I have always felt this way about the apostrophe placement in Mother's Day and I often write it as "Mothers' Day." As with so much language, it is meaningful and, in this case, not in a good way. But I also grew up in a time when "mom" was a name that many people applied to their mothers. To me the more recent casual, cutesy use of "mom" as a substitute for mother is very invasive and demeaning. If you have children, "Mother" may be what your kids call you. But it is also society's name for the role. Referring to all mothers as "mom" or "a mom" is as diminishing and privacy-invading as it would be to suddenly start referring to every husband as "honey" or "a honey." Or substitute "dear" or whichever term of endearment is most common. "Is Marge bringing her honey to the party?" "Is this meeting for wives only or are dears invited too?" Those names wee part of a private relationship until marketing and advertising swept in and coopted "mom" and we all adopted it without a second thought.
Thanks for saying this so clearly - I could not agree more! The only people who have earned the right to call me “mom” are the ones who I am raising. (And even those ones choose to use a different honorific: I’m Mummy or Ima.)
‘Families first’ is a total joke. It’s year another lie and empty promise. How many empty promises are we at now w this presidency. MAGA is NOT prioritizing families in their policies. They’re certainly not looking at parenting and families first at a comprehensive level. MAGA doesn’t listen to what the majority needs of Americans ‘need’ including their base…. ‘We the ppl’ aka- majority are speaking out. I’m not sure what the word ‘first’ means when MAGA uses it but again it’s a sign of deterioration
Malone sticks it to the public health mandarins.... :-)
"Heart disease kills over 683,000 Americans annually. Cancer kills another 620,000. Stroke, diabetes, chronic lung disease, sepsis, obesity-related metabolic disease, opioid overdoses, and preventable medical errors collectively account for millions of deaths, disabilities, and shattered families.
And yet, if you browse the front page of the CDC website on any given week, there is a decent chance you will find public health officials issuing urgent alerts about backyard chickens, raw milk, pet turtles, or someone hugging a duck too enthusiastically.
I am a man so I could never be a mother. My mother was not a mother. She was a Mom. She had 6 children whom she loved, spent time with and helped grow into healthy and contributing adults. She would have been 100 on this Mother’s Day. Our gift to her was to make her proud. One is a retired military officer, two are successful lawyers, one is a retired teacher, and two are engineers. We had our diseases, injuries, issues and failures. She supported us through it all when there were few, if any, vaccines; when there was no real health care, and women were expected to be in the home. She was our rock. You said your writing is based on evidence. Give me evidence that Mom’s are not respected nor needed. Please stop cursing the darkness and light a candle.
Years ago lived in a small town in northern VT. I got to be close friends with Charley, the old man who ran the town dump. Charley referred to all women, even girls, as "mother." It was a meaningful honorific, part of the local culture Charley grew up with which was already largely gone by the time I knew him. It always pleased me when I heard him say it.
In the U.K. what is called Mothers Day, somewhat erroneously, occurs in March, a few weeks before Easter, it was originally Mothering Sunday and referred not to a female parent but to the church.
I have always felt this way about the apostrophe placement in Mother's Day and I often write it as "Mothers' Day." As with so much language, it is meaningful and, in this case, not in a good way. But I also grew up in a time when "mom" was a name that many people applied to their mothers. To me the more recent casual, cutesy use of "mom" as a substitute for mother is very invasive and demeaning. If you have children, "Mother" may be what your kids call you. But it is also society's name for the role. Referring to all mothers as "mom" or "a mom" is as diminishing and privacy-invading as it would be to suddenly start referring to every husband as "honey" or "a honey." Or substitute "dear" or whichever term of endearment is most common. "Is Marge bringing her honey to the party?" "Is this meeting for wives only or are dears invited too?" Those names wee part of a private relationship until marketing and advertising swept in and coopted "mom" and we all adopted it without a second thought.
Thanks for saying this so clearly - I could not agree more! The only people who have earned the right to call me “mom” are the ones who I am raising. (And even those ones choose to use a different honorific: I’m Mummy or Ima.)
Hear hear!!
‘Families first’ is a total joke. It’s year another lie and empty promise. How many empty promises are we at now w this presidency. MAGA is NOT prioritizing families in their policies. They’re certainly not looking at parenting and families first at a comprehensive level. MAGA doesn’t listen to what the majority needs of Americans ‘need’ including their base…. ‘We the ppl’ aka- majority are speaking out. I’m not sure what the word ‘first’ means when MAGA uses it but again it’s a sign of deterioration
So well said. Thank you!
Well, I’m celebrating anyway.
Malone sticks it to the public health mandarins.... :-)
"Heart disease kills over 683,000 Americans annually. Cancer kills another 620,000. Stroke, diabetes, chronic lung disease, sepsis, obesity-related metabolic disease, opioid overdoses, and preventable medical errors collectively account for millions of deaths, disabilities, and shattered families.
And yet, if you browse the front page of the CDC website on any given week, there is a decent chance you will find public health officials issuing urgent alerts about backyard chickens, raw milk, pet turtles, or someone hugging a duck too enthusiastically.
Seriously."
https://www.malone.news/p/the-absurdity-of-public-health
I am a man so I could never be a mother. My mother was not a mother. She was a Mom. She had 6 children whom she loved, spent time with and helped grow into healthy and contributing adults. She would have been 100 on this Mother’s Day. Our gift to her was to make her proud. One is a retired military officer, two are successful lawyers, one is a retired teacher, and two are engineers. We had our diseases, injuries, issues and failures. She supported us through it all when there were few, if any, vaccines; when there was no real health care, and women were expected to be in the home. She was our rock. You said your writing is based on evidence. Give me evidence that Mom’s are not respected nor needed. Please stop cursing the darkness and light a candle.
Years ago lived in a small town in northern VT. I got to be close friends with Charley, the old man who ran the town dump. Charley referred to all women, even girls, as "mother." It was a meaningful honorific, part of the local culture Charley grew up with which was already largely gone by the time I knew him. It always pleased me when I heard him say it.
In the U.K. what is called Mothers Day, somewhat erroneously, occurs in March, a few weeks before Easter, it was originally Mothering Sunday and referred not to a female parent but to the church.