Each morning, I pour myself a bowl of cereal and come upstairs to check emails and the interwebs. This morning, I read a blog post from Mia Freedman, over at MamaMia. And I sat here nodding in agreement, and shaking my head at the poor journalistic efforts of some knob called Joe Aston?? To put it in a nutshell, Mia said "My kids can call me Mummy. Anyone else who uses it is being a dick." And further "Using the term "mummy" as a patronising prefix to describe the things women read, write or say is becoming increasingly common. Mummy blogs, Mummy porn, Mummy wars......they're all condescending put-downs and it's time we killed them off." Perfectly said Mia!
Do you want to know what gets ME annoyed? I brought it up in a little handmade business group I'm involved with, when someone asked what bugs others in regards to Facebook pages.
I really don't like the term "Mummy" or "Mumma" when it comes to describing an item for sale, or when referring to one's customers or followers on a Facebook page.
There. I've said it. It has always made me cringe a little, which some people don't understand. So this is why....
Although I make clothing for children, and now, quilts for children too, I have always been very careful not to label my customers. As much as I know that the majority of said customers are women and a vast majority of them, Mothers - I also know that I have many customers who are Aunts, Uncles, Dads and Grandparents. I would never want to A. possibly offend someone who either isn't or can't be a Mum and B. Narrow my market, ie. labelling an adult's garment as a "Mumma Skirt" could turn away possible customers, or referring to your customers in your posts as "Mummas" could potentially kill off sales to women OR men who like your handiwork but are put off because of such terminology.
My point is that regardless of whether you are a WAHM or not, you have a wide audience and possible customer base, including Men. So by addressing your likers as "Mummas" and only Mummas, you are narrowing your reach. Yes, I am a mother to four kids, but I am by no definition only a Mother. I am a woman. So in my very humble opinion, garments and goods made for women should be labelled as being made for women - not only Mummas.
The lovely ladies in the before mentioned group and I had a great discussion about why such a thing would shit me to tears. And thankfully it was all taken exactly the way I had intended. To make people think about the labels and terminology they are using when marketing themselves or their goods to others.
So - what's annoying you?
** Disclaimer - I am in no way, shape or form some kind of marketing genius. I'm just a woman, who happens to be a mother, who happens to have a somewhat successful little handmade business.
This is actually the second time I have come back to this post. It is just so well written... and pretty much speaks my mind haha! Using the words mumma/mummy/mama to describe an item really shits me to tears! Now, I'm not a mother, but even if I was I know that I would never want to be defined as a mother first - I'd rather be referred to as a woman... Being a mother is just one part of being a woman. The only people I would want to call me Mummy would be my children. Is it sad and pathetic that I would probably never buy from a business if they called something a 'mama-blanket' etc? It also annoys me how cloth pads are sometimes called 'mama cloth' - HELLOOOO, it's not only mothers who have a period.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the rant haha
Taylor xx
Taylor - I soooo get your frustration! And I too think it's hilarious that modern cloth pads are sometimes called Mama Cloth pads lol. Ranting welcome! x
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