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Dow Welfare Queen
Dow Welfare Queen
Dow Welfare Queen
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Sociological Perspectives
Sociological Perspectives
2015, Vol. 58(1) 36-55
Negotiatin
©The Author(s) 2014
Reprints and permissions:
(DSAGE
Mothers' Work and Family
Perspectives
Abstract
Keywords
race, class and gender, family and work, culture, middle-class mothers, African Ameri
mothers
I distinctly recall the interview I conducted with Kristen,1 a married mother of two, who was
employed as a lawyer in San Francisco. We met in a restaurant during an extended lunch break
to discuss her work and family experiences. When I asked Kristen if she had ever considered
being a stay-at-home mother, she said,
I don't think it is really acceptable for black women who are professional women to stay at home . . .
You just don't see it that much and I often wonder what the stigma of that is. Like is it a choice or
because of something else . . . Black women are portrayed as welfare recipients with a bunch of kids,
Corresponding Author:
Dawn Marie Dow, Department of Sociology, Syracuse University, 3 1 9 Maxwell Hall, Syracuse, NY 1 3244- 1 090, USA.
Email: dmdow@syr.edu
so I thin
opposed
Althoug
to her,
be poor
home, w
I think a
every da
doing it
the day.
women h
Kristen
hood th
ing acti
the con
The for
because
values t
mother
men.
This tension between Kristen's desires to reduce her commitment to paid empl
desire to avoid the stigmas she associated with being a stay-at-home mother c
research questions:
Conceptual Framing
The cult of domesticity and separate spheres
integral part in organizing America's gendere
the market and the family (Quadagno 1994
separate spheres ideology envisions men as th
women as the homemakers who raise the chi
The cult of domesticity emphasizes that wom
purity, submissiveness, and domesticity (L
ideologies did not always exist but were fo
middle-class families during the eighteenth a
presented to all white women and men as the
work decisions (Coontz 1992; Landry 2000;
working-class families often continued to ne
many of these families were able to symbo
in less visible paid work inside of the home,
work (Coontz 1992, 1997; Landry 2000; La
cult of domesticity and separate spheres infl
policies for widowed mothers in the early tw
ally only reduced, rather than eliminated,
underscored that, under ideal circumstances,
duties.
Contemporary examples of the separate spher
stream discourses (Belkin 2003; Slaughter
1996, 2003; Gerson 1985), that often pit bein
These ideologies, and the idealized images of m
about whether women can have it all - a fulf
choose between being a devoted mother or
scholars have noted that part of answering wh
standing the meanings that mothers attach t
motherhood that frame those meanings (B
201 1; Estes 2005; Gerson 1985, 2010; Macdona
have expanded the definition of intensive mo
managers of the care their children receive (C
others justify their decision to work outside of
interest" or "for their families" (Damaske 201
Not all mothers reconcile their work and fa
motherhood (Collins 2009; McDonald 1997,
ticity and separate spheres. For example, s
workpla
occurre
These t
of capit
techno
majorit
althoug
lies fro
mother
cally no
African
spheres
Americ
and the
status. T
ent pos
about th
After e
domesti
teenth a
sphere,
Americ
"ideal" w
availabl
the 1950
a durabl
to work
standard
America
ally occ
During
mother
denied a
Social h
particul
cial assi
became
states r
that ben
in the 1
these re
thy of
Ronald
campaig
receivin
There's
and is co
getting
alone is
Recent
support
emotion
(Sarkisia
to strug
bodies a
of Tama
trolling
upper-m
respond
This art
by analy
family
middle-
intervie
negotiat
hood th
analyzin
the Wel
Method
The interview data were derived from a study that took place from 2009 to 201 1 examining
60 African American middle- and upper-middle-class mothers understood their work, family
parenting decisions. Interviewees were asked about their childhood families, what their pare
expected of them as adults, their paths to motherhood, and how they made their decisions
work, childcare, schools, and parenting. The existing scholarship on mothers, with limited ex
tions, has primarily focused on the experiences of white middle-class mothers and the ex
ences of lower income African American mothers. African American middle and
upper-middle-class mothers were selected as a theoretical sample because of their econ
similarity to white middle-class mothers and their shared racial and cultural backgro
lower income African American mothers. Study participants were recruited through
snowball techniques. To ensure an educationally and economically diverse sample, I con
variety of mainstream (predominately white) and African American professional organ
women's and mothers' organizations, churches, community colleges, local unions, and so
These organizations were initially contacted by email and then followed up with a telep
I also recruited participants by visiting churches, hair salons and local businesses, and
announcements on local bulletin boards and Listservs that reach out to parents and m
general, and to African American mothers in particular. Once participants were iden
interviewed, they were asked to refer participants to the study.
