I have chosen to conduct an interview with my own mother. I realized that there are several other women that I could pick, and choosing my mother seems like the easy choice. However, the reason I want to interview my mother is because she has a very interesting story about working and raising my brother and I. She had me when she was young, still in college, and unmarried. She had my brother four years later after she was out of college, and married to my father. My mother has worked at least one job my whole life, sometimes two. In my adolescent years, she went back to college for a master’s degree. My whole life she has been an inspiration to me, and I can only hope to be as strong and as successful as she has become. She is one of the most intelligent and beautiful women I know. Now, I would like to learn what all those years of working and raising my brother and I were like for her. She never let us see how it affected her, but now that I am older I would like to know what it was like working full time with an infant at home and being as young as she was.
For the interview, I am going to ask my mom to take a look back in time. I want her to remember, and expand on what her life was like when my brother and I were young (under 14). Right now, I am 20 years old and my little brother is 16 years old so we are fairly self sufficient and have been for quite some time. I feel that the most important piece to look at is when we were young, and need the most care. Most of the question asked will be regarding what she considered the toughest years for her, and our family in general. Obviously I will be asking her the normal questions like her age, marital status, and education level (even though I already know the answers). Then I will want to know what ages my brother and I were when life was the toughest for her? What were we like at that time? What kinds of things did we enjoy? How did these things affect our lives and care? What was her work status at that time? Where did you work? How many hours per week? How did your work life change after having children? Were you working before your child was born? How long did it take to go back? What were our child care arrangements? What was raising us like? What was our relationship like at the time? What was hardest for her at the time? What was my father’s role in our lives at the time? What other adults did we spend significant time with? How did this affect your relationship with your husband? If you could go back and change something, would you? And what would it be?
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Blog Post #4
Personally, I feel that the characteristics of a good home life are extremely subjective but I think that there are a few traits that are imperative to the healthy function of any family. I think the number one characteristic is good communication. And the other thing that is important to family life is the family’s ability to change. As everything in the world around the family is changing, a family needs to be able to remain internally strong, especially if there are children involved. The family needs to be able to support the growing, changing, and learning children. The family needs to be a safe place where the children can do these grow and flourish.
I think that finding a balance between a career and family life is extremely hard to do. It means trying to be the ideal mother and wife, as well as being the ideal employee. This means putting 100% into both of these jobs; not 50% into each. A balance between these two would mean being able to make a smooth transition from work to home, and then from home to work without carrying one over into the other. Ultimately, finding a balance between work and home life is about making choices and sacrifices you wish you did not have to.
There are several things that make striking a good balance between these two spheres very hard. For a single parent, they need to be able to work as many hours as they can while still attempting to spend time with their children. They need to work extra hours in order to be able to provide the material things for their children that they need like food, clothes, and shelter. Many times, these extra hours interfere with the time they get to actually spend with their children. In the case of a dual income home it is common that one of the parents has to sacrifice their career to be an adequate parent. For many people this could be rather frustrating, and upsetting. Those people who have a high level of education, and flourishing careers sometimes have jobs that know no boundaries, and they end up working late nights, weekends, and while at home which greatly interferes with their time with their children. It becomes extremely hard to mesh being a good worker with being a good parent. These parents are constantly finding themselves having to choose between work and home. This can create a lot of guilt for parents.
To me, it seems that the changes in traditional gender roles have made the lives of women far more complex. These women have the duty of bearing children by nature. So we already know that it is there job to not only give birth, but take of the children that they bring into the world. This is part of the traditional gender role for women along with cooking, cleaning, and laundry. However, the changing gender roles are allowing more women to enter the workforce and maintain a higher education. What we are now seeing is women with highly successful careers that are still expected to take care of a family too. While it is more acceptable now for a man to take on traditional female roles, women still try to pick up much of the work as they feel it is their duty. This opportunity for women to now work in traditional males jobs seems like a good thing and a step forward for women but it is really just putting extra pressure on them.
