Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel And Dimed

As property, they were powerless to stop their master’s lewd advances, and would be punished brutally for resisting. Furthermore, the jealousy of the “plantation mistress” against her female slave produced by these advances made the daily life of these slaves insufferable (Northup, 12 Years a Slave). Wives of slave master’s could not directly punish their husbands for their infidelity, and for this reason they often punished the slaves themselves with erratic beatings, excessive workloads, and psychological torture (Brinkley 264). Nevertheless, female slaves often had children with their slave masters under these circumstances, which often resulted in the sale of both them and their children (Northup, 12 Years

They say that American Dream is achievable for those who work hard and have a positive mindset. The American Dream is dead and cannot be achieved because people don’t have the right upbringing and getting out of poverty is difficult and somewhat impossible. One of the most common arguments that people state why the American Dream can’t be achieved is because people who are poor can’t get out of there situations. In a book titled “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich she states “When someone works for less pay than

With Ehrenreich’s limited amount of resources, the world seems to be larger, as making her way around becomes more difficult. Throughout her journey, Ehrenreich argues that individuals working at a low wage experience the struggles of living in poverty, the degradation associated with these jobs, and intensive and physically demanding jobs. One of Ehrenreich’s most prevalent arguments is the reality that living on minimum wages is nearly impossible. Without savings, she tells how she is unable to afford an apartment because she has no money for a down payment. This requires her to live in a more expensive motel where she is also forced to buy unhealthy fast foods because she does not have a kitchen to cook in.

In Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs narrative they show how the institution of slavery dehumanizes an individual both physically and emotionally. In Jacobs narrative she talks about how women had it worse than men did in slavery. While men suffered, women had it worse due to sexual abuse. The emotional, physical, and sexual abuse was dehumanizing for anyone. The emotional and sexual abuse was awful for Jacobs.

Through the worker’s assumptions and diction, Steinbeck demonstrates how negative stereotypes drive negative behaviors and beliefs. Because of their own assumptions, the men on the farm have a biased opinion of Curley’s wife before meeting her and result to the use of derogatory language and rumors. The diction by the men leads to original characterization of Curley’s wife as a mean seductress, with little value or brains;

Richard Wright was able to convey this powerful message through his autobiographical essay. Jim Crow forced Blacks to adhere to impossibly high standards around whites and victimized many women. There was little to no help for African-Americans at this time because even the police were targeting them. No matter how closely Blacks followed the Jim Crow

He is discriminated by teachers like Miss Caroline, by his friends like Scout, and even adults like Aunt Alexandra just because of his class. But walter isn't the only one that is treated unjustly. People like Dolphus Raymond who is treated wrong because of his life choices of marrying a black. Or Scout who is expected of acting lady-like. The takeaway point here is that this book is a revolt, one against discrimination and classism and unjust social

As a reader reads Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Nickel and Dimed on (Not) Getting by in America, they get an insight on what it is like to live a low income life. Ehrenreich proposes the argument in the introduction that poverty is a serious matter and just because one has a job does not mean they are not considered poor. She wants to persuade us to realize that American is not the land of opportunity as promised and portrayed and there are regular people who are struggling to live a comfortable life. Throughout her book she mentions her experiences with living on minimum wage, the hiring process, and how she felt being put in that position. After reading Ehrenreich’s book I am thoroughly persuaded.

It is just to near to impossible to try and afford decent living conditions as a low wage worker in America. It is also hard on the children of families working in low wage jobs it affects them all around and then they can end up stuck in the the same situation as their parents. This is part of the reason why employers of low wage jobs do not have any trouble finding employees. “ In fact, there is evidence that low-wage jobs can cause harm to young people’s health, education, and overall development. (Dodson page 5).

In the case of Walter Lee a poor chauffeur internalized racism is seen when he tells his wife, “We all tied up in a race of people don’t know how to do nothing but to moan, pray and have babies”(pg 17).Irrespective of their socio economic status Walter and George are affected by internalized racism, due to this internalized racism Walter Lee faces

Gail worked as a waitress and was sharing a room for $250 a month with a friend she didn’t get along with. Gail was told by her doctor that she needs to take estrogen supplements, which was not covered by the health care company. This added even more expense to Gail’s life. She ended up moving out and slept in her truck in a hotel parking lot because she couldn’t afford to pay rent. Ehrenreich is showing her audience how hard life is for people working low income jobs.

In Maine there were problems for her too, she acquired two jobs to pay for her hotel. Not only does she work two jobs but she goes into details of how labor intense working as a maid was, and physical pain that she felt. In Minnesota she had a job at Walmart but she lived in a hotel that charged around forty-nine dollars a day, which is what forced her to stop her journey and leave. Ehrenreich struggled many time trying to support herself in the cities and trying to overcome the challenges that

This has been a trend though, during the late 1600s Maria Sisa and a few other women sued their employer for two years of back wages. Ultimately Sisa and others would not win as the judge believed housing was enough in return for hard work (Sloan 2011). In the 1980s, as a result of a neoliberal influence in Latin America women were forced to pick up jobs that were not deemed suitable for them and work for wages less than men because men were losing wages and jobs. Female labor is undervalued and women are considered a burden in the workforce. If they are unskilled they are thrown out and replaced (Wilson 2014).

The statistics also showed that women took more time off then men, fifty-six percent compared to forty-four percent, that is with any type of reason for the leave. With the United States not offering paid maternity leave for new mothers it has made it very difficult for people to work with this issue, and most are struggling. Some topics you should know about the maternity leave in the United States is only four states have announced publicly they have paid maternity leave, women are struggling with the policies, policies contribute to a gap in gender pay, FMLA doesn’t help everyone, jobs with technology have the best benefits, having paid maternity leave would be good for business, companies are working on these policies and so is

220) Ehrenreich is saying the more effort you put into a low-wage job, does not necessarily mean success in terms of a better job or a higher income. Ehrenreich’s argument disputes the idea that having more jobs is a benefactor even if you put in loads of effort. Many of the employers who look at your résumé and/or application will find it compelling—due to the job experience—to give employees a pay raise/a promotion to a better job that can have a bigger pay. Ehrenreich criticizes employers by stating, “Employers are of course behaving in an economically rational fashion: their business isn’t to make their employees more comfortable and secure but to maximize the bottom line.” (pg. 204) Ehrenreich judges how employers care about capitalizing a business/company more than ensuring the well-being of an employee.