6 ms·

Absolutely. For a country referred to as "the land of the free" you surely have a lot of "sensitive topics". As soon as I posted my comment, I started getting d

Absolutely. For a country referred to as "the land of the free" you surely have a lot of "sensitive topics". As soon as I posted my comment, I started getting down-voted. I believe the post was quite factual, not offensive in any way or prejudicial, so I can only imagine it was affecting someone's sensitivity.

Jill_the_Pill 10y ago
Why do you attribute it to welfare instead of the habitual villainization of single mothers by Republicans? I wouldn't vote for someone who disparages my life situation, particularly if it were a difficult one.
- mvitorino 10y ago
  I'm not claiming that welfare is what it should be attributed to. Just saying that I think it should be part of the debate anytime anyone looks into these social issues like the article above does.
- stagbeetle 10y ago
  > habitual villainization of single mothers by Republicans This is the first I'm hearing of this. I know the right is against "leeches," but I've yet to see them single out single mothers. Unless you're referring to undertones in their (Republicans') way of conduct. If so, then I wouldn't expect single mothers to be able to recognize the subtlety.
  - 467568985476 10y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_queen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_queen That kind of language, in various forms, has been a dogwhistle of the right since Reagan started saying it at campaign rallies.
    - stagbeetle 10y ago
      I wasn't able to find a way to calculate the prevalence of "welfare queen," but off-hand that phrase doesn't come up too often in the mainstream.
      - 467568985476 10y ago
        Here's a Google Trends link: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=welfare%20queen https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=welfare%...
        stagbeetle 10y ago
        That was going to be my go-to, but I remembered that search popularity != usage. Though, I am surprised that the term is hovering around 25%.
        Jill_the_Pill 10y ago
        Here's ngram -- a measure of use in books: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=%22welfare+queen%22%2C%22single+mother%22&year_start=1800&year_end=2017&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2C%22%20welfare%20queen%20%22%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2C%22%20single%20mother%20%22%3B%2Cc0 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=%22welfare+que...
  - Jill_the_Pill 10y ago
    "Could your comment possibly be any more obtuse and offensive?" asks this single mother with a PhD.

Jill_the_Pill 10y ago

Why do you attribute it to welfare instead of the habitual villainization of single mothers by Republicans? I wouldn't vote for someone who disparages my life situation, particularly if it were a difficult one.

mvitorino 10y ago
I'm not claiming that welfare is what it should be attributed to. Just saying that I think it should be part of the debate anytime anyone looks into these social issues like the article above does.
stagbeetle 10y ago
> habitual villainization of single mothers by Republicans This is the first I'm hearing of this. I know the right is against "leeches," but I've yet to see them single out single mothers. Unless you're referring to undertones in their (Republicans') way of conduct. If so, then I wouldn't expect single mothers to be able to recognize the subtlety.
- 467568985476 10y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_queen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_queen That kind of language, in various forms, has been a dogwhistle of the right since Reagan started saying it at campaign rallies.
  - stagbeetle 10y ago
    I wasn't able to find a way to calculate the prevalence of "welfare queen," but off-hand that phrase doesn't come up too often in the mainstream.
    - 467568985476 10y ago
      Here's a Google Trends link: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=welfare%20queen https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=welfare%...
      - stagbeetle 10y ago
        That was going to be my go-to, but I remembered that search popularity != usage. Though, I am surprised that the term is hovering around 25%.
      - Jill_the_Pill 10y ago
        Here's ngram -- a measure of use in books: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=%22welfare+queen%22%2C%22single+mother%22&year_start=1800&year_end=2017&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2C%22%20welfare%20queen%20%22%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2C%22%20single%20mother%20%22%3B%2Cc0 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=%22welfare+que...
- Jill_the_Pill 10y ago
  "Could your comment possibly be any more obtuse and offensive?" asks this single mother with a PhD.