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Aug.-Sept.1998 Articles:
Schoolyard Armageddon
MindPower: A Misogynist's Compassion
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A Misogynist's
Compassion
I have a confession to make. Because of past bad relationships, I have engaged in misogyny. Yes, dear readers, I am a woman-hater. I am not proud of this. Still, this is what I have become.
I do not understand the women my age. I try to treat them as equals. Still, they run to Sir Asshole.
As I make my confession, let it be known that misogyny does not get in the way of the empathy I have for single mothers. I hate the way single mothers are treated.
Politicians enjoy scapegoating single mothers, especially single welfare mothers. Ronald Reagan once told the story of an inner-city welfare queen. This was a Chicago woman who drove around in a Cadillac, a car she got with welfare money. This woman had 80 aliases and collected $150,000 in welfare benefits. When the press searched for this woman, she was found never to have existed. The closest thing that was found was a woman using two aliases to collect welfare.
It is very sickening the way politicians pick on welfare moms. If a poor woman has two young children, who is going to take care of these children when Mom is at work? Child care does not come cheap.
Another thing worth noting is that wages for women are lower than the wages for men. On average, women earn 75 percent of the wages that men receive for the same work. Educated women earn close to 80 percent.
Seeing that wages for the unskilled worker are pitifully low (and for those of you who didnıt know that, you need to be ashamed), one can imagine what the wages for the unskilled female may be. Remember that women earn 75 percent of what men make. This is what conservatives expect single mothers to raise a family on.
No wonder these women stay on welfare. There aren't decent wages for them to take care of their children.
As for child support, only half of the women get full payment from the children's father.
During the eighties, when our conservative friends preached about the evils of welfare, programs that provided job training to the poor were cut. Now, for all of you geniuses out there, I want you to follow me on this one. I want you to think like youıve never thought before. I want you to really think about this before you start writing complaints to IMPACT about my "separatist" and "bitter" writing.
How are you going to complain about people being on welfare, when you cut the programs that helped people stay off welfare for good?
Now, think about this: Where is the logic in taking away the programs that helped prevent welfare dependency?
It seems as if our conservative friends thought and still think that the general population can not see through this mean-spirited hypocrisy. Of course, I am sure my ingenious critics saw through this, too. Am I right, geniuses?
You see, dear readers, like my critics have said I have done in the past, I am writing out of anger. Many of my articles have been written from anger. Still, just because it makes others feel uncomfortable, I refuse to remain quiet about the things that piss me off.
With that being said, one of the things that piss me off the most is the stereotyping of single mothers.
Okay, letıs say Mom does go to work. Some women have to work two jobs to support their family. Mom is working close to 16 hours a day. Now, where does time for children come in? Where is Mom when her daughter needs help with homework? Mom is at work. Now, this is what the welfare critics want. They want Mom to work. Welfare is unacceptable. Some women do work two jobs to stay off welfare. Still, where is the time for the children?
It appears that some people have forgotten that just being a mother is a job, also.
Most welfare recipients stay on welfare between 2 to 5 five years. Most stay off it; some women earn college degrees while on welfare.
One of the latest trends in scapegoating single mothers is the accusation that they are responsible for the rise in teenage crime. Actually, teenage crime has gone down. What is unique about modern teen crime is how the crimes are committed, drive-by shootings being one of them.
Were the two youths who shot up their school in Arkansas products of single-parent homes? No, they werenıt. One youth, in particular, had a father who was a gun fanatic.
While weıre on the subject of who is and who is not the product of single-parent homes, one must not forget that our current president, Bill Clinton, is the product of a single-parent home. Despite what people may think of him, President Clinton dispels the myth that all single-parent children grow up as losers. Winning the presidency twice is a very huge accomplishment.
As I have mentioned in a previous article, despite popular beliefs, most welfare recipients are white. Whites make up 38.8 percent of welfare recipients. Blacks make up 37.2.
I always mention this because of the still on-going myth that all welfare recipients are inner-city black women with a lot of illegitimate children. This is the myth Reagan was perpetuating when he told his welfare queen story. As always, I also have to mention that the typical welfare mom is a white woman with two children.
If people care so much about welfare dependency, some of the best remedies would be to give women equal pay, create affordable childcare and provide job skills.
Stereotyping and scapegoating is very unproductive. All this does is create hostility towards another human being. Then, that human being gets hostile back. Now, what good does that do?
Yes, I am a misogynist but for all you single mothers out there, this article is for you. •
Email your feedback on this article to impact-press@mindspring.com.
Other MindPower columns by Patrick Scott Barnes:
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