Why We Need to Stop Romanticizing the Struggle of Poverty
In today’s society the media and we as the media consumers have a habit of romanticizing the very real, very severe struggles that people in poverty from all around the world go through. There have been countless viral stories circulating that display the ways that people must fight and struggle to simply stay afloat. These stories have been described as “heartwarming,” “beautiful,” and even “inspiring.” What we don’t often recognize is that the struggle that comes with poverty is not sunshine and rainbows. It’s unreasonable and the more we shine a positive light on it, the further we get from ending it.
Why is it that when we watch or hear of someone having to struggle and pour all of their blood sweat and tears into paying bills or affording meals we find it charming? The reality behind those stories is that people suffer direly, and for the most part, it’s unfair. When we romanticize the struggle of impoverished people we fail to remember that no person deserves to have to work tirelessly, hurt and earn the right/ability to live. We fail to recognize that this is not something that should be occurring so often and on such a large scale. People shouldn’t have to live this way.
We are actively being conditioned to believe that some of us just struggle unbelievably more than others, and while it sucks, that’s just the way it is. We claim it’s all in the “hand we’ve been dealt,” in order to avoid the fact that there are definite causes and roots behind poverty. We call a long life of pain and suffering “beautiful,” giving the impression that unjust circumstances are okay because people can and have lived through them. We see the resilience, strength, and hard work of people who have to fight to survive and highlight it in order to sweep the deep rooted issues that cause their struggle under the rug.
When we see or hear of how hard people have to work to simply feed mouths, it’s time we ask ourselves, “What caused them to be in this position?” “Why do we as a society think it’s okay for someone to be faced with so much struggle?” and “What can I do to help one less person suffer?”
