I would like to take this time to write about the character Holly in the book, Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehreneich. Ehreneich described her as “twenty-three, has been married for almost a year, and manages to feed her husband, herself, and an elderly relative on $30-450 a week” (Ehreneich, 95). Holly was also in an extremely unhealthy condition and admitted to being pregnant. Is there anyone taking care of her? I finished that chapter feeling angry at Holly for some reason. I wanted to shake her and yell, “Why are you putting up with this?” Then I realized that she does not have an option. Ehreneich struggled with the fact that no matter what she did or said, she could not help Holly. “She’s going to keep going until you pry the last cleaning rag from her cold, dead hands” (Ehreneich, 111).

While both men and women suffer in poverty, women have less resources to cope. According to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, women in poverty “are likely to be the last to eat, the ones least likely to access healthcare, and routinely trapped in time-consuming, unpaid domestic tasks.” They have more limited options to work, and education may be out of the question. Holly’s life was an exact example of this struggle. Women in poverty face extra marginalization. Their voices are rarely heard.

It is frustrating because these women, like Holly, work and work until they literally have nothing left and it almost never makes a difference. I consider myself a positive person, but I could not think of anything that could make Holly’s situation better. These women are trapped in this position.