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Single Mothers Research Paper

1585 Words7 Pages

1.0 Introduction
The aim of this paper is to explore the issue and plight of ‘unwed’ single mothers in Singapore. Single mothers are untraditional parent system whose rate in society continues to increase due to the effects of modernism. Yet, culture seems to have a firm grip in a rapidly changing society about what should consist of a conventional family. Since single mothers by choice was a rarity in society in the past, ‘unwed’ women are stereotyped by society because it is ‘abnormal’ not to be married for most people in society. the accuracy of this notion is however, subjective given that it is construction of society (Lees & Lees 2015 20). Hagiya (2013) argues that the cultural norms are a construction of society and social construction is subjective because “it is based on social limits”’ like language and religion (115). Due to the stereotype, single mothers by choice experience considerable challenges some of which include being ostracized by the community, financial problems, low self-esteem, high psychological distress, and minimal levels of social support when compared to married mothers of the same social class and economic status (Horwitz & Scheid …show more content…

A stereotype is defined as “a fixed idea or image people have about a particular type of person or thing but which is not always true in reality,” (Brunsch 2007, 3) while stigmatization is defined as “the idea of spoiled self, something imperfect, lead us quickly to the topic of shame” (Gilbert & Andrews 1998, 136). Based on these definition it would be easy to see why single mothers, who are typical of social norms are stereotyped and stigmatized. This is the case today despite considerable social and cultural changes in society that have led to the empowerment of women. Jaffe (2007, 125) notes that single motherhood is thought to emanate from deviancy and is seen to propagate “broken and dysfunctional”

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