A mama-san, or mamasan, is a woman who works in a supervisory role in certain establishments in East Asia, typically those related to sex work, but sometimes in drinking places as well. Papa-san may be used to refer to a man in a similar position. The drag-dressing male proprietors of okama bars are also commonly referred to as Mama-san. East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. ... A sex worker is anyone who earns their living by providing sexual services. ... This articles is about cross-dressing in general, that is the act of wearing the clothing of another gender for any reason. ...

To at least some extent, these can be considered the local equivalents of a pimp or madam, although the conventions of bar fine prostitution in Asia are quite different from those of either street or brothel prostitution in the United States. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Madam or maam is a title for a woman. ... A bar fine, or (in engrish) paybar, is the payment made by customer to the operators of a lady bar or go-go bar that allows a dancer or hostess or some other employee of that bar to stop work early, usually in order to accompany the customer outside the... Whore redirects here. ...

The term originally comes from Japanese, where it is a term for a woman who works as a supervisor at a bar, nightclub, brothel, or similar business. The suffix -san is a polite honorific attached to a person's name or title. The familiarity with the term by U.S. soldiers in Japan after WWII probably has had some influence in its spread to other Southeast Asian countries.

It should be noted that the term mama-san in Japanese is emphatically not a polite reference to a mother, and should never be used as such. Most Japanese children today call their mother mama, but the term does not persist into adulthood. The proper term to refer to a Japanese mother would be okaa-san.

A trio of early songs (written 1990-91) by rock group Pearl Jam are known as the band's "Mamasan Trilogy." These songs are, in order: "Alive," "Once," and "Footsteps." "It's about incest, and it's about murder, and, you know, all those good things. And if you can picture it in your mind, the third song takes place in a jail cell." (Eddie Vedder, June 18, 1992) Pearl Jam is a Grammy Award-winning American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington. ...

External links

• Time magazine article on child slavery in Asia
• Use of term in Vietnam war era
• On use of term in Japanese hostess establishments

mama.com google.com mordi.no

See also

• House mom
• Prostitution in Thailand