In Roiphe’s article, “In Defense of Single Motherhood”, she defines the ideal family, and the effects it has on the children. Throughout Roiphe’s article, she defends single motherhood to people who create stereotypes about single mothers based on statistics and she believes are unreliable. Roiphe attempts to persuade her audience into not believing statistics and she points out the differences and her personal story to convince the audience. In the beginning of the essay, Roiphe starts her article off with statistics that show what people think of single mothers. She quotes americans that have a shared idea that “single mothers are bad.” and states that 70% of americans say that single mothers are bad for our society (pg. 58). Roiphe brings …show more content…
Afterwards, she brings in the topic about how single mothers “are irresponsible and dangerous to the general order of things” (pg. 59). She admitted that she is not a huge fan of studies because they tend to be a bad representation “of actual lived experience”, but these studies help her argue over people blasting single mothers (pg. 59). Studies can be biased, and most of the time they are. Nobody wants to admitted their challenges and difficulties, similar to what Roiphe explains at the end of the …show more content…
The idea of this article is to help out all the single mothers that raise healthy and strong children. She fights against these stereotypes and studies that say that single mothers are bad and raise bad children. All families are different, which Roiphe explains too, and so many outside factors come into play when raising a bad child and a good child. These studies do not show those, and she sheds light onto them. She compares and contrasts the conservative and liberal views to divide the readers in which one they stand, so then they can understand her whole
The struggles Cecelia faced as a single mother working to complete a degree and support herself and her son did strike a familiar tone with me. Although I did raise my daughter as a single mother in California for almost six years, unlike Cecelia I was well employed, had completed my bachelor’s degree, and was in my thirties. Even so I also struggled more than occasionally with bias against my status as a single mother, albeit a successful professional, and the unanticipated ways this affected my daughter. There were clear biases evinced by teachers, child care workers, doctors, childless friends and coworkers, who all believed that they had not only the right to judge my d...
Archives are filled with articles focused on the outcomes of children raised in single parent homes versus children raised in the nuclear family setting. The subject is highlighted in mass volumes throughout various internet blog forums, newspaper articles, and popular magazines detailing the statistical data and reputed points of view on the outcomes of the subject. Countless bloggers provide substantial personal testimonies highlighting both ends in the debate, while giving readers an inside-look at this situation from all different walks of life. Developing this issue into a broader context, we as the readers have to consider the magnitude of the issue and ask ourselves, “In concern with the betterment of my family, which lifestyle could I possibly adopt to ensure that my children are adequately socialized and prepped for life outside the parental structure?” However, this is not a question that requires a prognosis from a prominent sociologist; in fact, children raised in single parent families are just as capable at success as children raised in the traditional family setting.
The whole entire story is trying to appeal to the emotions of the reader. She provides studies of single motherhood, along with her admitting she is a single mother as well. “I happen to have two children with two different fathers, neither of whom I live with, and both of whom we are close to” (Roiphe 58). By writing this in her essay, she automatically appeals to the emotions of the reader because she shows she understands what it is like to be a single mother in a world like today. Just like I previously said in the paragraph before, Roiphe believes their is nothing wrong with a single mother taking care of children. If the mother is financially stable, and can support her children, there is no reason why she cannot take care of her children by herself. By proving herself as a good, single mother, she can appeal to the reader’s emotions, in which she does very well. She continues on in the essay saying that the only thing that “currently oppresses the children is the idea of the way families are ‘supposed to be” (Soiphe
In 1950, 1 in 20 American women with children were unmarried, that number has risen to 1 in 3. The demographic studied is aware of social norms that would encourage young adults to have a stable income, get married and then have children and they agree that the economic positions they are in are not ideal to raise a child. Their behavior is deviant as they do not accept this traditional route and, instead, hastily jump into relationships and have children, seeing it as a “badge of honor” when their partner wants to have children with them. These women have limited economic opportunities and therefore see having children as a situation in which they “have nothing to lose” and when asked, said they do not feel that they had missed out on any opportunities. These young mothers also stated that they felt, for them, there would never be an ideal time to have children and that the timing in which they did have their children actually “saved”
Additionally, “The Effects of a Single Parent Home on a Child’s Behavior” by Marnie Kunz, “For every $100 of child support mothers receive, their children’s standardized test scores increase by ⅛ to 7/10 of a point” (Kunz, 1). “Living in poverty is stressful and can have many emotional effects on children, including low self-esteem, increased anger and frustration and an increased risk for violent behavior” (Kunz, 1). Welfare and child support has given single parents the ability to spare their children of their financial and relationship issues therefore, children are able to focus on their schoolwork on their personal lives without stress and interference. Also, several scholarships are available for all members of a single parent household. “Fortunately, there are a number of scholarships available to help children of single-parent homes attend college” (Kunz, 2). Poverty by Single Parent Houses no longer prevents children from entering college. Tragedies unfortunately, tend to repeat themselves. In the article titled “U.S. Single Parent Households”, it is said that “70% of gang members, high school dropouts, teen suicides, teen pregnancies and teen substance abusers come from single mother homes” (Ahlberg, 1). Teen pregnancies have been proven to be the root cause of the majority of children being born into
In today’s society, the amounts of single-parent households are increasing and this is another reason for the existence of childhood poverty. Statistics show that children living in single-parent homes are five times more likely to be poor. More people are getting divorced and are also having children outside of wedlock. It has also been said that women rather than men head about 90% of single-parent families. One of the
The changing of American families has left many families broken and struggling. Pauline Irit Erera, an associate professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work, wrote the article “What is a Family?”. Erera has written extensively about family diversity, focusing on step-families, foster families, lesbian families, and noncustodial fathers. Rebecca M. Blank, a professor of economics at Northwestern University, where she has directed the Joint Center for Poverty Research, wrote the article “Absent Fathers: Why Don't We Ever Talk About the Unmarried Men?”. She served on the Council of Economic Advisors during the Clinton administration. Andrew J. Cherlin, a professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University wrote the article “The Origins of the Ambivalent Acceptance of Divorce”. She is also the author of several other books on the changing profiles of American family life. These three texts each talk about the relationship between the parent and the child of a single-parent household. They each discuss divorce, money/income they receive, and the worries that come with raising a child in a single-parent household.
