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102
Disruptive Christian Ethics
car, no warm coats, no baby clothes, no functioning laundry in the
building, no elevator and many stairs, no heat sometimes, no pam
pers, no tampons, of long lines at clinics, and of being able to go only
to stores which accept food stamps, and above all, of having no one •
to “offer a kind word.”74
In their low status and desperate circumstances, the desire for “a kind
word” can be understood as a desire to be looked upon with favor rather
than scorn. Similarly, the need to find favor in her lowliness is identified
in the opening sentences of Mary’s Magnificat. But Mary announces the
fulfillment of that need in the divine favor she has found, which is also
bestowed upon all the lowly and hungry. If their actual life circumstances
were better known, would poor women and girls receive a more favorable
public response and would more supportive policies be developed?
Some studies try to counter popular opinion by proving that black
teenage mothers who have received public assistance benefits do indeed
transition off of welfare benefits.75 On the issue of the blameworthiness
of poor mothers, Kristin Luker’s study of teenage pregnancy argues that
teenage childbearing should be seen as ua
measure
, not a cause of poverty
and other social ills.”76 Other researchers take on the challenge of mak
ing a case for the disabling role of systemic structures of power in addi
tion to exposing the details of poor women’s struggles.77 Focusing on
predominantly black homeless women who lived in a temporary residen
tial facility in New York City, Alisse Waterston was
compelled by an ongoing politic of “blaming the poor” to offer inti
mate portraits of the women and to reflect on political and economic
processes that contextualize the lives of the women and the institu
tion in which they reside. . . . Listening to Woodhouse [the tempo
rary residence] women recall their experiences, sharing their
memories and hopes, I sense ways larger social forces circumscribe
their lives: the intersection of poverty, gender, and race, and the cul
tural construction of sexuality, mental illness, and homelessness.78
Through their varied methods the researchers function as interpreters,
transmitting the pleadings of poor women and girls so that they may be
viewed in a more just and caring manner. The pleas are directed to
anti-welfare state theorists, to policy makers, and to the general public,
including churches. Through the researchers, the mothers ask us to
believe that they are already truly suffering in the midst of impoverish