Taboo
Why West Indian sitters never use the word "nanny."
by Victoria G. Brown
August 27, 2007
Or farm animals. Susan said to me, "Remember the old Sesame Street skit:
'Nancy the nanny-goat nibbled on her nails?' A nanny is a she-goat." I
laughed when she said that, remembering the old mother goat admonishing Nancy
to not be a ninny and stop her nibbling, but I also heard the anger behind
the anecdote.
You have
to expect some bristling from women who are coming from places where "nannies"
and
"rams"
are
words frequently
used in conversations about livestock and animal husbandry. And, in Trinidad,
where almost half the population is of East Indian descent, "nani" is
the Hindi word used to address one's maternal grandmother. Satirical
Calypso singers have had a field day playing up the word's triple entendre
in song. In the Caribbean, the child minder is referred to as the sitter, the
domestic or the woman who watches the children. While this last may not be
particularly verbally succinct, it's not humiliating, either.
To prove how taboo the word is, I went up to a few WestIt's not that the job is looked down upon in the West Indian community; it's the word that rankles. Indian women in my
local playground and asked what they did for a living. Not one used the title "nanny" to
describe her job. Instead, they said "caregiver" or "babysitter." Susan insisted
on being called a "childcare provider." It's
not that the job is looked down upon in the West Indian community. In fact,
many of these women get fair salaries, paid holidays and end-of-year bonuses.
They've helped put their children through school, saved up to buy homes,
and they regularly send cash to relatives in the Caribbean. It's the
word that rankles.
There are many things West Indian sitters would like their employers to know: "You
have to leave some petty cash around for outing incidentals like ice cream
or pizza." "Fifty dollars a week is not a sufficient raise for
a new baby." "No, I do not want to come to your child's birthday
party on my day off." But the simplest request of all, and the easiest
to act on, is this: "Don't call me nanny."
©2007 Victoria G. Brown and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Victoria G. Brown writes and teaches English at a local community college. She's finishing up her first novel (yay!), and lives in
Brooklyn with her husband and their absolutely amazing, what's-a-
nap daughter, Ms. Helen Dekker 'coco-bean' Thornberry. |
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