I think that employers can start to be sensitive to a family’s needs by realizing that having children is not really a lifestyle choice. If they stop treating it as a ‘lifestyle” choice and more as a positive step in a family’s life I think the employees will be happier. Employers should just realize that these people are trying to be the best workers they can be, while trying to be the best mother, wife, and daughter. They should try to understand that family will always come first. From the research, it seems that giving these employees some flexibility for family purposes is actually more beneficial to the company. It greatly improves the employee’s satisfaction, and therefore their work and investment in the company.
Having support from family is very useful in managing priorities because you have someone there to help you with what you need, and be there for emotional support. Most of the time, family members can divide the jobs so that one person does not have so much on their plate. Work support brings down your level of stress greatly. It induces great stress when you learn you are going to need time of work for family reason. On top of the already present family stress, there is the possibility that they may lose their job over it. But if they do not have to worry about losing their jobs that is one less thing they have to be stressed about. A good personal example of this is when I was told that I had to have spine surgery when I was 18 (a year ago), and my mom realized she was going to need to take time off to care for me. She was already stressed about her child having major reconstructive surgery, so the last thing she needed to worry about was her job. She knew she did not need to stress over because of family flex time, and the Family Medical Leave Act. Knowing her employer supported her took one more thing off her plate in a very stressful time.
I think that finding a balance between a career and family life is extremely hard to do. It means trying to be the ideal mother and wife, as well as being the ideal employee. This means putting 100% into both of these jobs; not 50% into each. A balance between these two would mean being able to make a smooth transition from work to home, and then from home to work without carrying one over into the other. Ultimately, finding a balance between work and home life is about making choices and sacrifices you wish you did not have to.
There are several things that make striking a good balance between these two spheres very hard. For a single parent, they need to be able to work as many hours as they can while still attempting to spend time with their children. They need to work extra hours in order to be able to provide the material things for their children that they need like food, clothes, and shelter. Many times, these extra hours interfere with the time they get to actually spend with their children. In the case of a dual income home it is common that one of the parents has to sacrifice their career to be an adequate parent. For many people this could be rather frustrating, and upsetting. Those people who have a high level of education, and flourishing careers sometimes have jobs that know no boundaries, and they end up working late nights, weekends, and while at home which greatly interferes with their time with their children. It becomes extremely hard to mesh being a good worker with being a good parent. These parents are constantly finding themselves having to choose between work and home. This can create a lot of guilt for parents.
To me, it seems that the changes in traditional gender roles have made the lives of women far more complex. These women have the duty of bearing children by nature. So we already know that it is there job to not only give birth, but take of the children that they bring into the world. This is part of the traditional gender role for women along with cooking, cleaning, and laundry. However, the changing gender roles are allowing more women to enter the workforce and maintain a higher education. What we are now seeing is women with highly successful careers that are still expected to take care of a family too. While it is more acceptable now for a man to take on traditional female roles, women still try to pick up much of the work as they feel it is their duty. This opportunity for women to now work in traditional males jobs seems like a good thing and a step forward for women but it is really just putting extra pressure on them.
I think that employers can start to be sensitive to a family’s needs by realizing that having children is not really a lifestyle choice. If they stop treating it as a ‘lifestyle” choice and more as a positive step in a family’s life I think the employees will be happier. Employers should just realize that these people are trying to be the best workers they can be, while trying to be the best mother, wife, and daughter. They should try to understand that family will always come first. From the research, it seems that giving these employees some flexibility for family purposes is actually more beneficial to the company. It greatly improves the employee’s satisfaction, and therefore their work and investment in the company.
Having support from family is very useful in managing priorities because you have someone there to help you with what you need, and be there for emotional support. Most of the time, family members can divide the jobs so that one person does not have so much on their plate. Work support brings down your level of stress greatly. It induces great stress when you learn you are going to need time of work for family reason. On top of the already present family stress, there is the possibility that they may lose their job over it. But if they do not have to worry about losing their jobs that is one less thing they have to be stressed about. A good personal example of this is when I was told that I had to have spine surgery when I was 18 (a year ago), and my mom realized she was going to need to take time off to care for me. She was already stressed about her child having major reconstructive surgery, so the last thing she needed to worry about was her job. She knew she did not need to stress over because of family flex time, and the Family Medical Leave Act. Knowing her employer supported her took one more thing off her plate in a very stressful time.
