Soccer moms?

Can anyone (American) tell me what a soccer mom is? I've heard the expression but nobody use's it here in England.

 

An American mother living in the suburbs whose time is often spent transporting her children from one athletic activity or event to another, and usually sports a mini van.

 

Haha, thanx, where does it come from do you know?

 

In United States social, cultural and political discourse, soccer mom refers broadly to a demographic group of women with school-age children. A soccer mom is typically imagined as upper middle class, probably college-educated, most often suburban or exurban, and typically caucasion.



Defining the soccer mom

The term is thought to have been coined by a woman running for city council in Denver, Colorado. [citation needed] When asked for her credentials, she replied: "soccer mom." It came into widespread use in the 1990s, notably during the 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns and since.

Literally, soccer moms drive their children to play soccer. Soccer is considered a safer and more genteel competitive sport than American football, which is more prominent than soccer in mainstream American culture. At once, the soccer mom is associated with encouraging, if perhaps overscheduling, their children with activities, and with making personal sacrifices for their children's benefit (taking them to play), while perhaps remaining somewhat overprotective (by taking them to play soccer rather than, say, American football).

The term has found a life as shorthand for a stereotype, or set of stereotypes, far beyond its literal meaning.

Most widely, perhaps, they are associated with driving Volvos, minivans, or SUVs. Active pride in their children may be displayed, for instance, with membership in a Parent-Teacher Association, or with a bumper sticker boasting that her child is an honors student at their school.

The term was used as the basis for the song "Volvo-Driving Soccer Mom" by the band Everclear. Though the song departs from the stereotype in that the "soccer mom" in the song has something of a checkered past and this is not necessarily part of the stereotype.


In politics...

Soccer moms were considered an important constituency in Bill Clinton's two presidential wins. Starting, perhaps, with Republican victories in the 1994 Congressional elections, and into the 2000s with the presidential victories of George W. Bush, they have been identified increasingly with the Republican party. However, this correlates more with other demographic characteristics, such as their place in the red state-blue state divide, than with their identification as soccer moms.

In fact, inasmuch as both parties seek to appeal to her, the model soccer mom in political discourse is a moderate, hopefully persuadable swing voter. She's assumed to be especially concerned with education policy, health care and tax levels, especially as they impact her own family. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, homeland security has emerged as a concern to the extent that a new term, "security mom," has come into use.


Political and social conservatism...

Since the late 1990s and into the 2000s, the soccer mom has been increasingly associated with political conservatism, with evangelical or fundamentalist Christianity, and with socially conservative concerns such as opposition to obscenities in rock and hip hop music and sex and violence in film, television, and video games. Some "extreme soccer moms" even complain about sad music, claiming that it makes children suicidal. Because of this, many gamers and anime fans often use soccer moms as scapegoats for censorship in the media.

These attributions, however, are in no way universal. A political campaign targeting soccer moms in a liberal environment like Boston or San Francisco is probably talking about a much more secular, socially and politically moderate-to-liberal audience.


In Canada...

Usage in Canada is broadly similar to usage in the United States, but it is taken closer to literally, having much to do with active, busy parenting and generally having less to do with race, little if anything to do with religion, little to do with political affiliation except for a tendency to moderation, and with very little correlation to social conservatism. Middle class status, a skew towards minivan or SUV ownership, and to a lesser extent university or college education and suburban or exurban residence are associated with the term. Much of the meaning underlying "soccer mom" has also transferred to the term "hockey mom".

 

I am a mom and my son plays soccer, but I am definitely NOT a "soccer mom"

They also tend to be very cliquey amongst themselves.....

 

Thanx for that Hippychickmommy, it was bugging the hell out of me. Just for the record soccer is a great sport.

 

You're welcome.

 

Usually they are a bunch of yuppie bitches. It is fun to mess with them, they are a lot of the times popular members of the gossip rings.

 

Wow, Hippychickmommy. You're so wise. Like Yoda or George W. Bush.

 

George Bush? Now that's an insult. Take it back. Right now. Or you will pay. And that's not a threat, that's a promise.

 

Just tell the police you heard he had WMD....

 

Yes, that's sounds like a plan.

 

Weapon of Mass Delight

 

haha....do you have a license for that?


The soccer mom thing got me thinking....when I go drop off/pick up my son from school it looks like an audition for "desperate housewives"...you should see some of the outfits... They all group together and chit chat before going jogging in packs...

 

Not where I take my son to kindergarten. Usually the moms there look like they just crawled out of a hole or something. And no one talks to one another. It's really bizzare. It's like nobody wants anything to do with anybody else.

 

I live on edge of a rich neighborhood...but the school on the other side of the road (the one I didn't want my son to go to) has something like that going on.....

One day I drove by and saw one slobby mother in her nightgown picking up her kid. I think she was trying to pass it off as a summer dress, but I had one just like it.

 

That's too funny! I've seen a lot of moms come to my son's school in their pj's and I'm thinking "what in the heck?" it's 2:00 in the afternoon!

 

There should be more adult films about soccer moms

 

You mean that actually make that sort of thing? Have you seen one?

 

I've never seen an adult video actually. I don't think they really exist.