To be included in the study, participants had to self-identify as African American, ear
family income ranging from $50,000 to $300, 000, 3 have attended a minimum of 2 ye
lege, be currently raising at least one child who was 10 years old or younger, and live
Francisco Bay area. Interviews lasted between one and three hours, and were conducte
interviewee's home or office, in university conference rooms, on playgrounds, or in re
and cafés.
Interviewees ranged from 25 to 49 years of age, included those who worked full-time or part-
time or stayed at home, and had an average of two children. Two thirds of the participants were
married at the time of their interview, and the remaining participants were never married, sepa-
rated, divorced, or widowed. Table 1 describes the characteristics of the sample of mothers.
Althoug
that she
married
class. M
of their
acterist
others w
In the do
I make s
and how
certain w
think I'm
have to
For the
(and th
cues, su
(like we
Mother
particip
dren. Ch
main th
white m
there is the 'us.'" Christine believed that there is a racial divide in middle-class motherhood that
is produced by white mothers treating her, and other African American middle-class mothers,
differently in a myriad of child-related activities. She described,
I have friends who have left playgroups because the white women look at us funny or like you don't
exist. I had a friend who was at a [mother and child] gym class and she didn't exist to other women
in the class. They were all friends and laughing and talking and not trying to be friendly with her at
all, and they kind of looked at her with her kids and thought, "What are you doing with your kid; your
kid is not doing it right." So, I feel that a lot. It is actually surprising that in the Bay area you would
feel it so much. I have been at playgrounds, and it is not across the board, but they are looking at you
funny. Like those music-together classes, [white mothers] look at you like you are not there . . . There
are certain playgrounds that I don't go to because they are not friendly to black moms . . . They just
ignore us.
Christine participated in a range of middle-class mother and child activities but she felt that
she had to do additional work to be accepted by the white mothers who dominated these venues.
This was work she did not always want to do, that discouraged her from engaging in these activi-
ties, and made her feel that she did not fully belong and was not accepted in these settings. These
settings included parks in predominately white middle-class neighborhoods, children's muse-
ums, certain extracurricular activities, and other "mommy and me" activities. It was also work
she believed that white mothers did not have to do. A white mother's standoffish demeanor,
combined with what was viewed as a more cordial one to other white mothers, left a similar
impression on many mothers in my sample. The mothers in my sample felt that they needed to
demonstrate their class status to white mothers before these mothers would meaningfully engage
with them. These mothers consciously engaged in class perception management strategies to
attempt to overcome assumptions that they believed others were making, that they were poor and
on welfare, and to ensure they and their children were treated well. These mothers' accounts
figure ou
for ever
level pos
of paren
head mo
do somet
Despite
marked
and Jill
and tho
ments.
torical l
middle
that exc
of Afri
was the
gain exp
often d
too inte
off. Those mothers were not "black mommas" like them.
In sum, the Welfare Queen - a gendered and racialized controlling image - played in the
minds of mothers as they encountered and strategized around experiences of exclusion. The
image of the Welfare Queen is pervasive in American popular and academic discourse and media
representations (Blake 2012; Gilliam 1999; Hancock 2003; Johnson 1995; Littlefield 2008;
Nadasen 2007; Stein 2013; Wagmiller 2006). To engage comfortably in white middle-class
mothering domains, mothers in my study believed that they had to overcome others' automatic
assumptions that they were poor, single, and on welfare. Until mothers believed that they over-
came these assumptions, they felt invisible in these environments but most were unwilling to
engage in this additional labor on an ongoing basis. The Welfare Queen was also internalized by
some mothers and used as a guide about how they should and should not behave. This image was
used to draw boundaries between themselves, as good middle-class mothers who were not "wild
parents," and other African American mothers who made less thoughtful choices about their
children and did not share their middle-class values. It was also used to evaluate the mothers they
wanted to have in their social circles.
