Changing The Face Of Poverty

What is poverty? The word poverty produces many different ideas and images in people’s minds depending on their past socializations. Words can create images in people’s minds out of preconceived ideas they have developed through their life experience. In her article titled “Changing the Face of Poverty; Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation” Diana George examines the semantics and the imagery of the word poverty. While also addressing the issue of how people perceive poverty and what people living in poverty truly look like (676). Prof. George is arguing that organizations like Habitat for Humanity, which were created to help people in poverty actually perpetuate the wrong image of what someone in poverty looks like (678). Most organizations created to help those in need, especially those in the

In "Changing the Face of Poverty: Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation" Diana George explains how positively changing the way poor people are represented in the world throughout every aspect of life is a huge progression that challenges everyone to look at the face of poverty a different way, and will not be able to turn away.

In Diana Georges “Changing the Face of Poverty”, she uses various examples of ads, brands, and organizations  to show that the way poverty is portrayed has corrupted the understanding Americans have on poverty and what it really is. I agree with Diana George’s statement that the impression of poverty through visual imagery is distorted. Her essay examines many aspects of the misrepresentation of poverty. Society believes that they are doing more than what is actually being accomplished. The effect of her explanation allows for the audience to alter their opinion on the true image of poverty. Her use of real organizations within the community strengthens her approach.

As a main point of her argument, she argues that poverty is generally stereotyped into the poverty that would only be seen in Africa, or another third world country. To support this, she establishes a sense of ethos for her readers by citing other individuals that have also noticed the poverty representation gap. Seeing that poverty is a complex issue to begin with, George addresses this complexity by simply suggesting that it should be represented as such in the media. Nonprofit charities may now have to reconsider their

In Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor, author Gloria Watkins under the pen-name Bell Hooks discusses the problem with the way poverty is depicted in the media in America. From her own personal experiences growing up poor, she has observed what the stigma surrounding poverty does to the underclass. Hooks points out how the media generates the idea that being poor means that one can’t live a meaningful life, and that one should feel ashamed for not having lots of money or things. To further her argument, Hooks uses examples from encounters she has had where people are conditioned to believe the poor are lazy, dishonest, and unworthy. Bell Hooks

In “Changing the Face of Poverty”, the author Diana George shows different ways poverty is advertised and displayed. She disagrees with the way poverty is addressed and visually represented, in a limited way. I agree with the way she wants people to acknowledge how poverty is being misunderstood.

Diana George’s article “Changing the Face of Poverty: Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation” focuses on the relation between the society and the issue of poverty. She starts by mentioning that a holiday was approaching, Thanksgiving, “...Thanksgiving is near.” (235) and that some nonprofit organizations will publicise ads to collect money from people. They will send ads via the mailbox and this is an effective way for them to communicate. She addresses some publications and the rise of poverty over the years. She presents the occurrence of poverty throughout the city of London and New York, including photographs that depict the disaster of the Great Depression.

In Diana George's essay "Changing the Face of Poverty," she explains how the issue of poverty in the United States is misinterpreted. Diana argues that organizations with the primary goal of eradicating global poverty may be the ones contributing to the problem they're fighting against. I can agree with George that Americans have some over simplistic views and stereotypes which then “often fail to overturn cultural commonplaces that represent poverty as an individual problem that can be addressed on an individual basis.” (678) In order to overcome poverty organizations such as Habit need to move past using “the most common understandings of poverty in America." (680)

In the article, “What’s So Bad about Being Poor” by Charles Murray, Murray states that “One of the great barriers to a discussion of poverty and social policy in the 1980s is that so few people who talk about poverty have ever been poor”. He discusses how, contrary to present day, in America up until the 1950s those in positions of influence and power included a sizable amount of people who had been raised “dirt-poor”. Murray states that, because of this, many Americans with their lack of exposure to such people, they develop a skewed perspective of what poverty is. On account of this, Murray challenges the reader with several thought experiments which he uses to help the reader come to certain conclusions that convey his message.

In ‘Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor’ by Bell Hooks, issues involving the poor and the rich in the society are brought to light. Hooks addresses issues such as how the poor are viewed in the community, common assumptions about the poor, and how the poor are represented in the media. In her analysis, it is evident that those living in poverty are grossly misrepresented. This misrepresentation affects these people’s daily lives.

Identifies skills, theories of change, program designs, partnerships, and ways of building schools where students achieve.

What is your perception of the poor and less fortunate in society? Would you say that you have a low perception of them or do you regard them in the highest? Would you do your social duty to reach out to the poor and impoverished to assist them, or help assist, in establishing programs that would aid in leading them to a brighter future? These are the questions that I ask of myself as I read, “Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor,” by bell hooks. My paper examines the perception that pop culture, society, and media have of the poor, as well as, the expectations and responsibilities of society to ensure a response to

President Johnson is well known for making major policy reform in order to combat poverty. Welfare, a social program designed to combat poverty, has been a controversial issue for many years and has been reformed under the Clinton and Bush administrations. In 1996 President Bill Clinton brought welfare reform to congress with help from the Republican Party. Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole led the reform action. President Clinton vetoed the first two bills presented, but later proposed a third version that was enacted. Food stamps, child care, and Medicaid were all revamped. Food stamps were issued and controlled at the state level. Within the bill childcare was strengthen for the poor and Medicaid was maintained. There were strict

Poverty in the United States today has many faces. There’s the pleading face of a middle-aged man on a city street holding up a sign that says “Hungry, Need Help.” There’s the anxious face of a young child in a schoolroom somewhere, whose only real meal today will be a free school lunch. There’s the sad face of a single mother who doesn’t have enough money to buy clothes for her children. And there’s the frustrated face of a young man working at a minimum-wage job who can't afford to pay his rent.

Poverty is “the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor” (Dictionary.com, 2017). Based off this definition poverty is a condition that can cause a cascade of cause and effect actions that is detrimental to families and individuals both physically and mentally. Haan, Kaplan, & Camacho (2017) completed a study on the correlation between social and economic status and health in adults in Oakland, CA. They found that the lower the socioeconomic class the higher incidents of diseases and deaths related to chronic diseases (p.1161-1162). Just being without money or little money was not the only indication of health indication, a person living in an area with higher poverty issues