Welsh Mam
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The Welsh Mam (''mam'' means "mother" in
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
) was an archetypal image of
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
married women, especially popular in 19th-century industrial
South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
, and depictions of that place and era. The mythologised Welsh Mam was seen as a matriarch ruling her household, "the pivot, around which all family life revolved". In reality many Welsh women were economically dependent on male wage-earners, and suffered poverty and ill health exacerbated by regular childbearing.


In the news

Women described as "Welsh mams" were seen in clashes with police and organizing family relief during the Welsh Miners Strike of 1984.


Examples in popular culture

The Welsh mam was described as "hardworking, pious and clean, a mother to her sons and responsible for the home", in Richard Llewellyn's 1939 novel ''
How Green Was My Valley ''How Green Was My Valley'' is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, narrated by Huw Morgan, the main character, about his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live. The author had claimed that he based the book on his own persona ...
''. Actress Rachel Thomas often played Welsh mams in the 20th century, including roles in '' The Proud Valley (1940),'' ''
How Green Was My Valley ''How Green Was My Valley'' is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, narrated by Huw Morgan, the main character, about his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live. The author had claimed that he based the book on his own persona ...
,
Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, ''Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptation of ...
,'' and the soap opera ''
Pobol y Cwm ''Pobol y Cwm'' (''People of the Valley''; ) is a Welsh-language soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, ''Pobol y Cwm'' was originally transmitted on BBC One Wales an ...
.'' A 1997 World of Groggs clay figurine, titled ''The Welsh Mam'', is in the collection of the
National Museum Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
.


See also

*
Culture of Wales The culture of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Diwylliant Cymru'') is distinct, with its own Welsh language, language, customs, Politics of Wales, politics, festivals, Music of Wales, music and Welsh_art, Art. Wales is primarily represented by t ...
*
Welsh people The Welsh ( cy, Cymry) are an ethnic group native to Wales. "Welsh people" applies to those who were born in Wales ( cy, Cymru) and to those who have Welsh ancestry, perceiving themselves or being perceived as sharing a cultural heritage and ...
* Welsh literature *
History of Wales The history of what is now Wales () begins with evidence of a Neanderthal presence from at least 230,000 years ago, while ''Homo sapiens'' arrived by about 31,000 BC. However, continuous habitation by modern humans dates from the period after ...
*
Gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cen ...


References

{{reflist


External links

* Rebecca Davies,
“Not Just Supporting But Leading”: The Involvement of the Women of the South Wales Coalfield in the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike
' (PhD thesis, University of Glamorgan 2010). *
Deirdre Beddoe Deirdre Beddoe (born 1942) is a historian of women in modern Britain, with particular focus on Wales. She is Emeritus Professor of Women's History at the University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd. Life She was involved in the Women's Liberation Moveme ...
,
Munitionettes, Maids and Mams: Women in Wales, 1914-1939
' (1991). Welsh culture Women in Wales