This article examines the issue of women's poverty and evaluates how it affects women of all cultures. One of the main points addressed is that all women, regardless of their economic status share the same psychological principles and social dynamics that influence attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. We as middle-class and affluent women need to stop thinking of the poor as "outsiders". We are discriminating against them. We as empowered and literate women need to be brave enough to come forward and play a large role in social and political decision making regarding this issue (Lott 28).
The concept of social constructionism plays a major role with how poverty is viewed through the eyes of "common" middle-class individuals. As discussed in class, social constructionism is defined, as the way society shapes us in how we should see things. In other, words the social forces within our society. It is not uncommon for middle-class individuals to stereotype the poor as having too many kids, being malnourished, stupid, etc. Are the reasons poor people have these stereotypes because of how we were shaped to think of the poor as "lesser" individuals? I think this is the case. From the time we are children we are shaped by our parents, peers, the media, etc. to categorize ourselves by economic status.
Another point addressed in this article is that women and children make up the majority of those who are in poverty and we therefore need to teach about women, whether it is about women in the United States or women globally. This is mostly due to women's unequal access to economic resources all over the world because of their lesser power comparative to men (Lott 27). .
The theory of gender typing plays a significant role in how women and men are classified. Gender typing occurs when people acquire preferences, skills, personality attributions, behaviors and self concepts our culture considers to be gender appropriate (Matlin 70).
