Being very 'mother': what the expression with which Generation Zeta venerates the maternal figure really means

The hardest thing to understand why people talk the way they do is that words are carried away by the wind.

Despite the efforts of institutions like the RAE to collect all the twists that emerge over the years, there are always countless expressions and meanings that—either because they are too recent or because they have been left out of the spotlight of the academics—sprout wildly and spread here and there without anyone paying much attention to them.

For some time now, words like “father” and “mother” and their corresponding verbs, “father” and “mother,” are two paradigmatic examples.

In 2016, content creator Ibai Llanos wrote on his Twitter account: “Shaquille O'Neal is my fucking father.”

Was Llanos referring to the fact that there is some type of paternal affiliation between him and the former NBA player?

It is not the case.

Rather, the only thing Llanos wanted to say, although the RAE does not include this meaning for the word "father", is that he likes Shaquille O'Neal, he seems worthy of admiration.

These words, almost always used in fixed expressions such as “Mother more if that”, serve today to say that something has reached the highest degree of excellence.

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As words appear and disappear, it is difficult to come up with a definitive explanation.

However, there are some clues.

African-American trans Crystal LaBeija founded the House of LaBeija in 1977 in New York.

It is believed that this house began the ball

culture system

where homeless LGBTI racialized youth who performed at dances were 'adopted' by people like LaBeija, who became mother figures.

These were in charge of managing the house and taking care of their disciples.

It was there that the term mother or mother

began to be used for the first time

, which was later established in

drag

queen

culture to talk about those who acted as mentors to the youngest, as references worthy of imitation and admiration.

Now, in Anglo-Saxon culture it is also used to signal the presence of an empowered female figure.

For example, it is common that, when Beyoncé appears on television, the networks are flooded with fans who define her with a single word:

“Mother!”

The series 'Pose' recreated the universe of the New York 'ball', with their different houses and mothers.Cordon Press (©FX Networks/Courtesy Everett Collection / Cordon Press)

In the book by anthropologist Esther Newton entitled

Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America

(1972) the phenomenon is explained: “Mothers are those

drag

artists who are in charge of teaching, guiding and protecting people who are starting out in this world, sharing their knowledge, experiences and advice with their

baby drags

, the way in which artists who begin this art are named, regardless of their age;

to those who help develop their identity.”

Within the context that defined LGTBIQ+ people at that time in the United States, it is easier to explain the importance that the

queer

scene had for these mothers, functioning as a mechanism for creating community and a safe space for socialization.

From there, to what appears in a video published by

BuzzFeed on social networks where you can see a young woman trying to explain the expression

mother

to an older man

:

—For example, Taylor Swift is a mother.

-I don't understand.

—I'll give you another example: Beyoncé is a mother.

—Do you mean that she is a motherly woman or that she is a queen?

—It's similar to queen, but now we prefer to call it mother.

Taylor Swift on the 'mother' comments from fans online:

“Something that you guys are always saying online is 'mother is mothering…' Which I think you mean in a totally different context than Mother's Day.”

pic.twitter.com/GtvVXtfDQ8

— Pop Base (@PopBase) May 15, 2023

According to a study carried out by Babbel, 60.5% of Spaniards over 40 years of age, that is, belonging to generation X, have difficulties understanding the slang of younger people.

The reason, says the study, is that English is the reference language in youth slang.

The report also shows that 88% of Generation Z regularly use words, expressions or acronyms from English.

In any case, whatever the origin of the term, there is a clear winner of this entire process: mothers and fathers, who have gone from being “the old people” at other times to being seen today as the only ones. what young people aspire to be.

The journalist and writer Mar Abad summarizes these mechanisms in her book

From estraperlo a #postureo: each generation has its words

: “The linguistic mark of each generation leads us to see the lexicon as one of the few time machines that we have available today.

The words of an era are the photo of a historical moment.

The vocabulary speaks of the values, customs and ideals of each era.”

The explanation alludes to the fact that language constantly evolves since each generation has its own range of expressions, terms and references to communicate with its environment.

Not even the

mothers

of today are the same

mothers

as those of the

drag

culture of 40 years ago.

The former professor of Language and Literature, philologist and journalist David Vázquez finds another added question interesting: “This demand from mothers and fathers comes from the hand of a generation that is perceived as disrespectful.

How many articles have been written in recent years about young people losing respect for authority figures?

Well, it turns out that, for these same young people, the best thing to do in this life is to 'mother', that is, to act as a father and a mother act."

Vázquez states, on the other hand, that, although the dictionary does not include these meanings, it is only a matter of time before academics give in: “There is the verb padrear, but with the meaning it had in the past, that of someone He looks like his father.

And Madrear exists only as an insult to someone in Mexico.

If these uses of Padrear and Madrear are maintained, sooner or later, they will have to review it.”