Saturday, January 14, 2012

Social Class & Feminism

People Like Us & The Center for Working Class Studies

**Feminism and the struggles of economic inequality are related because feminism stands for equality among many groups including race and ethnicity; which can help/hurt to shape everyone's economic stance. The idea of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer has a lot to do with the imbalance of power and the lack of opportunity and resources the poor have access too. Although there are some resources such as welfare and other government assistance, many people refuse to access those things. On the "People Like Us" site, you can read stories of different people and their struggles among classes. One story, a woman named Val (Be Careful What You Wish For was her story) married a wealthy man and offered to pay her parents back all the money they loaned her to help through her struggles. Her father refused to take any of her money because he was too proud. It seems like because of what some people will think of them, these people still won't take help when it is offered. People such as Val's father may think he will be seen as weak if he is accepting a repayment.




**Our society looks down on the lower class categories. So participating in a government assistance program may be embarrassing or bring shame to the families who need it the most. This article was posted by someone who has some strong opinions about families on welfare. Read it and let me know your opinions. But in this article the author talks about the children who are "victims" of parents poor mistakes leading them to poverty. This pisses me off because the poor and lower class families are not all in those positions because they choose to be or because they are stupid and "didn't use a condom". As a social work major, we are taught to recognize that a number of different things can be going on in a persons life that affects the way they live and work. A family can lose their job due to a sickness, or a poor economy. It's not that every welfare recipient is "cheating the system". That is a poor stereotype that is placed on these people. Yes, there are always going to be those people who do cheat and lie and who can be considered as lazy. But it is not fair to judge everyone receiving government assistance. Like I previously said, stereotypes and ignorant authors such as the one above, can make it hard for some people to get the assistance they need. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying everyone on welfare needs to be chanting around saying they get assistance, but they should be able to feel comfortable with receiving the help without being attacked by upper class citizens who "have it all".




**This brings me back to the stories on "People Like Us". The story if a woman named Ginny is a similar situation to what I am talking about. She lives in a trailer with her children and she brings home a $158 bi-weekly paycheck for her family. She knows her electricity and gas will be continuously turned off but she refuses to get any public assistance. She sees herself as better than her friends who are receiving help. Her family struggles and her daughter is taunted by her friends, being called "trashy" because of her lifestyle. Everyone has their right to decide what they want to do to help their family or how they receive an income. It is just sad that people in our society look down on those receiving help and these people are labeled as stealing, lazy, and people who just make mistakes.






**On another note, I also read about the Center for Working-Class Studies at Youngstown State University. The goals for this program are
  • Provide models and resources for teaching about working-class life and culture in K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and community settings
  • Promote awareness of and appreciation for writing, art, and other creative expressions of working-class experience
  • Advocate for public policies that serve the interests of working-class people
  •  Support research that critically and respectfully analyzes the experiences, conditions, and needs of the global working class
**These goals are striving to teach and inform people about the difference between social classes. By teaching this in schools, people will be exposed to the difference much earlier and can develop an understanding attitude.
**Feminists believe in total equality among everyone of all kinds of groups. The unfortunate stereotypes that it is a woman's lover club, hatred of men, and a lesbian cult make it difficult for some to recognize the real goals that feminism is all about. Social class is an important, everyday struggle for those of lower class. The upper class does not understand the difference and inequality. That's where feminism comes in.

**Questions/Comments for class: What does everyone else think of welfare and other public assistance programs? Do you all agree with the fact that the poor are forced to stay poor? They lack the motivation to go after some of the help because of the riducule and lable that will be attached to them. What do you guys think?

15 comments:

  1. Great post! I checked out the website about welfare and I was in shock! It was very harsh in a sense. Maybe it's just the way I think, but I do feel bad for people that take advantage of welfare. But I feel like those people are the exceptions, we can't judge everyone on welfare and assume that they are all using welfare as their main source of income. But I do feel like they in a way baby them because those on welfare don't worry too much about not having a job because they know they have income coming in.. but that's just my opinion :)

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  2. I liked how you talked about welfare in your post and how certain groups view the people that are a part of that program as 'lazy' and even useless. In reality there are a lot of people that are just in a bad place after being laid off and so on an so forth. It's a sad truth that I'm glad you brought up.

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  3. I saw a bumper sticker a few weeks ago that said the same thing that t-shirt above says, "I work hard so millions on welfare don't have to". I do believe that some people need welfare, but there are many people who abuse it, and my step dad works in a highly welfare populated town in R.I. and feels that around half of the patients he has on welfare are capable of working. I feel that there should be stricter rules for people on welfare, so it doesn't make the people who need it look bad beacause of all the people abusing it.

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  4. I also love that you brought up welfare in your post because it's a HUGE part of class issues in America today. I understand your point completely about how people end up in poverty due to outside circumstances, but I also really respect Ginny's decision to work for everything on her own even though it's hard. Your post just made me think about how some people get to live their lives without hardships and others have to work twenty times as hard just to make it to the same place, just because of the hands they were dealt. Awesome post!

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  5. This is a great post! As someone who's had to deal with a lay-off partly due to the shitty economy, I can see how many people have been left in need. I also agree with Jean that there are many people who do abuse help to a point that it becomes taxing on the system, and the country financially. I've seen the opportunities for free training and placement that very often go unutilized by the majority. It's wrong to make assumptions about those in need, but the morality of some regarding responsibility may not be quite so high.

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  6. Can I just say that this Your pictures are fantastic! & every point you made was backed up with articles and facts from the websites. This was a great post! & it really helped me write mine (: thanks for posting

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  7. Thanks everyone! Society just seems to be the opposite of understanding. We're quick to point the finger and to look down on others. Of course there ARE people who do abuse the system which creates the awful stereotypes that struggling families have to deal with, on top of the other BS they have going on!

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  8. This is really interesting. The notion of people not getting the assistance they need because they are too proud. I'm not gonna lie though, I've looked down upon people who use welfare, including my own family(cousins) in Cranston,San Antonio, and Chicago. I understand the need for assistance, but maybe what throws me off is that the government always just gives enough to survive. These people are not given a chance to do something else with their lives. Kinda like, teaching a guy how to fish instead of giving him a fish.My father always said the government only gives enough so that people have to work at their minimum wage jobs and serve greater society. What I want to know is where did this mentality come from. Was it from people in higher classes, films,media, or from people from within the same class?

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  9. Great point Jose! Most people on welfare have to find some other source of income whether its a minimum wage job or something illegal that welfare is unaware of. They definitely don't all receive enough to live on

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  10. I love your post, really helped me make mine! Awesome job :)

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  11. Fantastic post. I agree that it makes me angry the generalization that comes with the poor. That none of them work, or they are all on welfare. Some people can't help it they do all they can and they just get their finances in order. I also agree with your statement "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." This will probably always be America's downfall the idea that our class system is so messed up.

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  12. Good post! I agree, its really difficult to get out of the cycle of poverty. There are many benefits the wealthier get that the poorer don't get.

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  13. Loved the photos! Great Post! Lots of great info!

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  14. That shirt makes a derogatory joke towards that unfortunately is the general feeling in society.

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  15. veryyyyyy interesting kayla...reallly made me think alot about how society is going.

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