Marginalized Populations

Marginalized Population

A Marginalized Population is defined by the exclusion of a group of people from complete participation in a society, be it political rights, economic opportunity, or social integration. A marginalized population can be formed easily within a society. The moment that there is a perceptible difference between a specific portion of a society from the mainstream of society, a marginalized population can be established.

There are four different types of exclusionary processes that can be attributes of a marginalized population: political exclusion, economic exclusion, social exclusion, and cultural exclusion. According to Seema Khan’s article, “Social Exclusion”, “Political exclusion can include the denial of citizenship rights such as political participation and the right to organize, and also of personal security, the rule of law, freedom of expression and equality of opportunity.” (Khan et al. 2015). This aspect of exclusion is relevant to Miriam Ticktin’s article, “Where ethics and politics meet: The violence of humanitarianism in France” because in France the undocumented immigrants are not guaranteed personal security in knowing that they will receive treatment or the rights that they deserve simply because of the illnesses that they have acquired. There is also no equality of opportunity because they are not given the same care benefits as the other citizens of France. They sacrifice their health in order to reach for seemingly acceptable living because of the push factors of their native countries. Miriam Ticktin wrote, “I increasingly saw undocumented immigrants…turn to physical injury or infection to claim the basic rights supposedly granted to all ‘human beings.’” (Ticktin 2006, 33) These “basic rights” aren’t guaranteed or written in stone. There are always new rules and stipulations being brought forth to further distinguish the mainstream population from the marginalized population.

The next form of exclusion is economic exclusion and that is defined by Seema Khan as the paucity of access to labor markets and other capital assets such as credit cards, loans, and insurance. The lack of access to these things is very class exclusive and will never be a hindrance on the middle-upper class. It is actually a commonality for the economically unstable to be targeted in this manner. In undernourished communities, you may find nary a food market for miles and are much more likely to find a Quick Loans, Title Max, or the like. They are also very precisely placed in extremely accessible places in these neighborhoods and it isn’t uncommon for them to be closer than a food market or restaurant.  These businesses were made to further remove the poorer population from the mainstream because they look like a healthy and doable way out of poverty in the short-term. However, this is soon recognized to be the worst way out because after one takes out the loan they are subjected to debt that was exponentially higher than the loan they took out in the first place. This leads to eviction, most jobs require a proof of residence, without a place of residence no proof can be provided, without a job no money can be made, without money the debt on the loans grow and they become social outcasts and wanderers. This is one of many ways that America procures its homeless population who, in turn, are also a marginalized population.

Seema Khan explains social exclusion as follows, “Social exclusion may take the form of discrimination …including gender, ethnicity and age, which reduce the opportunity for such groups to gain access to social services and limits their participation in the labor market.” (Khan et al. 2015). This happens in several ethnic groups and in both genders but with female genders it is most commonly found. Especially with contraceptive practices. It is no hassle for men or male aligned bodies to find condoms and get preventative health measures. However, for women or female aligned bodies to even receive contraceptives they have to make appointments with a reproductive specialist to see which method of maintenance is better. Rather than giving the preventative measures like birth control for males who do not even half of the work of carrying the growing child. In this context alone, it would make more sense to reduce the number of sperm rather than hindering and potentially damaging the uterus with IUDs and birth control. Sperm is plentiful and easily replenished. Eggs are limited and more important because of their sheer location and storage during fertilization. Pregnancies have more complicated implications for females than for the males so rather than offering more things that will help complicate the female body, why not give the males a limitation? Condoms are not enough and are easily broken and discarded. Birth control has more lasting effects on the hormones of the female body so birth control for male bodies should be introduced. Males are not pressured like females are to obtain contraceptives and birth control, but that is mostly because it isn’t readily available. The relevance to politics of health to this instance specifically is that there is a stigma placed on becoming pregnant as if it was a single-person act and there was no contributing party. There is a social exclusion placed on the female for becoming pregnant, and on the other hand there is a social exclusion for the male as if they did nothing to assist the pregnancy. The male carries less of the strain but they are not held accountable like the female is.

Another example of a marginalized population is the black urban poor. Martin Gilens wrote in his article, “Race and Poverty in America: Public Misperceptions and the American News Media”, “The black urban poor have come to dominate public images of poverty.” (Gilens 1996, 1) This portrayal of a poor black community is based on the overrepresentation of black people in the setting of poverty in America. Things are getting worse today and institutional racism has only perpetuated the marginalization of groups like African-Americans. This isn’t even taking into account the intersections that come from a combination of gender, socioeconomic status, and race. Some people become more marginalized or even generalized and looped into a marginalized group for being off of the mainstream.

Bibliography

Khan, Seema, Emilie Combaz, Erika McAslan Fraser. 2015. Governance and Social Development Resource Centre. 2015. “Social Exclusion” Accessed March 17. http://www.gsdrc.org/topic-guides/social-exclusion/causes/causes-and-forms-of-social-exclusion/

Ticktin, Miriam. 2006. “Where Ethics and Politics Meet: The Violence of Humanitarianism in France” 2:33-49. Accessed March 24, 2017. https://blackboard.vanderbilt.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-1385558-dt-content-rid-4090657_1/courses/2017.01.SPR.AS.MHS.1920.03/Ticktin_EthicsandPoliticsMeet.pdf?target=blank.

Gilens, Martin. 1996. “Race and Poverty in America: Public Misperceptions and the American News Media.” 60 (4): 515-541. Accessed March 25, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1086/297771.