Women's Studies Term Paper

1230 Words3 Pages

Throughout the past few decades, the roles that women play have drastically changed in some aspects, but in other aspects, women’s roles are more similar than we think. My interviewee is my grandmother, Annie Caffee. She is an African American woman, who is 64 years of age. My interviewee grew up in the Washington, D.C. area, and currently resides in Upper Marlboro, MD. I interviewed her about the following topics: Violence against women, women bodies and health, women and sexuality, women and work, women spirituality and religion, and lastly women and politics.
Violence against women is a very serious subject, but the aspects of violence against women have changed over the past few decades. Some of the forms of violence that occur to women are as follows: rape, and domestic violence, which includes intimate partner violence. “Domestic violence or intimate partner violence includes bodily harm, usually accompanied by verbal threats and harassments,emotional abuse or the destruction of property”(Burn 26). Statistics show that in the United States there are 4.8 million rapes, intimate partner violence, and physical assaults per year (Burn 26). My interviewee explained how,“ Back then women were socially taught to keep their mouths closed when it came to domestic violence against women from their partner”. This is an example of how domestic violence has changed from the 1950’s to present day. She herself learned that it was socially right for domestic violence to happen when she was growing up in her own home. Women knew that they could not say anything about domestic violence. Today in the United States, all women have to do is call the police and they will be there, most likely in the women's favor because they are suffering from ...

... middle of paper ...

...erview." Telephone interview. 18 Nov. 2013.

Appendix of Questions
What are the similarities and differences between women in the 1960’s and women today on the topic of violence?
What are the similarities and differences in today’s society versus the 1960’s about the topic of contraception, and abortion?
What similarities and differences do you see from the 1960’s and today with people coming out with their sexualities?
What similarities and differences do you see in different religions, and their practices from the 1960’s?
From the 1960’s until today, what similarities and differences do you see with women being actively involved in politics?

Works Cited

Burn, Shawn Meghan. Women across Cultures: A Global Perspective. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Pub., 2000. Print.
Caffee, Annie E. "Women's Studies Interview." Telephone interview. 18 Nov. 2013.

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