[A SBW] is a strong woman, who can do all of the "Big Momma" things. She can cook like nobody
else can cook, she can iron, do all that stuff like nobody else can do, but then she also does her own
thing, whether that be work or some other activity . . . She is very confident of who she is and what
she wants in her life. She can do it all on her own.
To know your mind, to know what you want, to not compromise your values, don't compromise who
you are . . . You have to be strong in this society because there are so many people who are trying to
define you as a black woman. How you should be, what you should look like, who you should be
with, how you should act.
Kristen's description of being a SBW echoes Patricia Hill Collins's (2009) depiction of the
way that African American women, not just those who are middle class, engage in a continual
process of self-definition and valuation as a survival strategy within a society that might not share
those beliefs. Although most interviewees were critical of the SBW image, many adhered to
some of its elements, which affected their work and family decision making and the kinds of sup-
port they were willing to seek out from friends and family. Like other scholars (Beauboeuf-
Lafontant 2003, 2009; Collins 2009), I argue that although the SBW, in part, originates from a
desire to redefine African American female strength as a value to be revered, it has become a
controlling image that both empowers and constrains choices.
Samantha was a married, working mother of one child, and was one of the few interviewees who
fully embraced the SBW and drew on it also to justify the current division of responsibilities in
her household. She described how the image of the SBW resonated with her:
I would agree with being a strong black woman; my mom is kind of my role model for that . . . she
had more resilience and strength than anybody ... I think it can have a negative connotation, but
when I think of myself, I kind of think of it as being a supermom . . . There is this idea that you are a
super woman in many ways because you have two full-time jobs. When you come home from work,
you are still working. And my husband totally acknowledges that the division of responsibility in
terms of raising our kid is probably 70/30 percent ... If I need to stay up late I will to get [a project]
done, and I think of those as being the characteristics of a strong black woman. As being a provider,
nurturer, and making sure your house is in order.
The image of the SBW gave Samantha a way to normalize the unequal distribution of labor in
her household. She viewed taking on the lion's share of household and childrearing duties as
unproblematic and simply what was required to be a good employee, wife, and mother. The SBW
supports the idea that African American women do not and should not need help, particularly
from the men in their lives.
Given the SBW is strongly connected to a "do it all" ethic that includes economic indepen-
dence from men, one might assume that stay-at-home mothers would be less invested in this
image. My data reveal a more complicated story about the place of paid work in defining a
mother's identity and experiences. Tamika, a married mother of one son, identified as a stay-
at-home mother but actually worked 30 hours a week. This apparent contradiction in Tamika's
self-identification as a stay-at-home mother and the amount of time she spent engaged in paid
labor was connected to her commitment to being a SBW. Tamika explained:
I have th
somethin
"Honey,
husband
shrinking
Tamika'
son to p
expense
tions -
available
mothers
to 5 p.m
the nigh
school. I
the care
at-home
hours. B
from sp
Finally,
ters. Jor
I think it
Sometim
importan
settings
[but] to
things. Y
The ima
lenges i
show th
Resistin
Vastly m
were cr
times be
They cal
mother.
sure he
okay. Sti
Rebecca
had to p
if it did
nor dele
Sometim
One of the challenges that mothers of color face is our history of black women being the pillar in the
family ... I think the idea that we will provide the finances, do the childrearing, do the cooking, and
just do it all. If the man has married a strong black woman, he can end up not doing much of anything
because the black woman is not going to let her family fail, not going to let her marriage fail. She will
do what it takes to hold it together and . . . accept things from our men of color that maybe shouldn't
be accepted. We have seen our parents do it and we have accepted this role, but we need to reassess
it because we can't go on like that forever. I think that you can't maintain happiness and balance if
you are trying to do everything.
Mary's quote underscores the origins of the SBW image - the result of African American
women redefining their breadwinning roles in the family as unproblematic and, indeed, some-
thing to value. Mary interpreted both her savings for motherhood and her need to return to work
as examples of her strength. She made, what turned out to be, an accurate assessment of the
educational attainment and earning ability of the African American man she would marry.
