Society sees men and women in fundamentally different ways. Men are seen as the provider, the breadwinner, and protector of families. Women are often painted as the maternal carers in chief, or the meek damsel in distress, to be scooped up, and carried to safety. Of course, neither of these regressive archetypes capture the truth of men and women, and over time, society has confronted such harmful stereotypes; be they in the workplace, at home, within business, or politics. From the top down, gender norms are finally being shaken off and left behind. But what about the gender norms of poor people – and might these same regressive models of men and women, be impacting the way society sees and helps those living in poverty? Well, the latest science suggest it does – A new 2023 study has found we see poor men as more to blame for being poor, as more incompetent, and consequently, less deserving of protection of societal support. We look at a poor man and ask ourselves, ‘what has he done, or what mistakes has he made, to lead him to this life?’ Surely he is at fault for this situation, and he is the only one capable of hauling himself out of this mess. “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps man, get yourself together, and sort your life out!” The familiar life lessons from privileged brats (who have likely never known such hardship) dished out with a side portion of smugness. But it’s not quite the same on the other side. As for poor women we more often ask, ‘what has been done *to her*, how has she been wronged, or hurt, to leave her destitute in this way?” Women are the passive object of fate, and men are the instigator. It makes little sense to me. Worse, from these antiquated and harmful attitudes are borne intervention strategies, shelters, and support programs, actively refusing to help men – the group most likely to experience homelessness. So do we see poor men and poor women differently? And who will confront and undo such gender norms, that have left so many of these poor men out in the cold, for so long? What do you think? ~ Study  Images by Mihaly Koles, Kiwi Hug, Humphrey Muleba, Dave AJ, and Jon Tyson.

2023-11-21