Blog Post #3
1. In my immediate family, I have not really experienced much carework. As I mentioned in my previous blog, my dad became a stay at home dad when I was a little kid. Then, when my brother was born, he started working nights in order to stay home with us. Other than that, we have been fortunate enough to not have to care for anyone that is sick/elderly yet. However, I was able to see the affects that carework for an elder family member has on a family. My uncle was in charge of taking care of my great-grandmother as she became progressively more ill. He ended up having to quit his job, and their family literally had nothing to live on. Basically, he lucked out when she left her entire estate to him. It was just enough to get him out of the whole he created trying to care for her. The lack of money greatly affected his children and his marriage. I wish that his job had had the opportunity for him to take of work for awhile, and re-arrange his schedule because I think it would have been a lot easier for everyone involved.
2. I love the efforts that are being made in the UK for women who want to come into the work force after having children. What I hate, is that people say that having children is a lifestyle choice that women make! I feel like if they want children, there is no other choice but to bear the children themselves. It is not like they can pawn the job off on their husbands. And the truth is, most people want to have children, and want to add to the next generation. So calling it a “lifestyle choice” is a little bit of a stretch. I think this is why I love what the UK is trying to do. I think it is great that they support families. Basically, the US does not support families because having a family is a lifestyle choice. Even though in the past, having a family was what women were supposed to do. The UK hit it on the head with offering the flexible schedules, and the leave of absences to take care of children or ill family members. I think they are right, it will create more loyalty. People always want to feel like someone cares and it seems like these companies really do.
Society needs to reconstruct their notions of women’s work because if they leave it as just domestic work, they are leaving out a whole array of other jobs they do now. Women do everything now. They do not only have a home, husband and kids to take care of, but they also have their own careers to worry about. Personally, I do not feel like we should label it women’s work and men’s work. I feel like this because the jobs they do overlap with each other now. Women are taking on many “male” jobs, and men are taking on several “female” jobs. I feel that it is harder now to make a distinction between the two.
2. I love the efforts that are being made in the UK for women who want to come into the work force after having children. What I hate, is that people say that having children is a lifestyle choice that women make! I feel like if they want children, there is no other choice but to bear the children themselves. It is not like they can pawn the job off on their husbands. And the truth is, most people want to have children, and want to add to the next generation. So calling it a “lifestyle choice” is a little bit of a stretch. I think this is why I love what the UK is trying to do. I think it is great that they support families. Basically, the US does not support families because having a family is a lifestyle choice. Even though in the past, having a family was what women were supposed to do. The UK hit it on the head with offering the flexible schedules, and the leave of absences to take care of children or ill family members. I think they are right, it will create more loyalty. People always want to feel like someone cares and it seems like these companies really do.
Society needs to reconstruct their notions of women’s work because if they leave it as just domestic work, they are leaving out a whole array of other jobs they do now. Women do everything now. They do not only have a home, husband and kids to take care of, but they also have their own careers to worry about. Personally, I do not feel like we should label it women’s work and men’s work. I feel like this because the jobs they do overlap with each other now. Women are taking on many “male” jobs, and men are taking on several “female” jobs. I feel that it is harder now to make a distinction between the two.
Blog Post #2
1. Sex segregation is a form of discrimination that is intended to keep women in “female jobs” and men in “male jobs.” Typical male jobs are professions like computer programming, public relations, office managers, accountants, insurance agents, real estate agents, and bartenders. Jobs that are considered “female jobs” include teaching, social work, and secretarial work. Also, now that it appears that the gap in sex segregation is closing, we are noticing a gap in the wages of those who do the “work of the other gender.” This mainly affects women who are in male dominated professions. We see them earning significantly less money then men for the same work.
