Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth

This chapter deals with the particular difficulties and a few surprising positives of being a woman from an impoverished background. One of the surprising benefits Smarsh finds in her upbringing is a lack of traditional expectations and gender roles. The women in her life are not regarded as less capable, and many are the family breadwinners. Of course, this is due to the fact that everyone must work, and work hard, to make ends meet regardless of gender. 

Smarsh also proudly points out that Kansas has a history of being more forward-thinking than much of the country when it comes to women’s rights. In 1867 the state held a referendum vote on women’s suffrage and eventually gave women the right to vote in 1912, eight years before the rest of the country. 

Despite this, women in poverty are separated from the feminist movement; for them, working is not liberation, it is a necessity: “class and its implications for literacy and access decide what feminism looks like in action” (212).

However, though the women in Smarsh’s life work as hard as the men and often in the same jobs, they nevertheless often find themselves dependent on men. Working class women make significantly less money than men for the same job, and pregnancy brings other responsibilities.