Vogue Dissent

Inspiring story of single mother who went from being on welfare to becoming ER doctor

“No matter what people tell you, you can make your dreams come true.”

I’m very happy for her, but holy crap, can we stop it with all this pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps nonsense? For every one person who manages it, there are countless more who are not so lucky and who do not share the same privileges (for example: she was in college when she first became pregnant, and only a third of Americans between the ages of 18 to 30 are on their way to having or have a bachelor’s) as this woman.

This is one of many narratives society spins to justify the oppression of certain peoples.