The Media and Single Moms

The Parkers is a tv show that portrays the life of Nikki Parker a single mom and her daughter.  As you veiw the following clip think about how the media portrays the life of this single black mom and do you think it is accurate?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCWDjIoqRb8

I'm a Single Parent... Help!

Being a single parent is very difficult work. It is very overwhelming for the single parent to run a house and children on their own. Luckily, there is help! There are many organizations out there which have the advice and much needed support for the single parent, both single mothers, and especially single fathers. Many organizations are faith based, out of a church or temple, however, there are others which where created by single parents to help other single parents.

Many of the organization’s websites have great resources for the single parent such as: articles, information, advice, government resources, and support boards, as well as stories from single parents. Though some of these organizations are based in different states, the website alone is able to help a single parent and give them the support and advice they need. These websites are not solely focused on the single mother, or single father, but also the children of the single parents.

Some websites to help single parents are listed below. These are great resources for anyone looking for information about single parenting, or looking for support and advice. Please feel free to peruse these websites for their great information.


http://singleparentsnetwork.com/


http://www.singleparent411.org/faith_based.htm


http://www.singleparentcenter.net/


http://www.singleparents.org/


http://www.warmlines.org/spsg.html


The following video is a great advertisement for an organization called S.P.A.R.C. who is a great organization dedicated to helping out single parents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVaP-OKA20w&feature=related

Snapshot into a Single-Mother’s Life: Welcome to Reality

The media portrays some, but not all the hardships that single mothers endure.  For the past 15 years approximately 12 percent of families in the U.S. were headed by females (pobronson.com).  According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2005, 50 percent of African American children live in a household held by a woman, 25 percent Hispanic, 16 percent non-Hispanic, and 10 percent Asian (squidoo.com).  Single mothers have to juggle between their work, legal services, social services agencies, etc.  At times they can feel overwhelmed and stressed because of the difficult life circumstances. In recent studies, they have found that single mothers have a 40 percent higher risk of major depression (Turo-Shields).  This depression can be caused by an increased amount of life stressors and lack of social support.  Many times these mothers fall into the working poor class and many times have difficult choices they have to make.  Approximately 27.7 percent of single mothers live in poverty (bizymoms.com).  

From a personal interview with two single moms, I was able to see the various hardships and joy that a single mothers face.  Tati is a single teenage mom.  She has a 15 month old son.  As we talked she began to talk about the hardships and the joy she has of being a mom.  She began to talk about how at times her son would drive her crazy that she just wanted to scream and walk away.  At times it was too much for her to handle, but at the end of the day it didn’t matter how much stress she felt she still just wanted to relax and spend time with her son.  When she did work she felt the support and love of her family having her parents take care of her son while she worked all day.  In addition, she said that it didn’t matter how long she worked all she wanted to do was go home and spend time with her son because she is so attached to him.  On the other hand there was Maria.  She is currently 52 and has four children.  As she talked about her experience as a single mom she began telling me of the various things she went through.  She raised her children in housing apartments offered by the government.  She was a welfare mom.  Maria was also a homemaker and did not go off to work until her children were of school age and even then she was known as a working mom only working hours around her children’s school schedule.  When it came to buying her children gifts she found that the law-away plan was the only way that she could afford buying Christmas gifts for her children.  As her children grew, her eldest daughter helped her out babysitting.

Looking over these personal accounts and review the information that has been given we can see that the media life of a single mom isn’t as pretty in pink as it is put out to be.  They endure many stresses and are at greater risk of depression, but over all they work hard to maintain and keep their family afloat.

Discussion:

1. Does the media accurately portray the reality of having the perfect job that accommodates a single mother’s lifestyle?
2.  How does race and stereotypes play a role in single motherhood?

References:

Barnes, S. L. (2008) A Case Study of the Working Poor Single Mother Experience: An

Analysis of the Structure versus Agency Discourse. Journal of Poverty. Vol. 12 Issue 2, p175-200. from SocINDEX

Bizymoms.com 11/30/2009

Marrero, Tati. Personal Interview. 11/30/2009

Rosario, Maria. Personal Interview. 11/30/2009

Single Parent Family. www.squidoo.com Found 11/30/2009

The Factbook. pobronson.com.  Found 11/30/2009

Turo-shields, D. (2/2009). Single Mothers at Greater Risk for Depression. mental-

health-matters.com Found 11/30/2009

Single Dads in the Media Vs Single Dads in Reality

http://
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZuVvpdTu1s&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoIc84wdBps&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwXthGWcmh8&NR=1


