Daddy (slang)

A Daddy in gay culture is a slang term meaning a man sexually involved in a relationship with a younger male.^[1][2][3] An age gap, maturity gap, and varying levels of sexual experience are possible aspects of a "Daddy/boy" relationship.^{[citation needed]}

In an internet meme context, Know Your Meme defines the term as a "slang term of affection used to address a male authority figure or idol in a sexualized manner."^[4]

A "Daddy/boy" relationship can share similarities with a dynamic of dominance and submission.^[5]

History[edit]

New York claimed in 2017 that the specific archetype evolved from leather subculture, which began in the 1940s.^[6]

The "leather daddy" archetype, which has sadomasochistic associations, was proliferated in such media as the Drummer magazine (launched in 1975); 1976 to 1979 gay pornographic films Working Man Trilogy; and BDSM novels by Larry Townsend.^[7][6]

Predecessors[edit]

According to the Historical Dictionary of American Slang, the earliest use of "daddy" in a non-paternal context was in 1681, in reference to what sex workers called their procurers or older male customers.^[8][9]

Throughout the 1920s, the term was used in blues music and African-American Vernacular English to mean one's boyfriend, especially an older man or a sugar daddy. In 1920, the term is used in a romantic context in Aileen Stanley's blues song "I Wonder Where My Sweet, Sweet Daddy's Gone."^[10] Its usage is similar in Lavinia Turner's 1922 song "How Can I Be Your 'Sweet Mama' When You're 'Daddy' to Someone Else?"^[8][11] The same year, the term appears in Trixie Smith's "My Man Rocks Me" in the lyrics "My man rocks me, with one steady roll [...] I said now, Daddy, ain’t we got fun".^[12][9]

In gay culture[edit]

New York claimed in 2017 that the gay term evolved from leather subculture, which began in the 1940s.^[6]

In the 1970s, the "leather daddy" archetype (which has sadomasochistic associations) was proliferated in such media as the Drummer magazine (launched in 1975); 1976 to 1979 gay pornographic films Working Man Trilogy; and BDSM novels by Larry Townsend.^[7][6]

Braidon Schaufert has claimed that the term was further normalized through to Game Grumps' 2017 visual novel game, Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator, which centered "queer fathers in a romance game" and gained a significant online fandom.^[13]

The term has increasingly been applied to heterosexual relationships.^{[citation needed]}