The Everyday Violence of Stigma

Small Things Like These

The story shows how shame attached to unmarried motherhood is reinforced by families, institutions, and everyday social judgments, leaving girls isolated before they enter confinement.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Birth Outside Approval A Birth Outside Approval from "Small Things Like These". A Birth Outside Approval Rejection within a family Bill Furlong’s mother becomes pregnant at sixteen while working as a domestic.

A Birth Outside Approval from "Small Things Like These". A Birth Outside Approval Rejection within a family Bill Furlong’s mother becomes pregnant at sixteen while working as a domestic.

A Birth Outside Approval Rejection within a family Bill Furlong’s mother becomes pregnant at sixteen while working as a domestic. Her own people make clear that they will no longer support her. A social sentence The rejection leaves her dependent on her employer’s intervention. It anticipates the pressures faced by girls whose pregnancies are treated as disgrace rather than a reason for care.

A Child Marked at School A Child Marked at School from "Small Things Like These". A Child Marked at School Cruel treatment Bill Furlong is jeered at school and comes home with spit on his coat.

A Child Marked at School from "Small Things Like These". A Child Marked at School Cruel treatment Bill Furlong is jeered at school and comes home with spit on his coat.

A Child Marked at School Cruel treatment Bill Furlong is jeered at school and comes home with spit on his coat. His connection to the Wilson household provides some protection but does not remove the stigma. Shame passed onward The treatment shows that social judgment reaches children born outside accepted family structures. The memory informs Bill Furlong’s later sensitivity to children and girls left unprotected.

Girls Named by Rumor Girls Named by Rumor from "Small Things Like These". Girls Named by Rumor A label instead of a life Residents describe the convent’s girls as immoral or in need of reform, even while hearing stories of hard labor…

Girls Named by Rumor from "Small Things Like These". Girls Named by Rumor A label instead of a life Residents describe the convent’s girls as immoral or in need of reform, even while hearing stories of hard labor…

Girls Named by Rumor A label instead of a life Residents describe the convent’s girls as immoral or in need of reform, even while hearing stories of hard labor and confinement. The labels make abuse easier to rationalize. Respectability protected The girls are discussed as a category rather than as individuals. Social stigma helps the institution conceal coercion behind claims of correction and moral order.

Sarah Reduced to an Incident Sarah Reduced to an Incident from "Small Things Like These". Sarah Reduced to an Incident A girl’s account displaced The Mother Superior describes Sarah Redmond as confused and turns her confinement into an alleged game.

Sarah Reduced to an Incident from "Small Things Like These". Sarah Reduced to an Incident A girl’s account displaced The Mother Superior describes Sarah Redmond as confused and turns her confinement into an alleged game.

Sarah Reduced to an Incident A girl’s account displaced The Mother Superior describes Sarah Redmond as confused and turns her confinement into an alleged game. The explanation redirects attention from her injuries and separation from her baby. The authority of shame Sarah has limited power to dispute the account in front of those who control her. The institution’s story can prevail partly because the community already regards girls like her as blameworthy.

Public Exposure in the Snow Public Exposure in the Snow from "Small Things Like These". Public Exposure in the Snow A stigmatized girl seen People notice Sarah’s bare feet and recognize her connection to the laundry.

Public Exposure in the Snow from "Small Things Like These". Public Exposure in the Snow A stigmatized girl seen People notice Sarah’s bare feet and recognize her connection to the laundry.

Public Exposure in the Snow A stigmatized girl seen People notice Sarah’s bare feet and recognize her connection to the laundry. Some avoid her or make remarks, while most continue on without asking how she came to be there. The label challenged Bill Furlong’s public escort does not erase social stigma, but it refuses to let Sarah’s institutional label determine whether she deserves help. Her personhood becomes visible beside him.

1946

Bill Furlong’s school years

December 1985

the Sunday before Christmas morning

Christmas Eve night