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(Redirected from Mamasan)
A 'mama-san', or 'mamasan', is a woman who works in a supervisory role in certain establishments in East Asia, typically those related to sex work, but sometimes in drinking places as well. 'Papa-san' may be used to refer to a man in a similar position. The drag-dressing male proprietors of okama bars are also commonly referred to as Mama-san.
To at least some extent, these can be considered the local equivalents of a pimp or madam, although the conventions of bar fine prostitution in Asia are quite different from those of either street or brothel prostitution in the United States.
The term originally comes from Japanese, where it is a term for a woman who works as a supervisor at a bar, nightclub, brothel, or similar business. The suffix ''-san'' is a polite honorific attached to a person's name or title. The familiarity with the term by U.S. soldiers in Japan after WWII probably has had some influence in its spread to other Southeast Asian countries.
It should be noted that the term ''mama-san'' in Japanese is emphatically not a polite reference to a mother, and should never be used as such. Most Japanese children today call their mother ''mama'', but the term does not persist into adulthood. The 'proper term' to refer to a Japanese mother would be '''okaa-san'''.
A trio of early songs (written 1990-91) by rock group Pearl Jam are known as the band's "Mamasan Trilogy." These songs are, in order: "Alive," "Once," and "Footsteps." "It's about incest, and it's about murder, and, you know, all those good things. And if you can picture it in your mind, the third song takes place in a jail cell." (Eddie Vedder, June 18, 1992)
★ ''Time'' magazine article on child slavery in Asia
★ Use of term in Vietnam war era
★ On use of term in Japanese hostess establishments
★ House mom
★ Prostitution in Thailand
A 'mama-san', or 'mamasan', is a woman who works in a supervisory role in certain establishments in East Asia, typically those related to sex work, but sometimes in drinking places as well. 'Papa-san' may be used to refer to a man in a similar position. The drag-dressing male proprietors of okama bars are also commonly referred to as Mama-san.
To at least some extent, these can be considered the local equivalents of a pimp or madam, although the conventions of bar fine prostitution in Asia are quite different from those of either street or brothel prostitution in the United States.
The term originally comes from Japanese, where it is a term for a woman who works as a supervisor at a bar, nightclub, brothel, or similar business. The suffix ''-san'' is a polite honorific attached to a person's name or title. The familiarity with the term by U.S. soldiers in Japan after WWII probably has had some influence in its spread to other Southeast Asian countries.
It should be noted that the term ''mama-san'' in Japanese is emphatically not a polite reference to a mother, and should never be used as such. Most Japanese children today call their mother ''mama'', but the term does not persist into adulthood. The 'proper term' to refer to a Japanese mother would be '''okaa-san'''.
A trio of early songs (written 1990-91) by rock group Pearl Jam are known as the band's "Mamasan Trilogy." These songs are, in order: "Alive," "Once," and "Footsteps." "It's about incest, and it's about murder, and, you know, all those good things. And if you can picture it in your mind, the third song takes place in a jail cell." (Eddie Vedder, June 18, 1992)
| Contents |
| External links |
| See also |
External links
★ ''Time'' magazine article on child slavery in Asia
★ Use of term in Vietnam war era
★ On use of term in Japanese hostess establishments
See also
★ House mom
★ Prostitution in Thailand
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