# They're not making TV meemaws like they used to. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 9, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493 "2018-02-09T03:49:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/41 "2018-02-10T19:34:29Z")
> [@Leo\_Krupe](#): > > I blame Mad magazine. Even though I don’t remember specifics, they had an article about the future (many of them, but this is a particular one) where the old fashioned granny (Aunt Bea from “Andy Griffith”) would be replaced by [a swingin’ grandma](http://www.aveleyman.com/Gallery/2017/R/14367-3564.jpg). The Mad Guidebook to Vanishing Human Types, and their Modern Replacements, issue 111, June 1967: ““The Old Fashioned Granny” is rapidly being replaced by “The Face-Lifted Dowager””. _Mad_ was just reporting on the trend. ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/42 "2018-02-11T03:37:35Z")
MeeMaw is one of the most inbred, redneck, white trash names for another family member. Very grating to hear. I had a cousin who referred to my grandmother with that “name”. 😵😠👹☠ ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/43 "2018-02-11T04:29:55Z")
White trash? Eh… But in-bred? I dont see that. My kids wanted me to be ‘Bubba’, I vetoed that real quick like. Now, that would’ve been red-necky. I like ‘Nana’ just fine, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/44 "2018-02-11T05:33:02Z")
Being a child of divorced and remarried parents AND divorced and remarried Grandparents, we have had many incarnations of things to call everyone in the mix, just to make distinctions. We have had a Grammy, a Big Momma (who was actually quite petite), a Grandmother J, a GrandMa-Ma, a Mim, and a Mema (which is close)…but no straight up Meemaw. Thank Goodness. It does have a rather rough and harsh sound. I think I want to be called Mam when my time comes. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/45 "2018-02-11T05:43:49Z")
I had an Aunt who wanted ‘Mam’ it turned into ‘Mammy’…not quite kosher here in the South! ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/46 "2018-02-11T05:57:20Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I had an Aunt who wanted ‘Mam’ it turned into ‘Mammy’…not quite kosher here in the South! Oh Dear! Maybe I’ll just insist on this version: Ma’am. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/47 "2018-02-11T07:26:01Z")
> [@Leo\_Krupe](#): > > I blame Mad magazine. Even though I don’t remember specifics, they had an article about the future (many of them, but this is a particular one) where the old fashioned granny (Aunt Bea from “Andy Griffith”) would be replaced by [a swingin’ grandma](http://www.aveleyman.com/Gallery/2017/R/14367-3564.jpg). > > Meemaw, Mamaw, Papaw, and all the other southern terms can go to hell. Funny, we live in the south and my kids use none of these names for their grandparents. Mostly because I hate them. What do you you like and/or use? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/48 "2018-02-11T12:59:08Z")
I had to look this up, but Aunt May is Peter’s aunt by marriage to Peter’s Dad’s (Richard) older brother Ben. Ben and May were in HS together Assume Peter is 16 § If Richard was 30 when Peter was born, and Ben was 35, Aunt May could easily be anywhere from P+32 to P+38 (48 to 54) If Richard was 35 and Ben was 50 Aunt May could be P+53 (69) If Richard was 21 and Ben was 23 Aunt may could be P+20 (36) 45-60 seem a decent range Brian ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/49 "2018-02-11T15:07:04Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > The Mad Guidebook to Vanishing Human Types, and their Modern Replacements, issue 111, June 1967: > > ““The Old Fashioned Granny” is rapidly being replaced by “The Face-Lifted Dowager””. > > _Mad_ was just reporting on the trend. I knew I wasn’t imagining it. Thanks. I could see it in my head…however, rather than reporting on the trend, I think it was yet another case of “MAD ESP”. > [@keturah](#): > > Funny, we live in the south and my kids use none of these names for their grandparents. Mostly because I hate them. What do you you like and/or use? I prefer grandma, but grandmother works too. My maternal grandmother was called Grandma (last name), and my paternal one was Grandmother (last name). Of course, I realize not everyone in the south uses Meemaw, it’s just that it’s become more common over the last few years. I think it has something to do with the rise in southern pop culture. As in the popularity of Duck Dynasty, Swamp People, and others. No real evidence for that, just a hunch. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/50 "2018-02-11T17:10:40Z")
