Not Our Kind of Girl

by Kaplan, Elaine Bell; Hochschild, Arlie Russell

• ISBN13: 9780520208582
• ISBN10: 0520208587
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

One of the most worrisome images in America today is that of the teenage mother. For the African-American community, that image is especially troubling: All the problems of the welfare system seem to spotlight the black teenage mom. Elaine Bell Kaplan's affecting and insightful book dispels common perceptions of these young women. Her interviews with the women themselves, and with their mothers and grandmothers, provide a vivid picture of lives caught in the intersection of race, class, and gender. Kaplan challenges the assumption conveyed in the popular media that the African-American community condones teen pregnancy, single parenting, and reliance on welfare. Especially telling are the feelings of frustration, anger, and disappointment expressed by the mothers and grandmothers Kaplan interviewed. And in listening to teenage mothers discuss their problems, Kaplan hears first-hand of their misunderstandings regarding sex, their fraught relationships with men, and their difficulties with the educational system--all factors that bear heavily on their status as young parents. Kaplan's own experience as an African-American teenage mother adds a personal dimension to this book, and she offers substantial proposals for rethinking and reassessing the class factors, gender relations, and racism that influence black teenagers to become mothers.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Myth versus Reality	p. 1
Black Teenage Mothers: Becoming a Social Problem	p. 3
Tough Times: Susan Carter	p. 27
Her Baby Days Are Over: De Vonya Smalls	p. 48
The Family's Response	p. 65
The Adult Mothers	p. 67
The Babies' Fathers	p. 86
The Teens' Fathers	p. 106
The Community's Response	p. 127
Girl, Let Me Tell You about Welfare	p. 129
They Are Saying Terrible Things about Us	p. 153
Creating the Potential for Growth	p. 170
App. A: Background of the Study	p. 195
App. B: Questionnaire	p. 199
Teen Mothers' Demographics	p. 207
Notes	p. 211
Bibliography	p. 239
Index	p. 251
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