Seccombe Ch.1- "Critical and Feminist Frameworks"- What Her Contentions Are and How She Supports This

In the section titled "Critical and Feminist Frameworks" in chapter one, Seccombe makes it clear that her goal is to help us better understand the lives of poor women who are on welfare by providing critical and feminist frameworks to understand their experiences. She continues by explaining that in order to achieve this goal, we need to examine the assumptions, values, and ideologies that are used to justify our attitudes toward these women.

Seccombe brings up an important truth in regards to our society that more people need to be aware of. The way our society is structured makes it seem "normal," to people who are not aware, that social and political arrangements mostly favor the dominant or elite group in society. For people who are not educated on topics such as this, see existing arrangements as reflecting the best interests of all members in society- both rich and poor. Seccombe explains that members in our society internalize these arrangements, which reproduces the status quo, and makes the ideologies become common sense and have shared meanings.

Seccombe states that her ultimate purpose is to reconstuct knowledge designed to empower women and challenge the status quo, which is what feminist research focuses on achieving. She additionally states that she wants to sensitize people to the reality of women's lives. Seccombe explains that research for women emphasizes the importance of context, social processes, and subjective experience.

Also of importance, Seccombe suggests that welfare is a women's issue for two reasons: 1) Only a small percentage of households that recieve cash assistance contain two parents, and most single parent households consist of women; And 2)women are simply one man away or one crisis away from welfare themselves.

Seccombe argues that women face challenges in the gendered workplace. Examples include lower wages for work of comparable worth, occupational segregation, and unequal returns on education. She says that these are the ties that bind women together whether they recognize it or not. Seccombe emphasizes the fact that women's status' are shaped by social, historical, and cultural surroundings that influence the ways in which women experience, interpret, and construct their reality. The bottom line of her argument is that we live in a patriarchal society where male dominance is maintained and supported through law, religion, culture, and societal norms.