Short Blog Post #2- ‘Unemployed’ people

The above image is a photograph that was taken around the 1950s, the caption of the photo was “unemployed men sleeping on the ground”. The caption of the photo is what I found more interesting than the actual photograph itself. Instead of referring to the individuals living on the street as “the homeless”, or “hobos”, they were referred to as simply being unemployed. Nowadays, we have normalized the terms “the homeless”, and “hobos” that we never really stop to think about how derogatory these terms really are. Growing up I never heard someone say “look at that unemployed person sleeping on the street”, but rather “look at that hobo sleeping on the street”. The caption of this photograph really sheds light on the apparent difference between the language used in the past as compared to nowadays. I believe that we should take note of the simplicity of the term unemployed, rather than the critical meaning the term hobo holds.

2 thoughts on “Short Blog Post #2- ‘Unemployed’ people”

  1. I think this is an extremely creative post, as I would have never thought to analyze the caption as you have! I definitely agree that the use of the word “unemployed” is interesting, as most would jump to the conclusion that they’re homeless. Perhaps it’s not just because of the difference in time period, but also because the archives are seen by many people, so the moderators have to be more aware of what they’re putting out there as they could be under a lot of scrutiny. I also agree that we should think about what we’re saying and how much meaning the words we speak carry.

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  2. I find the caption very interesting as it shows how we’ve now normalized the distance we put between ourselves and those who are homeless. We dehumanize those who are struggling and put them below us. They truly are just unemployed people who don’t have the luxury of being able to rely on others as people we now deem as unemployed do. The word unemployed is now used to explain someone who is comfortable living with family or a loved one without a job, not someone on the street, not a ‘hobo’ 😦

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