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society should listen to them. And in light of how distorted claims about
poor women and girls have been, someone needs to make sure that their
actual perspectives are truthfully reported, but must the goals of the
reporting be tethered to those distortions?
The work of some researchers and scholars seeks to establish the
importance of hearing from poor women and girls whose lives are directly
alfected by welfare policy. For instance, Elaine Bell Kaplan writes about
ihe lives of black teenage mothers because she believes that this knowl
edge will create change. In her study of black teenage mothers in Oak
land, California, Kaplan explains, “The only way to reduce the number of
icenage pregnancies or to improve the lives of teenage mothers is to
understand the societal causes by examining the realities of these girls’
lives.”66Authors such as Kaplan argue that a better understanding of the
lives of poor mothers can lead to a more adequate policy to address the
problems that they face.67 It is imperative to hear from those “who are sel
dom invited to speak what they know.”68 The women’s testimonies
demonstrate the consequences for society of “not listening to the needs
<>1the recipients of welfare services,” writes Meredith Ralston in her study
(>! homeless women
Nobody Wants to Hear Our Truth
.69
Some researchers work on documenting countervailing evidence in
response to particular caricatures ofwelfare recipients. Journalist-researcher
I )avid Zucchino proved that instead of “Cadillac-driving, champagne-
sipping, penthouse-living welfare queens,” women recipients of welfare
( hecks were destitute, their daily lives filled with suffering and struggle as
ihey foraged for food, clothing, and safe housing for themselves and their
children.70 In short, proof was located that shows extraordinary suffering
accompanies poverty. Also, there is documentation that poor women utilize
Medicaid coverage for serious medical problems.71 Some of the racial
stereotypes about blacks in the arguments of those who successfully advo
cated for a public policy of “ending welfare” are addressed in studies that
concentrate exclusively on white women welfare recipients, such as studies
m ( )regon and Michigan.72Not only is the existence of poor white mothers
receiving welfare benefits noted, but some of those white mothers can
appear to be “irresponsible,” with filthy, naked children running around.73
Researcher Lisa Dodson summarizes the adverse conditions that poor
mothers face. As her Boston-based, cross-racial study of low-income
women and girls explains:
[T h e i n t e r v i ewee s ] s p ok e ol l i t t le e r o s i o n s wh i c h f inal ly we a r you
down
i n t o
s ome o n e
you d o n ’t wan t t o he*. T h e y s p ok e ol h a v i n g no