The Logic of Stupid Poor People

When I first read the title of the article, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Reading the tweet at the top of the article, I remember having similar questions about people’s spendings. I always wondered why people would spend their money on items they really couldn’t afford when they could get something equally efficient and useful that was in their price range. I never considered this to be a stupid behavior, just a confusing one. However, this may be due to the fact that I’ve never been put in such a situation the author of this post has been in. Reading about her experiences made me understand this kind of behavior a lot more. In all honesty, I have definitely been one of those people who has ignored or dismissed others because of the way they dressed or the way they spoke. In hindsight, it’s not surprising how much agency clothes and speech can give in society that equates knowledge and status with wealth. I think it’s especially hard for people who already have a negative stigma working against them. They have to work even harder to gain people’s attention which we could see through the author’s anecdote. It’s disheartening to see that this is a tactic people have to resort to just be acknowledged by another group, to just survive. A situation like this really brings some insight to how our society it so fixated on material possessions but also brings light to the how we function as human beings. Our drive to belong and to survive can often lead us to take some pretty drastic action even if it means putting our health at risk. The gatekeeping culture presented in this post also highlights what seems to be a need to be better than others. The authors anecdote about the interviewee’s clothing (the silk shell instead of a tank top) really just had me questioning the priorities of those women. I don’t think something like that would have caught my notice and even if I did, I don’t think it would be something I would voice aloud. The fact that this woman decided to bring it up calls to question her intentions. Was she trying to humiliate this woman to make herself feel better, to remind others of her position and circumstances?