I decided to interview my mother for this paper on gender roles. For reasons of anonymity, we will call her H. My mother has done many interesting things over the course of her life. The way gender and gender roles have influenced her life tell a vibrant, captivating story. The gender roles my mother experienced have affected my life and how I interact with others as well. My mother was born in Brooklyn, New York in the year 1962. She was the middle daughter of three sisters. Her father was a Social Security agent and her mother was an English teacher. My mother 's family and culture were Orthodox Jewish and this influenced her life in many ways which I will talk about later on. When my mother was around eleven or twelve years old in the
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Though he was emotionally unavailable to her most of the time, my mother held a special place in my grandfather 's life because she was into sports and was kind of tomboyish. My grandfather often called my mother "the son he never had." This wording has caused my mother much pain over the years because she always felt like she was never good enough for him or worthy of his love. Her father still took my mother to many sporting and gambling events in New York City which he denied to her other sisters. These outings with my grandfather have continued my mother 's interest in sports because watching sports reminds her of the enjoyable times with her father who is currently …show more content…
The expectations my mother 's parents had for her and her sisters were that they had to leave the house by age 18, either by marriage, work, or going to college. My mother 's parents just did not want to support three daughters after that time. Her parents also were not willing to save any money if any of their daughters wanted to go to college. This was related to the gender role that college was optional for girls and women. This view was still prevalent in the 1970 's and 1980 's. My mother applied for many college scholarships but she won a free ride to Syracuse University from the Maxwell House coffee company. She did a huge research paper on the pollution levels of New York City buses which was very impressive for a high school student and she won her way to a free ride at Syracuse University including room and
Though he was emotionally unavailable to her most of the time, my mother held a special place in my grandfather 's life because she was into sports and was kind of tomboyish. My grandfather often called my mother "the son he never had." This wording has caused my mother much pain over the years because she always felt like she was never good enough for him or worthy of his love. Her father still took my mother to many sporting and gambling events in New York City which he denied to her other sisters. These outings with my grandfather have continued my mother 's interest in sports because watching sports reminds her of the enjoyable times with her father who is currently …show more content…
The expectations my mother 's parents had for her and her sisters were that they had to leave the house by age 18, either by marriage, work, or going to college. My mother 's parents just did not want to support three daughters after that time. Her parents also were not willing to save any money if any of their daughters wanted to go to college. This was related to the gender role that college was optional for girls and women. This view was still prevalent in the 1970 's and 1980 's. My mother applied for many college scholarships but she won a free ride to Syracuse University from the Maxwell House coffee company. She did a huge research paper on the pollution levels of New York City buses which was very impressive for a high school student and she won her way to a free ride at Syracuse University including room and