Single parenting numbers increase each year. In America there is almost fourteen million single parents raising about thirty-two million children, twenty six percent are under twenty one years of age. Eighty-two percent of single parents are mothers and about eighteen percent are fathers (“Single Parent Statistics-Average Single Parent Statistics”).There are a lot of stereo types about single parents, most of which are untrue, but some can be true also. Single parenting is becoming more common in this generation, and it’s not just because of one reason. There are many reasons these days that there are single parents.
...promising dreams, relationships often fall apart under strain from unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, imprisonment, conflict and betrayal. Finally, we get to the heart of what marriage means to these mothers and why they say that successfully raising children is the most important job they will ever have. Almost all of the women said things like “It’s only because my children that I am where I am today.”
What is a single parent? Is it one who destroys their child’s life? Is it one who ultimately cannot raise a minor on their own? Or is it one who dedicates their lives to the well being of their kid? Imagine a parent, and for whatever reason they were left alone to raise a child. That parent you imagined has to work long hours just to put a meal on the table. That parent has to play the role of the mother and father. That parent has no financial support. Unfortunately, in our society, this image of a single parent is looked down upon. There are people that don’t realize how much a single parent goes through to give their child a better life.
...s strongest anti-poverty weapon. Gender and race play huge roles in influencing poverty. The feminization of poverty will continue increasing if single women do not get married. But that is not to say that there is not an exception to this problem, there are some single women that do not carry this stigma. Was it extremely challenging for my mother? Yes it sure was, but at the end of it all, my mother survived and is doing well for herself without the help from no one. My mother said, “ It felt so good knowing she was able to do what the society said she could not do”. My mother does not encourage going through life as a single mother, it is much harder than it looks. My mother is an example to women that you can succeed, she is a motivation for other women out there that there is a chance of making it and succeeding without ending up in the ongoing poverty cycle.
The Family structure has changed significantly in the last fifty years. With higher percentages of marriage ending in divorce, and higher rates of childbearing out of wedlock, single parent families are increasing rapidly. “Seventy percent of all the children will spend all or part of their lives in a single-parent household.” (Dowd) Studies have shown that the children of these families are affected dramatically, both negatively and positively. Women head the majority of single- parent families and as a result, children experience many social problems from growing up without a father. Some of these problems include lack of financial support, and various emotional problems by not having a father around, which may contribute to problems later in life. At the same time, children of single-parent homes become more independent because they learn to take care of themselves, and rely on others to do things for them.
Single parenthood culture seems appealing to many married people. However, married individuals are forced to battle with elements like faithfulness and life-long commitment to one individual, which may be boring in some cases. However, single parents, especially single mothers encounter serious challenges related to parenting. Single parenting is a succession of constant mental torture because of ineptness, self-scrutiny, and remorse. At some point, single parents will often encounter serious psychological problems some graduating to stress and eventual depression. Again, there are far-reaching problems that force single mothers to a set of economic or social hardships. Social hardships are evident as address in this research.
“ The Disadvantages of Single Parenting”. All- About- Motherhood. n.p. n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2011.
For many years, children growing up in a single parent family have been viewed as different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over the decades it has become more prevalent. In today’s society many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a mother and a father. Does a child need both parents? Does a young boy need a father figure around? Does the government provide help for single parents? What role do step-parents and step-siblings play? With much speculation, this topic has become a very intriguing argument. What people must understand is that properly raising a child does not rely on the structure of a family but should be more focused on the process