The Idea of Feminization of Poverty - Assignment Example

? The idea of “feminization of poverty,” like any idea in feminist dis invokes an incredible number of intersecting ides about society and oppression. Also, like so many ideas in feminist discourses, it is important to understand that the feminization of poverty does not only oppress women, but operates oppressively at a wide variety of levels. Some of the most widespread forms of feminization of poverty include devaluation of nurturant work, which takes on many forms including low payment for nurturant work, lack of recognition for nurturant work within the welfare system, and lack of recognition for nurturant work in the workplace. The devaluation of nurturan work is one of the most widespread forms of the feminization of poverty, and encompasses a wide array of different issues. The most simple of these is the simple fact that nurturant work, though highly skilled in many respects, provides only minimal income to people practicing it. Often nurturant work is given to people too young to legally work, for instance, in the form of baby-sitting, and thus often usually pays far below minimum wage because of its unregulated aspect, as well as the fact that the people engaging in this form of work often cannot find other work due to their age and are willing to take very low paying jobs. The pattern of nurturant work being undervalued, however, is not simply limited to young people making less than minimum wage, but continues in all stages of life. Nannies and operators of daycare are often highly skilled people with years of experience, needing to hold certification in infant CPR, early childhood development and sometimes education, yet despite these facts are often paid significantly less than someone doing unskilled hard labor such as construction, and far less money than other skilled trades such as carpentry or plumbing. The simplest way nurturant work is devalued is simply the fact that people are unwilling to pay the amount for it that its skill level demands. While the underpayment of people employed in nurturant work is one of the simplest ways nurturant work is undervalued, nurturant work’s devaluation within the welfare system is far more sinister and dangerous in the long term. Despite wide-spread knowledge of the importance in properly raising children (conservative governments who slash welfare systems are often the most ardent defenders of the needs for women to raise children) welfare systems consistently refuse to recognize the raising of one’s own children as a valuable form of work to society. Many welfare systems around the world have a form of “work requirement” based on the notion that if people were not forced to work long hours at useless jobs at below minimum wage to be able to get their welfare check, they would simply stop working and enter the welfare system out of sloth. These systems, however, tend to make no recourse for parents raising children of their own, forcing them to spend long hours away from home, making it impossible for them to raise their children as they want to. Through these systems governments are essentially saying that nurturant work is not actually work, and not actually valuable to society in any way. Though these types of oppressive welfare systems obviously affect parents of all genders, as women tend to be parents and single parents at a higher rate than men welfare systems tend to be disproportionately oppressive towards women. Emerging as they do from hetero-patriarchal governments that dominate the world, it is unsurprising that welfare systems intrinsically devalue nurturant work, one of the definitive forms of feminine work. Even for women who do not have to rely on the welfare system, however, systems of oppression operate to devalue nurturant work and force women to, because of nurturant roles, have significantly less earnings potential and stay in or close to poverty. The United States is one of the worst countries in the world in enforcing equity for people who must provide nurturant care, only forcing employers to grant minimal maternity leave and minimal support for people attempting to work with children. Anyone seeking to raise a child and have gainful employment faces a myriad of obstacles: they must find (often costly) daily care for their children for the time they are seeking to work, draining the resource they are able to acquire; they must have the flexibility in their work to be able to engage in the nurturant care that must sometimes be required of them, such as taking care of sick children or attending events for their children. Many employers, rather than recognizing the importance of nurturant roles, consider this lack of devotion to one’s job and punish it indirectly through things like lower pay for equal work or lack of advancement opportunities. Also, as mentioned before, because the majority of nurturant roles in our society are held by women, these problems disproportionately affect them. The devaluation of nurturant role is one of the major forms of the feminization of poverty, but as mentioned previously it is important to recognize this does not solely affect women. It affects men who are single parents or primary care givers, for instance, but also affects other men in other ways. As men often have access to patriarchal spaces women do not, they must choose between eschewing nurturant roles and entering into hegemonic activities which provide much more financial benefit, or knowingly engage in nurturant roles which will make their life much harder and less valued. It takes an extraordinary person to follow the second path, so many men enter the hegemony, and become part of an oppressive system, which in the long run damages them; oppression damages even the oppressor, hurting their essence or their soul. While it disproportionately affects women, everyone must understand that the feminization of poverty robs people of all kinds of choice, choice to engage in nurturant work, for instance, and must be addressed by everyone in society, for the good of society as a whole and all the individuals in it. Read More