I have never really thought about sex segregation at ASU. Now days, it is a lot harder to be outwardly discriminatory against one gender because of Title VII. However, when I really think about it, I do see a little bit of sex segregation in what out professors teach and their sex. For example, I have noticed that many of the professors in the Family Studies/Child Development Major are women. Most of the sciences seem to be taught by men, with TAs that are women. Also, I have noticed that many of the core justices classes are taught by men, while women tend to teach the more specialized classes and the special topics classes.
2. I feel like my home socialization was not based on patriarchy at all actually. However, I am well aware that I had a rather rare childhood. After I was born, my father quit his job and cared for me. My dad was a stay at home dad for four years, until my little brother was born. Then he started working nights so he could be home with us during the day. This arrangement came because my mom had just graduated from college with a really good job offer and he wanted her to take it, and because of his own childhood, he never wanted his children to be cared for by someone outside of the family so he did it himself. I feel like the way I was raised was in more of a matriarchy. My mom is a CPA which is generally a male profession. Because of that, my mom also handles all the finances. My dad goes to work during the day, he is the plant manager of Rubbermaid, and when he gets home he is in charge of dinner and homework for my little brother. Like I said I realize my experience is very much outside the ordinary. It was not until I got older that I realized that jobs tend to be gender segregated. I learned this mainly from TV, but not from home or school.
3. Right now, men have an extremely high unemployment rate, especially in comparison to women. This is because the kinds of companies that are cutting back or closing down are construction, manufacturing, and financial services, which are all male dominated fields. Men are starting to find themselves unemployed, making the women the main income earners for family. The problem with this is that women still makes significantly less money than men. Currently, women only make 77 cents to every dollar a man makes. A problem bigger then this that these families are facing is the lack of benefits offered in female jobs. Benefits such as health insurance and life insurance are, many times, offered in occupations that men tend to hold. So these families are not only losing money because women are not making as much as their male counterparts, but they are also losing their benefits.
I have never really thought about sex segregation at ASU. Now days, it is a lot harder to be outwardly discriminatory against one gender because of Title VII. However, when I really think about it, I do see a little bit of sex segregation in what out professors teach and their sex. For example, I have noticed that many of the professors in the Family Studies/Child Development Major are women. Most of the sciences seem to be taught by men, with TAs that are women. Also, I have noticed that many of the core justices classes are taught by men, while women tend to teach the more specialized classes and the special topics classes.
2. I feel like my home socialization was not based on patriarchy at all actually. However, I am well aware that I had a rather rare childhood. After I was born, my father quit his job and cared for me. My dad was a stay at home dad for four years, until my little brother was born. Then he started working nights so he could be home with us during the day. This arrangement came because my mom had just graduated from college with a really good job offer and he wanted her to take it, and because of his own childhood, he never wanted his children to be cared for by someone outside of the family so he did it himself. I feel like the way I was raised was in more of a matriarchy. My mom is a CPA which is generally a male profession. Because of that, my mom also handles all the finances. My dad goes to work during the day, he is the plant manager of Rubbermaid, and when he gets home he is in charge of dinner and homework for my little brother. Like I said I realize my experience is very much outside the ordinary. It was not until I got older that I realized that jobs tend to be gender segregated. I learned this mainly from TV, but not from home or school.
3. Right now, men have an extremely high unemployment rate, especially in comparison to women. This is because the kinds of companies that are cutting back or closing down are construction, manufacturing, and financial services, which are all male dominated fields. Men are starting to find themselves unemployed, making the women the main income earners for family. The problem with this is that women still makes significantly less money than men. Currently, women only make 77 cents to every dollar a man makes. A problem bigger then this that these families are facing is the lack of benefits offered in female jobs. Benefits such as health insurance and life insurance are, many times, offered in occupations that men tend to hold. So these families are not only losing money because women are not making as much as their male counterparts, but they are also losing their benefits.
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