Welfare Queens and Scroungers: How Media Narratives Demonize the Poor

Representation matters. It matters because being seen and heard is the first step to being understood. It matters because it explains our differences and what connects us. And because “<a href="https://foresightculture.com/2017/03/09/you-cant-be-what-you-cant-see" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">you can’t be what you can’t see</a>.” Most of all, representation matters because it often reveals the truth. Unfortunately, the media has a long and sordid history of misrepresenting or ignoring society’s most vulnerable. The LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and even the entire gender of women are just some groups who have been stereotyped, erroneously depicted, or entirely left out of the media landscape. In some cases, these groups have made great strides (but also suffered terrible setbacks) in the fight for better, more accurate representation. But one group that continues to be ignored and demonized without respite is the poor. Whether it’s being humiliated on talk shows, paraded on reality television, blamed for society’s ills in tabloids, or exploited for clicks on the internet, the lives of those suffering from impoverishment are continually de-contextualized or remain conspicuously absent in many forms of media. Often, the result is a disenfranchised and depoliticized working class and a general public that misunderstands poverty and its causes. Something just perfect for policymakers looking for scapegoats and power. <a href="https://medium.com/counterarts/welfare-queens-and-scroungers-how-media-narratives-demonize-the-poor-ef67f451056c">Website</a>