Week 9 Share Insights: Activity Wrap Up

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The following article, "Welfare is a Women's Issue" was written by Ms. Jonnie Tillman and published in Ms. Magazine in 1972. As you read, make note of three to five words that strike you as particularly important or meaningful and share them in the discussion post that follows. What are your key take-aways?

Welfare is a Women's Issue (1972) :: Ms. Jonnie Tillman

"Welfare's like a traffic accident. It can happen to anybody, but especially it happens to women. And that's why welfare is a women's issue. For a lot of middle-class women in this country, Women's Liberation is a matter of concern. For women on welfare it's a matter of survival. Survival. That's why we had to go on welfare. And that's why we can't get off welfare now. Not us women. Not until we do something about liberating poor women in this country. Because up until now we've been raised to expect to work, all our lives, for nothing. Because we are the worst educated, the least-skilled, and the lowest-paid people there are. Because we have to be almost totally responsible for our children. Because we are regarded by everybody as dependents. That's why we are on welfare. And that's why we stay on it. Welfare is the most prejudiced institution in this country, even more than marriage, which it tries to imitate. Let me explain that a little... The man, the welfare system, controls your money. He tells you what to buy, what not to buy, where to buy it, and how much things cost. If things-rent, for instance-really cost more than he says they do, it's just too bad for you. He's always right. That's why Governor [Ronald] Reagan can get away with slandering welfare recipients, calling them "lazy parasites," "pigs at the trough," and such. We've been trained to believe that the only reason people are on welfare is because there's something wrong with their character. If people have "motivation," if people only want to work, they can, and they will be able to support themselves and their kids in decency...The truth is a job doesn't necessarily mean an adequate income. As far as I'm concerned, the ladies of N.W.R.O. are the front-line troops of women's freedom. Both because we have so few illusions and because our issues are so important to all women-the right to a living wage for women's work, the right to life itself."