Kylie Jenner calls Travis Scott her 'baby daddy' — is that offensive?
Kylie Jenner is calling Travis Scott, Stormi Webster’s father, her “Baby Daddy.”
The 20-year-old mom, who helped Scott celebrate his 26th birthday on Saturday by renting out Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif., commented on an Instagram video of the rapper writing, “Babbbby Dadddyyy.”
In March, she also used the phrase when she Snapchatted a photo of a floral arrangement from Scott with the caption, “Ok baby daddy.”
Merriam-Webster defines baby daddy as slang: “The biological father of a woman’s child; especially: one who is not married to or in a long-term, intimate relationship with the child’s mother” so technically Jenner’s usage could be correct, although she and Scott are in a relationship.
A deep-dive by Slate on the history of the terms “Baby mama” and “Baby daddy” reveals they likely originated from Jamaican Creole (“biebifaada” and “biebimada”) and caught on in the United States. For example, the terms were used in the 2000 Outkast song “Ms. Jackson” and the 2008 film Baby Mama starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler about a single mom who hired a surrogate.
Ah, young love. #CommentsByCelebs
A post shared by @ commentsbycelebs on May 1, 2018 at 7:05am PDT
On a WhattoExpect.com forum for single moms discussing whether the term’s offensive or not, one person wrote, “I do not like for my ex to call me that and I have asked him not to. He even had me in his phone as “baby momma.” To me, it implies that we were never in a relationship and he accidentally knocked me up which is not true. I do not call him my baby daddy for this reason. I call him “my ex,”” she wrote. Another added, “I refer to my son’s dad as “my son’s dad” or my ex. He’s both. When he’s talking to someone else he calls me his “baby momma” and it makes my skin crawl.” Many also called it “ghetto,” “trashy,” and “lazy,” and “bad grammar.” However, as another user noted, it is a fast way to get your point across.
According to Stefan Dollinger, PhD., associate professor of English at the University of British Columbia, context is key. “In Canada and Australia, the term ‘baby daddy’ is more commonly used, even among upper-class people, because there isn’t a derogatory association,” he tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “The United States has a long, complicated history of systematic racism and there, the term is more limited to ethnic minority fathers who, at times, are viewed as lesser human beings.”
In the case of Jenner and Scott? It’s likely a term of endearment.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
