Blog #1

                                                                 Blog #1

My mother was born in 1952 and grew up around the times when gender discrimination hindered woman’s lives. She did not live a stereotypical life of the 1960’s. Under unfortunate circumstances my grandmother had to divorce her husband during an era when it was looked down upon. My grandmother had to support her family and her brother, who was blind, on her own income. My mother is now a homemaker who luckily was given the choice to stay at home and raise a family. During my interview with her I learned about her growing up with a single parent and the obstacles of having a career for both my mother and my grandmother.

 Growing up my mother was the only child from a divorced family. Amongst her peers most of her classmates and neighbors had a nuclear family. In my mother’s generation most adults looked down upon divorce, especially Catholics. All the stay-at-home mothers on my mother’s street got together often to socialize and play cards, while my grandmother was away at work. On Sundays all the families would go out for the afternoon, but my mother had to stay in with her uncle, who was a blind World War ll veteran, since her mother was working the late shift.  

In, “A Day without Feminism,” Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards explain that in 1970 there were no child-care centers. Therefore, women were more inclined to stay at home with their children (31). This explains the hardship my grandmother went through as a single parent trying to work and take care of her child. My mother stated that when my grandmother had no one to watch my mother, she would be forced to bring her to work, potentially jeopardizing a climb in her career.  The article also stated that when a couple would divorce back in 1970 one person had to be at fault, and that if a father asked for custody he would receive it. In my grandmother’s case, her husband was at fault being that he was an abusive alcoholic. From this my grandmother received the house along with custody of my mother.

            After the divorce, my grandmother took classes at Wayne State University to become a housekeeping supervisor at a hospital in downtown Detroit. From watching her own mother struggle as a single working woman, my mother decided when her family became stable enough on one income, she would be a full time home-maker. Her only job was working on the assembly line at Ford, sewing the car seats. She was pushed to quit since Ford would not give her another maternity leave after already having two children. After she quit, she became a stay at home mother as she always aspired to be, and happily raised three children, and was able to be there every moment for them.

            Both my mother and my grandmother worked a stereotypical female job, and only worked alongside women. In, “A Day without Feminism,” Baumgardner and Amy Richards talk about how women were predominantly secretaries, domestic workers, or worked in low waged service jobs, which relates to my mothers and grandmothers occupation as a factory worker and a housekeeper (32). Women were stuck at these jobs because of their gender roles. In, “The Social Construction of Gender,” Judith Lorber explains about the stratification system and how men are ranked higher than women, describing how job roles are still gendered (127). My mother did the domestic labor and child rearing because she was more suitable to do so, in her situation. My mother never went to college and did not want to work while raising a family. Since her job paid less than my father’s it was obvious that she would be the one to stay home.  

            From this assignment I learned that the articles we read are an exaggerated perspective from what actually happened. When I asked my mother if she felt that she was ever discriminated because of her gender, she responded no. On the other hand when I picked apart the interview and asked questions beyond what she answered, I was able to notice a few overlooked situations that proved the existence of discrimination. I was really surprised how much stigma there was on divorce back then, and how far we have come in present day. I am proud that my grandmother was successful in life and overcame obstacles put in her way, and I am also thankful for having a mother who was able to stay at home and be there for me throughout my life.

           
 

Works Cited

Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy. “A Day without Feminism.” In Women’s Voices,

 Feminist Visions.  2010.

Lorber, Judith. “The Social Construction of Gender.” In Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions.

 2010.


Jeanne Coletti 586-610-2509