mamas, yet the words are sometimes used interchangeably when children are involved. (same thing goes for Baby Daddy's) When a man or a woman is called this, it's usually in face of anger or because the nature of the relationship is held so flippantly.

While discussing the denigration of a relationship, we must not forget the importance of the child in this equation.The responsibility to be a parent is not implied in this phrase "Baby Mama/Daddy." Just because you are a Baby Daddy or Baby Mama doesn't mean you are automatically an important part of the child's life. A man can have two or three Baby's Mama's AND a wife. With all of that can you expect him to be around equally and put in the same amount of effort in each child's life? The term Baby Daddy has come along with a stigma of a man not taking care of his children, (although we all know there are responsible men out there who do) and the term Baby Mama has an equally negative stigma of an undateable woman who's got unruly ass children who you want to stay away from. (i.e. BeBe's Kids) Why would anyone want to interchange these two terms with the oh-so-important terms of Mother and Father which connotate responsibility and nurture, the exact opposite of the former.

My worry about this word making it's way into the daily American vocabulary, is the break down of meaning and significance in the American mind. That by using it more and more frequently, people will subconciously think it's standard and acceptable to have broken relationships of Single Moms and Single Fathers (Baby Mamas and Daddies) when this is not the case at all.

...This is just how I feel.