Interview Concerning Feminist Themes

How do you pick one woman that you know for an interview on feminism? Each woman has a unique perspective and her own life experiences to bring to the table. Each woman can give you a different view based on her age, her race, her position in her family, her sexual preference, her profession, even her religion. Each woman will have viewpoints that you can identify with and some that you can't. Sometimes the person you least suspect will be an interesting interview can give you the most to think about and learn from. Toni is one such person for me. She is my niece by marriage and at times I am her surrogate mother. She is 25 years old and has never been married. She is also the mother of a 5-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son. She was surprised and pleased when I phoned her and asked if she would be the subject for my interview.

I was interested to know whether Toni, at her young age, had experienced androcentrism in her life. After I explained to her what I meant by that term, she was very excited and more than willing to tell me about her life in a world dominated by men. She had obtained a job working for her uncle at the landscaping business that he managed a few years ago and said that was her first real experience with discrimination and sexual harassment. She wanted a position as a mower with the crew but her uncle felt that she couldn't handle the mower so he gave her a job on the planting crew. She enjoyed working out of doors and wanted to prove to her uncle that she could do the job. While on the job there were many occasions when inappropriate language was directed her way and she was made to feel uncomfortable while working. I asked her whether she thought of reporting the language to her ...

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...rned that body image problems are not just the domain of larger women, and women as a whole tend to confuse body image with self-image. Culturally we are still programmed in some of the same ways as our mothers and grandmothers, including being taught to nurture men, and to put our wants and needs second. While this is a good way to be a good mother to your children, it obviously puts us at a disadvantage with men. We find ourselves in relationships where we are either expected to take charge and be a mother to the men in our lives, or we are expected to be meek and undemanding no matter how we are treated. Strong and confident women who are not afraid to speak their minds and will stand up for themselves, are still punished and called bitch by our society. It may still be another generation or two before we see women who are real equals in all areas of life with men.