What Does 'Mother Is Mothering' Mean? The Taylor Swift Fandom Catchphrase And Its Memes Explained

Taylor Swift's devoted fanbase, known as “Swifties,” is a tight-knit community that constantly bands together to uplift Swift’s releases to record-breaking sales numbers. Her fans also find creative ways to praise and affectionately call out the singer's success on social media.

Their way of praising Taylor is by using the slang term Mother from LGBTQ+ culture that signifies an older, caregiving member of a queer community.

Here is a breakdown of how the Mother Is Mothering became a viral catchphrase meme across multiple female pop singers' fandoms.

What Does 'Mother Is Mothering' Mean?

The term "mothering" is used by fans to describe their favorite artist exceeding in what they are doing and is derived from the LGBTQ+ slang term Mother, which is used as an alternative to other expressions such as slay and yass queen.

A long-time Swiftie is considered the "mother" of this expression. In November 2014, @Iikedaylight, a Taylor Swift fan account, posted on X a selfie between American Actress Aisha Tyler and Taylor, with the caption "I love when my mother is mothering."

How People Use 'Mother Is Mothering' In Memes?

It took a while for the "Mother is Mothering" expression to grow as a popular catchphrase, only gaining traction in early 2022 when fans of other pop singers started to use the term to praise their favorite artists. For instance, Twitter user @Cb2Era posted a video of Cardi B in June 2022 using the expression in the caption to indicate how good the singer was looking.

Mother is mothering pic.twitter.com/jH2ibnubwv

— ♟ (@Cb2Era) June 4, 2022

What Does Taylor Swift Think About The 'Mother Is Mothering' Meme?

Taylor Swift mentioned the "Mother is Mothering" memes during a concert on May 2023 by saying “something that you guys are always saying online is ‘Mother is Mothering!’ Which I think you mean in a totally different context than Mother’s Day…” Twitter user @TSwiftNZ posted the full quote (seen below) from the singer.

📹 | “Something that you guys are always saying online is ‘mother is mothering!’ Which I think you mean in a totally different context than Mother's Day…” -- Taylor tonight #PhillyTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/K3fjuoNMjD

— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZ) May 15, 2023

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For the full history of "Mother Is Mothering," be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.