The MILF Through History
The MILF Through History
Written by Jemma Boyd
In California 1992, a study was conducted at Berkeley University where students were asked to define the 9 terms for “attractive women”. One of these was a word with a surprising amount of baggage – MILF.
Popularised with the 1999 release of American Pie, MILF (Mother I’d Like to Fuck) began a turn of the century obsession with the sex lives of the modern wife and mother. Think first Desperate Housewives, then the infinite seasons of The Real Housewives. Weeds, Yummy Mummies, Cougartown, Stacy’s Mom and more were all products of the moment.
For Jennifer Coolidge, the original MILF, it was a thrilling time. Sharing to Vanity Fair in August, Coolidge boasted “I got a lot of play at being a MILF, and I got a lot of sexual action from American Pie.” The term instantly catapulted her to sex symbol status and provided the MILF with an aesthetic – blonde, rich, hyper-feminine and sexually confident.
With today’s Y2K revival and new nostalgia-based phenomena such as “bimbofication” and “barbiecore” (Google the terms for a fun rabbit hole), we’re once again seeing how the sexualisation of women can all at once be empowering and uncomfortable. While many Mums consider themselves MILFs, and embrace it as an empowering compliment, it’s worth noting the underlying baggage throughout the years.
According to the Pornhub 2021 annual report, MILF was the 4th most searched term and 5th most viewed category in the world. It speaks to a classic and common preference in straight men’s desire for both a “confident, knowledgeable and practiced” sexual partner, as well as… let’s face it, a fetish for Mummy taking care of you. And to think, the story of Oedipus used to be considered a tragedy!
At the end of the day, MILF is a term created by horny college boys, and is certainly tailored to a specific male fantasy. She has a body to die for – and she should be happy a younger guy would want to sleep with (shock, horror) a woman with children. Don’t forget the ‘I’ in MILF stands for I’d – as in “I, the man, deem you someone I’d like to sleep with”.
But that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. In 2016, 3 years after the birth of her first child, Fergie released the song and accompanying video for M.I.L.F $ (pronounced MILF Money). The video features celebrity Mums embodying their sexuality alongside baby bottles and nappies, a fun and sexy way of taking back the narrative. Fergie even changed the name, stating – “Changing the acronym to Moms I’d Like To Follow is about empowering women who do it all”.
Do you identify as a MILF, or consider it a compliment? Is it worth thinking twice, or can it be empowering?