A much simpler way to state the OP: Annie Potts is still hot. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/51 "2018-02-11T20:40:18Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A much simpler way to state the OP: Annie Potts is still hot. Bingo! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/52 "2018-02-11T21:20:11Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s not just TV. > > Have you noticed how Spiderman’s Aunt May gets progressively younger (and hotter) with each incarnation? Sure, but did old, old Aunt May ever really make sense? How many teenagers’ parents have siblings in their 70s anyway? When I was the age Peter was in the beginning my aunts and uncles were in their 30s and 40s. It’s only now that **I’m** 40 I have any aunts or uncles nearly as old as Aunt May was initially depicted. Maybe it made more sense back when people had 11ty-seven kids and the youngest might’ve been born when Ma was 50 or older so there was twenty or even thirty years between the oldest and youngest, but that doesn’t happen much any more, so making Aunt May younger reflects that new reality. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/53 "2018-02-11T23:04:32Z")
It’s more common now for women to have kids when they’re 50 than it ever was: > **[Pregnancy over age 50](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy_over_age_50)** > > Pregnancy over the age of 50 has, over recent years, become possible for more women, and more easily achieved for many, due to recent advances in assisted reproductive technology, in particular egg donation. Typically, a woman's fecundity ends with menopause, which, by definition, is 12 consecutive months without having had any menstrual flow at all. During perimenopause, the menstrual cycle and the periods become irregular and eventually stop altogether, but even when periods are still regular... One thing I wondered about was if Aunt May was originally supposed to be a great-aunt rather than an aunt. Yeah, I know that all the sources say that she was an aunt, but I wonder if the comic book writers originally thought of her as a great-aunt and then somewhere in the conception of the comic someone higher up decided, “The heck with it, just make her an aunt.” When I was young I referred to the relative that lived nearby as Aunt Vera, although she was a great-aunt. Now my grand-nephews and grand-nieces call me Uncle Wendell. So she may have been originally conceived of as a great-aunt. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/54 "2018-02-11T23:39:09Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > It’s more common now for women to have kids when they’re 50 than it ever was: > > [Pregnancy over age 50 - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy_over_age_50) I’m sure it is - but I think women having children over a span of 20-25 years was more common in the past and that’s a way for a teenager to end up with a 60-70 year old aunt.For example, aunt is 25 when teenager’s parent is born. Teenager is born when parent is 25 and aunt is 50. When the teenager is 15, parent is 40 and aunt is 65. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/55 "2018-02-12T00:03:10Z")
I suspect that large age gaps between siblings are more common now than they used to be, but I can’t find any statistics on that. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/56 "2018-02-12T01:11:08Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I suspect that large age gaps between siblings are more common now than they used to be, but I can’t find any statistics on that. Depends on what you mean- if you mean the average gap between two adjacent siblings is larger than it used to be, I suspect that’s true. It might be true if you’re talking about half-siblings who share a father. But that’s not what I’m saying was more common in the past , although perhaps I wasn’t clear enough. It was more common in the past (at least among certain ethnic groups) for a woman to have 8 or 10 or even more children over a 20 or 25 year span. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/57 "2018-02-12T02:14:33Z")
Do you have any well-established statistics showing that large age gaps of siblings are more common? I’d like to see them. Otherwise, this is just us making guesses, and I’d rather avoid discussions like that. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/58 "2018-02-12T02:39:07Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’m sure it is - but I think women having children over a span of 20-25 years was more common in the past and that’s a way for a teenager to end up with a 60-70 year old aunt.For example, aunt is 25 when teenager’s parent is born. Teenager is born when parent is 25 and aunt is 50. When the teenager is 15, parent is 40 and aunt is 65. For reasons like this, when I was a teenager (13, just to pick a specific age), several of my father’s sisters were over 70. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/59 "2018-02-12T02:54:24Z")
deleted for mangled quotes I don’t have time to fix. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/60 "2018-02-12T03:56:06Z")
A dear friend of ours is twenty years younger than her next sibling. She is in her mid-fifties now and has a 13 year old daughter. So Aunt May isn’t unreasonable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493.md?page=4)