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

In this chapter, Smarsh explores the physical impact of poverty on the bodies of the impoverished, especially women. Poor bodies endure hard labor as a result of the physical demands of blue-collar jobs. White-collar workers assume that people born into poverty are somehow better suited to this work; they believe jobs that require less formal education, like trades or even “unskilled work,” must mean the workers are less intelligent—often the opposite is the case. The result of this assumption is that “a society that considers your body dispensable will inflict a violence upon you,” often by profiting from dangerous products or denying basic needs like healthcare (45). Women face additional perils due to their ability to have children, which is much more difficult with a lack of resources. 

Smarsh references her mother to explain the distinct hardships a female body faces—Jeannie is smart and likes intellectual pursuits but is constantly objectified because she is beautiful. This causes a deep pain and anger in her, which Smarsh felt growing up and which in turn causes her pain. When Jeannie had her second child, Smarsh’s brother Matthew, she couldn’t afford to stay in the hospital or get a sitter—having been forced to quit her job without protections.