Nonetheless, she felt that she should not have needed to take either action. She felt trapped by the
expectations she believed that the SBW image set for African American mothers and by the
larger context of the labor market. In addition, based on discussions with her husband and what
she perceived as his lackluster effort to find another job, Mary believed that he interpreted her
decision to return to work as what she should be willing to do as an SBW. At the time of the
interview, Mary was trying to negotiate a different division of household labor with her husband,
but she believed that the expectations set by the SBW presented a challenge in those negotiations
because she was expected to do it all.
Rejecti
A signif
whom d
mother
who are
Americ
ated con
this gro
her deci
many m
her hus
recounted,
After I became pregnant, it was expected that I go back to work . . . but I didn't go back to work. I
stayed home and took care of my daughter because that was what was in my heart to do. Ultimately
that led to the problems that led to my divorce, because that wasn't the marriage agreement, you
know.
Jessica also described resistance from her family: "Everybody thought I was absolutely crazy to
leave a job like that and they thought it was laziness." After a year of staying at home with her
child, Jessica enrolled in a graduate program in the hopes that her family would stop asking when
she planned to return to work. Making the decision to stay at home defied both her husband's
expectations for married life and her family's expectations that African American mothers, par-
ticularly those who are educated, should handle both work and family responsibilities.
Similarly, Rochelle, a stay-at-home mother of three, faced censure from her family and com-
munity for her decision to stay at home:
My in-laws feel that I should work. They make those sorts of comments . . . like my husband wouldn't
have to work so hard if you guys worked together and you got a job. Or they say things like he works
so hard because you like to go shopping. I have responded that, "it is not about me going shopping
but that I think it is important that I be home with my children." It is difficult to balance working and
taking care of my children, particularly when my husband is not around. My children enjoy that I am
at home with them ... If I had to work full-time, I would probably be depressed and resentful.
Rochelle's extended family's views of her as lazy and taking advantage of her husband meant
that her in-laws believed that she was not pulling her full weight in the family, even if she was
responsible for providing the primary childcare. In response to this resistance from her in-laws,
Rochelle joined a group of stay-at-home African American middle-class mothers, because she
needed racially attuned support about her decision. In this setting, other mothers experiencing the
same resistance from their families about not working could attach positive meanings to their
decisions to stay at home.
Many other interviewees echoed a similar need for support from African American stay-
at-home mothers' groups to offset the cultural expectation that they should work outside of the
home. They sought out, created, or yearned for groups that would validate and support their deci-
sions to opt out of careers. Indeed, in the late 1990s, African American Mothers United6 was
founded with the specific goal of connecting stay-at-home African American mothers with each
other to support their decision to reduce their commitment to paid work and to focus on raising
their own children. The emphasis on raising one's own children is directly related to the history
of African American mothers working as domestics and nannies in white middle- and working-
class families' homes. African American Mothers United recognizes that African American
Conclusion
Increasingly, sociological researchers are exploring how the meanings that mothers att
their family, work, and life decision making influence how they experience moth
(Christopher 2012; Damaske 2011; Macdonald 2011). This literature generally assum
mothers are influenced by and evaluated by similar images of motherhood (Damaske 201
study adds to this body of literature by highlighting two controlling images of motherh
African American women confront - the Welfare Queen and the SBW - and how those
affect their decisions. These distinctly racialized images of motherhood represent a form
dered racism (Wingfleld 2007, 2009) that African American middle- and upper-middle-
mothers believe they must negotiate in their daily lives. In addition, these images influen
these mothers understand their choices and the meanings they attach to their experience
Existing research suggests that class has a stronger influence on parenting practices th
racial identity (Lareau 201 1), but these findings complicate those claims. The middle- and
middle-class African American mothers in this study believed that they confronted a ra
challenges when they participated in predominately white enrichment activities with
children
children
findings
can seek
image of
drearing
calling a
increased
These m
treatmen
acted wit
Many m
if they a
do it all
tried to c
middle-
the one
lead to s
African
must als
by other
to comb
from Af
a cultura
end resu
the inter
en's cult
America
rience th
division
differen
reconcile
constan
context.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Notes
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