An Interview with Emily: A Multiracial Female For this interview, I struggled to find a candidate who met the criteria of differing from myself in two aspects of culture. Moving from Philadelphia to Greenville, PA, I didn’t realize what a culture-shock I would encounter. Furthermore, I was not prepared for the immense lack of diversity in this small town and surrounding areas. Fortunately, I was privileged enough to be given the opportunity to interview Emily, a co-worker of mine from the Mercer County Behavioral Health Commission. Emily grew up in the small, rural town of Grenville, located in Northwestern PA about 2 hours North of Pittsburgh. As a multiracial female, she had life experiences that she was willing to open up and share about, both negative and positive. These challenged, as well as reinforced, preconceived ideas I had regarding gender and race in America. In this paper, I will outline
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In regard to her gender, Emily identifies as a female; in terms of ethnic or racial identity, Emily identifies as Biracial, or Multiracial, due the African American ethnicity of her father, and the White ethnicity of her mother. Emily reported that the identity she felt was most important was her gender identity, with her racial identity coming in second, which challenged what I would have assumed before the interview. Below, we will explore Emily’s experiences as both a female and Multiracial individual
Gender Identity As a male performing this interview, as well as the father of a young daughter, I was intrigued to learn about Emily’s experiences as a female. I was also quite interested to learn about her experiences as a female and the messages she perceived in her life regarding her gender. Our conversation revolved primarily in three areas: familial messages, social messages, and workforce messages.
Familial
In regard to her gender, Emily identifies as a female; in terms of ethnic or racial identity, Emily identifies as Biracial, or Multiracial, due the African American ethnicity of her father, and the White ethnicity of her mother. Emily reported that the identity she felt was most important was her gender identity, with her racial identity coming in second, which challenged what I would have assumed before the interview. Below, we will explore Emily’s experiences as both a female and Multiracial individual
Gender Identity As a male performing this interview, as well as the father of a young daughter, I was intrigued to learn about Emily’s experiences as a female. I was also quite interested to learn about her experiences as a female and the messages she perceived in her life regarding her gender. Our conversation revolved primarily in three areas: familial messages, social messages, and workforce messages.
Familial