William Lindsey Jun 14, 2023

I recently finished reading Monica Potts' new book Forgotten Girls: A Memoir of Friendship and Lost Promise in Rural America. it's a grim read. It's built around a question about why some girls like herself manage to get out of cultural settings like her hometown of Clinton, Arkansas, where chances for a good future for women are so limited, while others, like her best friend, Darci, remain — and all too often, die young.

#women #economics #Republicans #Arkansas
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https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/558475/the-forgotten-girls-by-monica-potts/

The Forgotten Girls by Monica Potts: 9780593730898 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Talented and ambitious, Monica Potts and her best friend, Darci, were both determined to make something of themselves. How did their lives turn out so different? “The Forgotten Girls is much more...

PenguinRandomhouse.com
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Jun 14, 2023

Clinton is in the Ozark mountains north of Little Rock. It's solidly Republican, very white, and imbued with white evangelical culture.

To answer her question, Potts looks at interlocking factors like economic stress passed on intergenerationally, compounded by high rates of teen pregnancy, and lack of good educational and job opportunities.

#women #economics #Republicans #Arkansas
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Show threadWilliam Lindsey 

Potts also calls out the pervasive white evangelical religiosity of her native region, with its fatalistic teachings requiring women to be passive and submissive to men and to turn to faith for solutions to problems that would be better solved by good education and economic opportunity.

#women #economics #Republicans #Arkansas #evangelicals
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Jun 14, 2023 at 10:52pmWeb
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Jun 14, 2023

To make her case, Potts employs sound sociological research, which notes that, as with other solidly Republican areas of the nation, Arkansas has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the nation, even as churches oppose sex education for teens. As Potts notes, the county in which Clintonis located, Van Buren, also has very low rates of educational attainment, with only 15.8% of residents holding a college degree.

#women #economics #Republicans #Arkansas #evangelicals
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