as in mother
a female human parent
the toddler clung to her mammy and eyed the strangers fearfully
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Recent Examples of mammy
These include typecasting Black women as jezebels, sapphires and mammies; these depictions, combined with the law enforcement they may be exposed to, increase their vulnerability under the law.
—
Kerry Lester Kasper, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2025
The mammy stereotype, which desexualized both dark skinned enslaved and free women (who were often in domestic roles), made muting Black beauty the norm.
—Brooklyn White, Essence, 30 Nov. 2022
Toxic archetypes of Black womanhood—the mammy, the Black matriarch, the jezebel (or the Scraggle Daggle, in SYSBM parlance), and the welfare mother—are all alive and well in the Black Manosphere.
—Nicole Young, ELLE, 26 Jan. 2022
One example given is the Aunt Jemima brand and logo, a depiction of an older Black woman based on the archetype of a mammy.
—Leah Asmelash, CNN, 1 Mar. 2021
The song features a mammy, a racial stereotype of the Black female caretaker figure devoted to her white family.
—Miriam Fauzia, USA TODAY, 30 June 2020
Saar enlarged the slave ship image, printed it onto the surface of the ironing board, and at one end superimposed the image of a black woman ironing, dressed stereotypically as a mammy.
—Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2019
But what complicates Hildi is the history of how black women, and especially slaves, have been treated in real life (raped, beaten) and depicted onscreen (as mammies or Jezebels).
—Aisha Harris, New York Times, 7 Aug. 2019
The Help in 2011, doesn’t seem to get that Ma operates as a black-mammy stereotype.
—Armond White, National Review, 7 June 2019
Kerry Lester Kasper, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2025
The mammy stereotype, which desexualized both dark skinned enslaved and free women (who were often in domestic roles), made muting Black beauty the norm.
—Brooklyn White, Essence, 30 Nov. 2022
Toxic archetypes of Black womanhood—the mammy, the Black matriarch, the jezebel (or the Scraggle Daggle, in SYSBM parlance), and the welfare mother—are all alive and well in the Black Manosphere.
—Nicole Young, ELLE, 26 Jan. 2022
One example given is the Aunt Jemima brand and logo, a depiction of an older Black woman based on the archetype of a mammy.
—Leah Asmelash, CNN, 1 Mar. 2021
The song features a mammy, a racial stereotype of the Black female caretaker figure devoted to her white family.
—Miriam Fauzia, USA TODAY, 30 June 2020
Saar enlarged the slave ship image, printed it onto the surface of the ironing board, and at one end superimposed the image of a black woman ironing, dressed stereotypically as a mammy.
—Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2019
But what complicates Hildi is the history of how black women, and especially slaves, have been treated in real life (raped, beaten) and depicted onscreen (as mammies or Jezebels).
—Aisha Harris, New York Times, 7 Aug. 2019
The Help in 2011, doesn’t seem to get that Ma operates as a black-mammy stereotype.
—Armond White, National Review, 7 June 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mammy
Noun
-
Wahl added in the later news conference that the mother of one suspect called police hours before the shooting.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
19 May 2026
-
Set in 1962, a boy roughly Travolta’s age voyages from New York to Los Angeles on a series of hopping flights with his mother, who is hoping to land a rich husband or a good Hollywood role in that order.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
19 May 2026
Noun
-
Those split levels of child and adult consciousness give the film a certain piquancy, a little gap where drama can spark in a story where almost nothing really happens except a kid takes a plane ride, or several plane rides, with his mom.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2026
-
The little girl was holding her mom’s hand when three men opened fire on a rival group near Southern Blvd.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mammy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mammy. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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