Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 14:12, 30 May 2004

Rather than a "see also", probably should just be a redirect. Also, isn't it usually a compound word (motherfucker)? Hmm, that appears to be a redirect to incest which doesn't match the common use of the word at all. --Brion 21:43 Jan 10, 2003 (UTC)

Just redirect it to fuck and mention that this is often used in the same context. -- Modemac

Merriam-Webster dates this term to 1952. This is significantly past the period of time implied by the article's notion that the term came about as a result of slave owners raping slave women. Is there any actual source for this information? --Michael 05:37 8 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I don't know anything about the supposed origin of the term in slavery, but it certainly predates 1952 (although perhaps not in print). One anecdotal example was found by a friend who was researching old New Orleans police records concerning bars where music was played. Something along the line of in the late 1910s a man brought to court for stabbing someone told the judge that he had to stab the other guy, because of what the other guy had called him. The judge asked "what did he call you?" "He called me a motherf-----". --Infrogmation 16:06 8 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Moved:

Although often thought to relate to the widely condemned biological and cultural incest taboo, its origins are to be found in North American slavery. Here the sexual abuse of enslaved women often led to pregnancy. However the offspring were often enslaved like their mothers. Rather than refer to the man who impregnated their mother as father, the term motherfucker was often prefered. Similar grammatical forms are found in other african-english expressions such as babymother and babyfather.

I agree with Michael here. It's not the age of the term that's the problem, (as has been said, "Oedipus was the first motherfucker" <g>)it's this supposed derivation of it that's highly unlikely when you think about it. I'd like to see a source before it's put back. - Hephaestos

The song you quote from the Bloodhound Gang is actually a parody of a Prodigy song. wouldnt it be mroe apropriate to use the line from the original song? Vroman 23:41 16 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Great article, the grammer sings. --ShaunMacPherson 05:11, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)

The quote from the Bloodhound Gang seems a bit out of place. Scores of people have used the word to refer to just about anything under the sun, long before the members of that band were born. A more legitimate cultural reference would be better.

Could someone edit in how the term "Mofo" came into being? I don't see how theres an 'O' after the 'F', when F!@#ers second letter is 'U'.

Since the term is indisputedly African-American in origin, did Misplaced Pages ask any of us?

It's too bad "scholarly" folk have a tendency to pontificate on a subject, presuming a certain level of knowledge on the matter, without having once bothered to consult the source. My experience has been that white folks are especially good at this when the subject of discussion is black folks and black culture.

They know it all.

Misplaced Pages: "In spite of overuse, the term is widely considered highly insulting when used in earnest. In recent years, 'motherfucker' is increasingly being used to describe inanimate objects, dating back to early hip hop culture."

Amusing. Any black person would have told Misplaced Pages’s etymological experts the use of “motherfucker” in this fashion predates hip-hop by several decades.

Giving credit where credit is due, however, Misplaced Pages's tracing of the term back to slavery appears entirely plausible/probable. It is clear motherfucker is African-American in origin. It is merely another fine example of blacks crafting, bending the language to make it our own. Highly conscious of the fact that the commission of physical violence against a white man or his property could result in the most draconian punishment, bondsmen often used language as a weapon of choice. Verbal aggression, "woofin'," playing "the dozens" (a reference to the fact that slaves past their prime, who were aged or plain worn out from back-breaking labor, were sold by the dozen) became a means of survival, of safely venting hostility, as well as a sometimes raucous pastime.

"Motherfucker" -- a word accusatory of, perhaps, the most heinous of universal taboos -- is elegant in its simplicity; exquisitely cutting; elegantly, powerfully destructive. Misplaced Pages’s explanation grounded in the sexual abuse and exploitation of African bondswomen seems plausible, but is far too facile. The venom of it, its viciousness and obvious contempt tells me the target of such vitriol was even closer to home. White folks were white folks. They were godless and brutal and regarded us as subhuman. We EXPECTED them to behave as they did. Did we despise them? Certainly.

But the worst of black fury was directed inward, at “race traitors” and those who disgraced members of the group – people of whom we expected better. One must understand the communal consciousness of African bondsmen and women. This awareness was in some respects a product of their shared oppression. But it was also an element central to the traditions from whence they came. In traditional African societies, the dignity and honor of the family, tribe/nation was essential to the health, survival and spiritual well-being of the individual as well as the collective.

Because the institution of slavery so muddled bloodlines and tore apart family groupings, filial bonds often were in question or completely unpresumed/unknown. While likely relatively infrequent, closely related blacks unknowingly engaging in incestuous relationships would not have been unheard of. Family members often were sold to neighboring plantations, their last names changed to reflect their new owners. Depending on the age of the slave, kinship knowledge easily could be lost within even a generation.

In today's society, many of us have been desensitized to its power through the pervasiveness of its use today. But back in the day it WAS a fightin`, cuttin`, shootin`, bleedin` word.

To my way of thinking, without a doubt, “motherfucker” was reserved for those unfortunate black men who, unaware of their lineage, had slept with their mothers or other close relation.

It was the ultimate condemnation, the Oedipal curse as curse word.