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exerpt from disscussion board in response to this: Barbara Ehrenreich article Janet, you'll find the article funny I think.

------------------after throwing out my baby daddy I was met with heated debate from everyone but my mother (cuz you know ALL my boyfriends are losers, yadda yadda). Family asked how I could raise a baby on my own, friends worried that I'd drop out of college yet again (been in & out 11 years now, 200 credit hours!), Food Stamps people threw a fit because without his "income" I was able to qualify for aid (Ironically they give me TOO MUCH, after complaining that I was even applying... $265 a month, I ALWAYS have left-over stamps as I cannot bring myself to eat steak and caviar at taxpayer expense.) Every single help organization I've turned to (aforementioned food stamps, as well as: WIC, TANF-which I declined- Catholic Charities, Legal Aid, County Child Care Services, and Section-8 housing complexes) have all asked me the same thing: "Where is the father, why didn't you get married when you found out you were pregnant, why did YOU throw HIM out (most often the man does the walking)??" and they asked these questions pretty much right away. Why is it that it's even expected of me (and all women) that I must be dependent upon a man? My answers to those questions still haven't changed: 1. Where's the father? "either on his way to the bar, at the bar, or waiting for the bar to open" 2. Why didn't you marry him when you found out you were pregnant? "Cuz I already made one mistake in getting knocked up!" 3. Why did you throw him out? "see nos. 1 & 2, and also for the simple economic reason that it only takes one person to be poor. Poor + poor = POORER"

Something similar happened while I was living in Houston, TX doing an AmeriCorps program. Because I was part-time I didn't get the free AC insurance, and because Houston is the armpit of America my asthma turned into bronchitis. I applied for the Harris County Gold Card, a health ins program for Houston. They declined me because I was living with a man. I told them that we weren't married. They said "If you're sleeping in the same bed then he should have you on his insurance." A week later I went in and this time listed him as a roommate, and imagine that, I qualified. "If you're sleeping together then he must pay..." Their policy reduces women to being whores, which is how I feel about the W administration trying to limit marriage to only women, that it isn't only discriminating against gays, it's also confining women to the role of housewife.

Always remember to quit while you're ahead.

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