Real Baby Mamas of Richmond

A Cry for Fathers To Man Up?

You knew it was coming, eventually.   The 2013 version of single, female parenting, brought to light, on the big screen - reality TV style.

Even before The Real Baby Mama's of Richmond, there were several shows depicting the particular family dynamic.

In the '60s there was the TV show Julia played by Diane Carroll, an African American mother, raising her child - alone.   Carroll went on to play Claudine, another single mother role with multiple children - by multiple men.



Single parenting is, and has been, prevalent in American culture, crossing all races.

The creator of The Real Baby Mamas of Richmond, Aretha "Pumpkin" Lewis, aka "BIG SEXY", claims she is not trying to promote being a single parent.

Lewis claims her show, which premiered last night, was created to show a positive message of single parenthood, while putting Richmond "on the map".

The opinions of the show are as varied as the day is long.

"I think it's a horrific depiction of the city of Richmond", said a female caller into one Richmond radio show Tuesday morning.

While the show is sure to be viewed as stereotypical, each woman defines success of the show in their own individual way.  The show's creator lauds the fact that the show reveals that one of her children is a successful college student on the Dean's list, disproving the notion that children raised by a single parent are doomed to fail.

Not necessarily true.  And just what defines being a single parent?

Even First Lady Michelle Obama stated that at times she "feels like a single mother", while her husband, President Barack Obama tends to the affairs of the country.  She is mother to the country's First Daughters, Sasha and Malia Obama.

“Believe me, as a busy single mother– or, I shouldn’t say single, as a busy mother. Sometimes, you know, when you’ve got a husband who is president, it can feel a little single. But he’s there.”

There, is the operative word.

"What woman doesn't dream of wanting a husband, wanting a family, wanting a home, wanting a career?", Lewis said. 

"It's just that that time hasn't come for some of us yet." 

Perhaps The Real Baby Mamas of Richmond will allow fathers to see the struggles (and joys) single mothers go through everyday and get them to share in the responsibility for the children they helped create.

Are we reaching here?

Whether your thoughts about the show are negative, or other, this show will get you talking, and thinking, about the culture of American parenting that has existed for decades.

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Meet the Cast