Entitled Bitch

And other people who would not be missed if they disappeared forever.
theatlantic: In Praise of Single Mothers A lot has been said about single mothers. Most of it has been less than flattering. In a notable nugget former Sen. Rick Santorum said at a town hall meeting, “We are seeing the fabric of this country fall apart, and it’s falling apart because of single moms.” Not long after that, in a public appearance in Erie, Pennsylvania, he accused single mothers of “simply breeding more criminals.” This past fall, he argued that single mothers voted Democrat because their lives were so hard and urged Republicans to “build two parent families” in order to “eliminate that desire for government.” This Mother’s Day I confess that I am very proud to be from what some would call a broken home. Not because it was easy watching a young woman struggle to be a mother on her own after ending a violent marriage, but precisely because it was so very hard. And “hard” seems to be a word we now avoid, disparage, and devalue in our insta-everything culture. In other words, the very values that Santorum and so many others say these solo moms undermine are just the values I learned from mine — and the community of women like her I grew up with outside Washington, D.C. What did we learn from these women who worked one or more miserably paid jobs while battling domestic turbulence, hunting for child support, hustling to pay rent, and forcing us to do our homework all on their own? Everything. Read more. [Image: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon] My mom raised us by herself. My dad had good intentions but he was a violent, volatile alcoholic and we were far better off without him living in our home. My mom was not only wise enough to leave him, but perfectly capable of raising three pretty damn good kids on her own. This issues are not black and white. Whether or not there are two parents in the home is just one variable of hundreds, maybe thousands. Rick Santorum should STFU.

theatlantic:

In Praise of Single Mothers

A lot has been said about single mothers. Most of it has been less than flattering.

In a notable nugget former Sen. Rick Santorum said at a town hall meeting, “We are seeing the fabric of this country fall apart, and it’s falling apart because of single moms.” Not long after that, in a public appearance in Erie, Pennsylvania, he accused single mothers of “simply breeding more criminals.” This past fall, he argued that single mothers voted Democrat because their lives were so hard and urged Republicans to “build two parent families” in order to “eliminate that desire for government.”

This Mother’s Day I confess that I am very proud to be from what some would call a broken home. Not because it was easy watching a young woman struggle to be a mother on her own after ending a violent marriage, but precisely because it was so very hard. And “hard” seems to be a word we now avoid, disparage, and devalue in our insta-everything culture.

In other words, the very values that Santorum and so many others say these solo moms undermine are just the values I learned from mine — and the community of women like her I grew up with outside Washington, D.C. What did we learn from these women who worked one or more miserably paid jobs while battling domestic turbulence, hunting for child support, hustling to pay rent, and forcing us to do our homework all on their own? 

Everything.

Read more. [Image: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon]

My mom raised us by herself. My dad had good intentions but he was a violent, volatile alcoholic and we were far better off without him living in our home. My mom was not only wise enough to leave him, but perfectly capable of raising three pretty damn good kids on her own. This issues are not black and white. Whether or not there are two parents in the home is just one variable of hundreds, maybe thousands. Rick Santorum should STFU.

(via dailybungalow)

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    Single Moms FTW, I ♥ my Mom.
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    “…the moms put back together the shards of our little lives. They did not complain or wallow. They simply offered us...
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    My mom raised us by herself. My dad had good intentions but he was a violent, volatile alcoholic and we were far better...
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    I could not do what my mom did when she was my age. She was stronger at 22 than most people are at 40.
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