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Christian Storrs M/W/F 11:00 Differences In Time

For this paper I chose to go with the interview option, not only because breaking a social norm is beyond awkward, but also because I thought the interview questions would be very intriguing to know the answers to. And so, I interviewed my only grandparent that is alive today, my grandmother. From the moment I asked the first question about gender differences I could tell this was going to be a bias and somewhat sensitive interview, given that the rest of my family was in the room, and because she is known to sugar coat everything she says and looks for the positives in humanity. Although, I ended up getting a pretty good idea of what life was like when she was young, and what rural southern Utah was all about during her youth. Furthermore, my grandmother tells that attitudes on gender were just as we read in history books, but much more dominated by male power then we can imagine. For an example, women were not typically allowed to work out of the home and if they did by chance work away, their salaries were cut in half or lower, in comparison to their male counterparts. Their duties as a woman or wife were to tend and raise the children, clean the house regularly and provide a hot meal for the husband whenever he so desired. Not to mention that sex in the homestead was essentially a God given right to the husband. Women didnt drive cars and if they did by chance, it was a rarity. If women were in dire need of a job they could always go and hope to find one. My grandma tells that when she young (around 18-20) and applying for jobs, the interviews she

had with men were very strange. These interviews consisted of questions like what contraception methods are you using? where as if that question was asked in modern society, the man would most likely be accused of some sort of sexual harassment charge. Once women became pregnant in the work force or during school years that was the end of that career. They were to be either fired on the spot or kicked out of school. Athletics were non-existent in school settings for women, but for men any sport was open and possible. And so, one could assume that dress code was also an issue for girls and boys in schooling. In fact, girls were not allowed to wear anything other than dresses. Physical Punishments would follow if you were to stray from that rule. Boys on the other hand could wear shorts, pants and almost whatever they pleased. Next, racial prejudice was everywhere and so extreme that black people and white folk were divided, as we all know. My grandmother explains how even in her small town in Utah, African Americans couldnt stay in the same hotels or eat at the same restaurants as white people. Along with it being illegal for African Americans to use the same restrooms, drinking fountains, public transportation and joining white peoples athletic teams. Interracial marriage was absolutely unacceptable and illegal (sounds a lot like the issues that the LGBT community faces today). Moreover, my grandma explains that before the civil war, black men and women could not even get married to one another. African Americans as children and adults were not allowed to learn how to read and write, or even receive any

type of education to better themselves for that matter. It was known as unlawful if they were to do so. Age was definitely a factor for most middle class Americans when it came to living. Men were required to be signed up for the draft at age 18 and if they were to not do so, they would be thrown in prison. It was only up until the late 80s and early 90s that this was fully outlawed across all of the states. Women and men became legal adults at different ages. Women at age 18 could get married and start their lives, where as men were not legal adults until age 21. Lastly, social classes were basically meshed into one group from where my grandma was born and raised, that class was middle. She doesnt remember it having any differences then how it is now. Nor did it affect her growing up. As a conclusion to this paper, I had asked my grandmother what differences she sees in the world now in comparison to when she was my age. She came back with the idea that humanity still has its unforgivable flaws from the past and they of course still exist today, things like racism, sexism, LGBT inequality, the list goes on Although she thinks back on how far we have come in the right direction since she was a little girl, and how far we still must go. We as people are slowly moving in the direction towards rightfulness, love, tolerance, equality etc. we will always have hate and lack of understanding others, but in time, she has absolute hope for the best.