Response to Aridelle's Post 11/4/10

This article was interesting in how it framed welfare as actually not helpful to women, which is a major reason it was created in the first place. I had never thought of welfare as something that could be harmful instead of beneficial - I only knew it was for poor people who needed help getting on their feet and that was it. I do agree with her in that being a mother is extremely important and should be recognized as a job that deserves pay - not only are mothers responsible for raising the next generation with good values, but also they spend a lot of money as mothers. For example, new mothers have to buy expensive food, diapers, formula, bottles, clothes, and baby-safe appliances - when they are working jobs that only pay minimum wage, they cannot afford all of the necessities for their babies, never mind themselves. However, I had a lot of issues with her arguments though in that I don't think she was being fair or realistic when accusing certain women of making mistakes in the welfare system. First off, she made the point that the feminists campaigning for welfare are usually women that have never been on it and will never be on it, so the changes that they push for might not be the changes that poor women want or need. But what did she expect? Middle to upperclass women have the time, energy, and resources to campaign; poor women, who are usually working all the time while caring for their family, don't have the time, energy, or resources for push for welfare providing what they need. I usually give people the benefit of the doubt since I do think these middle- to upperclass feminists are trying to do good for all women, but they are just misguided on some issues because they don't have personal experience with these problems poor women face; they shouldn't be blamed for that, they should get be educated about it by poor women, by women on the inside, in the know. I felt like it is almost like a Good Samaritan situation - the right intention is there, but the right means may not be clear or used. There needs to be more communication between these two groups of women about what poor women really need and then unite these two groups into a concerted effort to push for these reforms. Second, I don't think the maternal vibe that feminists in ages past used to construct welfare is all bad. Granted I don't believe that poor women are lesser beings that need to be held by the hand, yet I think the "she can just suck it up and do it" does not encompass the myriad of situations poor women are in. There has to be a balance between nurturing and tough love. There are probably some poor women out there that are just not motivated or don't want to do work - they need the tough love wake-up call. There are probably a lot of women who, frankly, bust their butts everyday - they need support, encouragement, and women to tell them that "you can do it and we're right behind you every step of the way." It seems that society is really bad at finding a middle ground and welfare is no exception.