Single Dad’s in the media:
The clips above represent how television shows depict two different types of single dads. In the first clip it shows a Clip of the show Two and a half men, which shows how a divorced single father raises a child. Through out the show you can see how the mother feels that her ex husband is not capable enough to take care of their son on his own. This clip shows how the parents are trying to set relatively the same boundaries to benefit their son, however as you can see it is hard for parents that are spilt up to uphold the same rules. The media in this case portrays the father as a bad influence on his son. This clip does a good job depicting a typical bad guy role of the single father.
In the second clip you can see a different kind of single father in the show Full House. In this shows a father who lost his wife, so this shows how this father as to play the role of both father and mother. In this clip we see the children’s reaction to losing a grandparent. Danny the father tries to comfort is daughter, but isn’t able to really see her pain. The T.V show may have done this to show that he isn’t able to connect with his young daughter on such a personal level, like a mother would. We also see Michelle’s older sister try and step up and act like a mother, but the truth is that she isn’t able to really help her younger sister because she like her younger sister, she is still a child too. In the third clip we see Michelle’s uncle Jesse who lives with her, and is also consider a role model in the family step up and help Michelle cope with this lost. The media portrays Danny Tanner the father as someone who isn’t able to help his daughters with all their problems, but they are able to handle them with the help of other family members. This is a very interesting view of how the show can be view. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Do you feel like these T.V shows depict single fathers in a negative or positive light? Please explain?

Single fathers in Reality:
Through research I have found single dads in reality are becoming more and more common. In 1970 single fathers were 10% of single parents; by 2003 they were 18%, increasing their numbers from less than 400,000 in 1970 to 2.3 million in 2003 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). These numbers are astonishing compared to when being a single dad was unheard of.  However single mothers are dominating the world of single parenthood. There are many different theories as to way that is. According to Downey and Powell (1993) they used reports from eighth graders with single fathers… and found no difference between single fathers and single mothers in adolescents repots of parental trust, clarity of expectations, frequency of rule setting, or frequency of talks about school. However they did find that single mothers were more likely to know children’s friends, and their friend’s parents. On the other hand Hawkins had a conversation with 7th graders about their single parents and found out that 475 of adolescents reported talking with their single mother about personal problems in the past month, compared to 38% for single fathers and 17% for married fathers. This information goes along with the idea of children speaking on a personal level with their mothers at a younger age, but at an older age the children are more likely to spend time with their fathers. Hook and Satvika 2008 also believe that a causing factor is “ Single fathers may spend les time with their children than do single mothers because children spend more time away from the home visiting their mothers than their fathers.” This is interesting to think about. Do you think that this is an accurate fact? If anyone has an experience either a personally or maybe one through a friend of a single father that either goes along with these theories, or goes against them if you feel comfortable sharing I think it would be interesting to see if they correlate with any of these? Please feel free to share any thoughts you may have on this topic!!



Hawkins, D.N., Amato, P.R., & King, V. (2006). Parent-adolescent involvement: The relative influence of parent gender and residence. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68, 1225-136.

Hook, Jennifer L, & Satvike. Chalasani. (2008). Gendered Expectations? Reconsidering Single Fathers’ Child- Care Time. Journal of Marriage & Family, Vol. 70, pg978-990,14p.

Powell, B., & Downey, D.B. (1997). Living in single-parent households: An investigation of the same sex hypothesis. American Sociological Review, 62,521 – 539.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2006). Facts for features: Father’s day. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from www.censes.gov/ Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/006794.html.

Taking a Look at Single-Parents

Single-parent families are defined as a family that is formed as a result of marital dissolution and non-marital child bearing (about.com). Single-parent households are something that is very commonly seen today in the United States. Since the year 1970 “there has been a 300 percent increase in single-parent households headed by mothers and a 500 percent increase in those headed by fathers. Today, 26 percent of white families are headed by one-parent, as are 61 percent of black families and 34 percent of Hispanic families.” (Seccombe, 2008, pg. 18). There are many sources available for single-parents. Ranging from the media to various government institutions one can learn about the services offered to single-parent households.

Currently it is very common to see single-parent household shows on television. The media has found various ways to portray the lifestyle single-parenting. Television shows such Full House or Two and a Half Men portray the life of single-parent dads. In addition, the light that media gave single-parent households brought to life the various hardships that single parents endure, but it also idolized this lifestyle and could portray a false image of single parent households.
From the media to real life their can be a great amount of contrast from this fairy tale life. In the year 2006, the United States census found that there were approximately 12.9 million families in the U.S. that were headed by a single parent. Furthermore the census found that 10.4 million were single-mother families and 2.5 million were single-father families (U.S. Census Bureau). In conducted research, it was found that approximately 21.2 million children in the United States come from single parent homes. Furthermore, at least 44 percent of the single-women households are divorced or separated, while 33 percent have never been married. In reference to single-men households about 57 percent are divorced, while 18 percent have never been married (about.com).

In conclusion, through out this week we will talk about the hardships that single-parents endure. Furthermore, we will look at the various ways that the media portrays single-parent households in contrast to reality. In addition, we will talk about the various ways that that single-parents can receive help through various institutions. We hope that you enjoy it.

Questions for discussion:

What is your perception of a single-parent home?

What are your feelings about the statistics of single-parent homes?

How do you think media portrays single-parent homes and do you think it is accurate?


References:

Bergman, M. (3/27/07). Single-Parent Households Showed Little Variation Since 1994,
Census Bureau Reports. http://www.census.gov/PressRelease/www/releases/archives/families_households/009842.html

Seccombe, K. (2008). Families and their social worlds. Boston: Pearson, Allyn and Bacon.

Single-Parents. (2009) http://singleparents.about.com/od/legalissues/p/portrait.htm