Dictionary

mama's baby, papa's maybe en · X

Meanings

1. It is easy to know the biological mother of a child, but difficult to be sure who the biological father is.
   • His approach to unity is based on the theses of a Swiss lawyer-macrohistorian, Johan Bachofen, a US anthropologist, Lewis M. Morgan, a German macrohistorian, Friedrich Engels, and deep knowledge of Greek drama. Why the latter? Because it reflects the matriarchy-patriarchy contradiction after the first form recognized by Bachofen, promiscuity. They are all variations on the perennial theme "mama's baby, papa's maybe". 2010 November 2, Cameroun Douala, “The Cultural Unity of Black Africa?”, in Real News Network:
   • “Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe” is how the black feminist critic Hortense Spillers describes the reproductive burdens of black women, and her words certainly seem to apply to Sally Hemings's experience. 2009, Deborah Gray White, Telling Histories: Black Women Historians in the Ivory Tower, →ISBN:
   • As David Buss states in his book The Dangerous Passion, there's an African phrase that captures this male fear: “Mama's baby, papa's maybe.” 2010, Eva Nagorski, The Down and Dirty Dish on Revenge, →ISBN:
   • The enormous value that patriarchal cultures and religions place on female virginity has roots in biology. We’ve all heard the saying, “Mama’s baby, Papa’s maybe.” 2015 December 25, Valerie Tarico, “Is Jesus' birth worth celebrating? The dark subtext of the nativity scene”, in Salon:
   • Because men experience "paternity uncertainty" ("Mama's baby, Papa's maybe"), they're more distressed by sexual infidelity, which could chump them into raising a kid who'll pass on some other dude's genes. 2016 December 17, Amy Akon, “Little gifts to girlfriend show how thoughtful you are”, in Poughkeepsie Journal:

Forms