Cultural Interview by

Introduction

jinge3 — 2024-12-09 15:46:46 UTC

The person I chose to interview was my mom. She fits into the Millennial's group. I chose her due to her availability and willing to be open with me. The questions I asked her were how did race and gender affect you in your early education? How did students treat you versus teachers treat you compared to your different race or gender classmates? How did it change when being at home or with family or friends?

Race In School

jinge3 — 2024-12-09 16:00:01 UTC

Race seemed like the heaviest concept, so I decided to start with it and get the hardest stuff out the way. Kids spend majority of their time in their youth in school. Many teachers become closer to parents than many might think. Early schoolteachers truly raise many kids after parents. My mom told me that racially it wasn't as bad for her as many would imagine that time. She wasn't around for the truly heinous crimes committed on black students, but she said that the microaggressions faced were almost as damaging. Back then she said her most clear memory was this weird obsession with other girls and her hair. They'd comment on it, ask to touch it and overall, just make her uncomfortable so much so that she had to cut it shorter a couple of times. Teachers would often comment on her intelligence as if her being smart was surprising or out of the ordinary. My grandmother was a teacher as well and I am sure that was a cause for some evil glares and jealousy. My mom made it clear to me that fitting in was twice as hard due to her race and as a child that feeling of loneliness can be quite damaging. A story that ties into this is one she'd told me during the interview. She and a few friends from class went out and were drinking underage. They all had fake IDs which seems to not be too uncommon. Long story short they were all caught and the person asking them questions seemed to direct majority of them at my mom, the sole black girl in the group. They tried to set her up to be the leader and only backed down when one of the other girls spoke up for her.

Gender In School

jinge3 — 2024-12-09 16:55:31 UTC

This section went as expected. Alot of the trends that occurred back then still occur today. My mom said she was never pushed to do sports. She said that her school pushed her to do non-contact activities like choir and home economics. This wasn't all bad for her though because she told me that doing choir gave her an opportunity to travel out of state often. Still, it is blatantly clear the bias of gender in school sports. It may not have been discouraged but it for sure wasn't encouraged.

Race and Gender at Home

jinge3 — 2024-12-09 16:55:38 UTC

I know from personal experience with her how proud my grandmother is to be a black woman. My mom only reiterated this point. My grandmother's goal was always to instill pride in my mom for her African American heritage. Those same teachings have been passed on through my mom to me, so I understand where it came from. My mom had told me how happy she was at home with her parents when they were married. Unfortunate, that only lasted up until she was about 11 when they divorced, and my grandfather moved on with another family. She made it clear that both parents tried their best to stay in her life and still hold contact to this day with her. My mom said her bond with her father was fine, but the divorce made her connection with her mother even stronger. For the most part my grandmother was all my mom, and her brother had left. It is still amazing to see how connected we are as a family to this day and them creating that strong bond is the reason.

Theoretical Ties

jinge3 — 2024-12-09 21:02:19 UTC

My research led me back to the article by Wells, K. 2015. Race, Gender and Class and her theory on gender socialization. Schools try to promote women to do classic gender roles and teach them how to "fit in" to society. The story I told in the section on race in her childhood also ties to in group, out of group bias. She was a participant and not even the most willing but because of her race they assumed the worse of her compared to the group.

jinge3 — 2024-12-09 21:05:24 UTC