poverty

Here's the latest of what we're reading up on.

• Advertising in men's magazines try to convince dudes what really "makes a man."  And who are the targets of these ads? Most often, it's young, low-income men. [XX Factor]
• Misogyny and violence are unfortunately all too common in the lyrics of rap and hip hop.  Lil Wayne's latest song, though, compares having sex with the beating of Emmett Till. *Trigger Warning.*  [Crunk Feminist Collective]
• Although minister of women's affairs, Sihem Badi, admits things should've happened much sooner, Tunisia has opened their very first domestic violence shelter. [Ms. Magazine]
• At 58, Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, has died. [BBC]
• Teenage and pregnant? Well "shame on you" says the politicians behind New York City's latest advertising campaigns to discourage teen pregnancy rates. Nevermind that those rates have seen a drop of over 25 percent over the past decade. [RH Reality Check]
• While the notion of poverty in the U.S. is nothing new, here's a video, with commentary by Feministing, on the current rates of poverty in the country. [Feministing]
• Here are a few graphs on the discrepancies between the rates of published male and female authors, as well as reviewers. As if we needed another reminder as to how real the gender gap still is... [VIDA]
• The good folks over at Racialicious tackle the White straight privilege of rapper Macklemore of "Thrift Shop" fame. [Raciailicious]
• Although National Eating Disorder Awareness Week came to an end a few days ago, that doesn't mean we should stop our efforts to bring awareness to the issue.  Here's a raw and eye-opening video about the realities of living with an eating disorder. (For more info or support, visit NEDA.) [YouTube]

Did we miss something? Let us know in the comments!

Though it may seem like old news now, Ann Romney’s positioning by the GOP as the epitome of womanly motherhood is important here. It is no secret that the Romney family is out-of-this-world wealthy. Ann Romney’s stayed-at-home child-rearing therefore brings up many issues, including nutrition access for the less-than-wealthy and what it is to be a mother raising children in poverty today. If “all mothers are working mothers,” as Mitt Romney would have us believe, does that include ones who are much poorer, and ones who are of in need of government assistance and better nutrition?

One of my close friends pointed out when I began to write this series that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to explore a freelance writing career if I weren’t able to take risks with my own earnings.  And she’s completely right.  Bitch is wonderful, but as an independent, nonprofit publication, blogging for them doesn’t exactly pull in large amounts.  If I had a family dependent upon my wages, I would have found a more traditional academic or salaried nonprofit job that allowed me to have a reliable income, but I probably wouldn’t have had time to write this series for this audience.  At least in part, my current class privilege is what allows me to write about class privilege.

There’s something else going on here. There’s the construction (no pun intended) of a "deserving" poor person whose needs can be addressed via a for-profit reality show, as opposed to real, systemic change.

I’ve got 99 problems with American television, and the rich are one.  We have lots of shows about rich people—in fact, we love shows about rich people.  With Gossip Girl, The Millionaire Matchmaker, Revenge, Real Housewives of _______, Pregnant in Heels, and even the beloved returning Arrested Development (along with many others), the wealthy control about as much of the TV lineup as they do they the net worth of the United States, and the rest of America watches to see how they scheme, how they dress, how they find love, how they have babies, and—usually—how awful they are. 

An interesting question was raised in the comments section of my recent Model Behavior column and one that I'm no stranger to contemplating: Where is all of the research on and dialogue around the non-white, non-middle class Gen Y experience? Why do we only ever hear about student debt load and the plight of college grads who are moving back to the safe haven of Mom and Dad's suburban oasis? What about those who never made it to college in the first place? Who don't have the option to lean on their families, because these families are every bit as financially strapped (if not more so) than they are? What about young adults who, by virtue of culture, religion or upbringing, have different values or a different relationship to technology than those which defines the Millennial archetype?


Photo by Art Pets Photography

The New York Times has a great article up about Cheryl Ziegler, an 18-year-old single mother from the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, who is also a boxer.