User:Priyanshuuprety/Welfare Queen

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Priyanshu Uprety's edits:

Under Origin (last paragraph):

Used to illustrate his criticisms of social programs in the United States, Reagan employed the trope of the "Welfare Queen" in order to rally support for reform of the welfare system. During his initial bid for the Republican nomination in 1976, and again in 1980, Reagan constantly made reference to the "Welfare Queen" at his campaign rallies. Some of these stories, and some that followed into the 1990s, focused on female welfare recipients engaged in behavior counter-productive to eventual financial independence such as having children out of wedlock, using AFDC money to buy drugs, or showing little desire to work. Reagan's characterization of these women were used to justify real-life changes to policies and play a role in the shrinking of the social safety net. These women were understood to be social parasites, draining society of valuable resources while engaging in self damaging behavior. They were also understood to be overwhelmingly women of color in an effort to push racialized narratives. Despite these early appearances of the "Welfare Queen" icon, stories about able-bodied men collecting welfare continued to dominate discourse until the 1970s, at which point women became the main focus of welfare fraud stories.

Under Gender and racial stereotypes (Last paragraph):

The "welfare queen" stereotype is driven by the false and racist beliefs that places the blame of the circumstances of poor black single mothers as the result of their own individual issues, bringing forward racial tropes such as their promiscuity, lack of structure and morals, and avoidance of work. With primary narratives regarding poverty being driven by the myth of the meritocracy, or in other words, of the ideologies that are centered in self-reliance and hard work being enough to pull oneself out of poverty, the "welfare queen" trope illustrates the result of adding racial and gender dimensions to these inaccurate claims. This became a public identity mapped onto black women's bodies and the perpetuation of this public identity has been used to inform welfare policy outcomes. In addition to work ethic, family values, such as a heteronormative, working, two-parent household and having children only when married, are seen as the cultural standard. As a result, deviations from this ideal constitute a lower social value. By stereotyping single black mothers as "welfare queens," the interpersonal, structural, and institutional barriers that prevent adequate resources and opportunities for them which lead to or reinforce poverty are not addressed. The lack of accountability seen by institutions and structures within our government promotes individualistic and neoliberal ideals that put one's societal failures onto themselves rather than analyzing institutional barriers that might be preventing any necessary changes within the U.S. welfare system. Instead, the blame goes towards the perceived cultural or personal "inferiority" of the women and their "dysfunctional" families, further harming their chances of poverty reduction and the expansion of their capabilities.

Maya Vela's edits:

Under Political Discourse:

Prior to former President Ronald Reagan's campaign, in the 1960s, the Moynihan Report was created. This report addressed the ways that Black people experienced poverty and tried to cite a cause of the inequality in income this group faced. Moynihan's central argument of the report was that the "breakdown" of the Black family was the cause of poverty among Black Americans. This argument had two key points, which were Black children growing up without a father, and in matriarchal systems, was damaging which contributes to deviancy in children. The report changed the thought process surrounding welfare, specifically concerning welfare laws and policy and the "solution" to poverty. Politicians began to place blame on gender and cultural differences between Black and white people rather than welfare laws. While feminists and other activists fought against the ideas birthed from this report, the believe of a fracturing Black family began to take hold and influence policy.

Under Movements for welfare reform:

Research has shown that the ways that welfare was constructed around race and how the residual affects of this formation have affected Black women. Specifically, research as shown that people of color, specifically Black people and Hispanic people, have been overrepresented in less generous social programs. This disproportion resulted in their overpopulation in welfare. This tendency, coupled with the overrepresentation of Black people in media representation of people on welfare has helped to produce the welfare queen trope. Lastly, southern states in the 1940s enforced "suitable home" laws which allowed welfare line workers to refuse to provide aid to those who infringed on sexual norms. This rule simultaneously reinforced and promoted stereotypes about Black women and denied this group aid.

Several academics have been researching the ways that Black women experience welfare. Specifically, in the case of the Personal Responsibility Act of 1996, work first programs began to take over welfare. Work first programs impact Black women in racialized and gendered ways. These programs emphasize the need to place employment above all else in order to qualify for support. Black women are typically recommended for these programs when applying for welfare due. This can be attributed to conscious or conscious bias by government employees who fall into the ideology about Black women being less domestic and more ready for work programs. This results in Black women being seen as less likely to succeed in education reform programs or longer-term training programs. Essentially, racialized ideas about Black women being lazy, overly sexually active, or as having a drug or alcohol addiction can influence welfare line workers to force this group into work-first programs. Studies about this overrepresentation in welfare have lead to more research into the ways that welfare can be reformed to better benefit Black women.