Difference between revisions of "328 2010--Week 13 Questions/Comments"
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I found a great variety in the interview papers that we as a class created. In some interviews the women held tight to those typical roles of women in the early 20th century as mothers and wives. Others challenged the trends, either by fate or their own ambitions and tried to maintain an independent and family lifestyle at the same time. I noticed a pattern in the lives of the women as they fought the battle of being a working women or a housewife. These were the two extremes to being a woman, and many tried to have both but more times than not returned to being a housewife in the long run. A few challenged the trends of being a “normal” housewife by either unintentional manner’s like Rowley’s and Smethurst’s interviewee’s did by trying to balance being a mother and an independent women. Both, while having children, continued with their education and motherly duties. Other’s such as Leckner’s interviewee and my grandmother conformed to the prescribed roles at the time; marrying young, having children, and never working. While even others were neither part of one or the other extreme. Brau’s interviewee was the perfect example of a women who was somewhere in the middle. She did not get married, even after the loss of her finance and earning herself a degree. At the same time though, she took care of the household at a young age and then always took care of family when they fell ill. The experience that stood out to me most was that Brau’s interviewee was seen as “self-fish” when she finally started taking care of herself and spending money on herself. One the most important life lesson’s I’ve learned so far has been to first take care of myself and then others. We as women always put others before ourselves and sacrifice our own happiness. No one should have to do that and that was just what these women were battling with, trying to make themselves and their family happy at the same time; a battle that is still fought on today in the hearts of many women. -Morgan | I found a great variety in the interview papers that we as a class created. In some interviews the women held tight to those typical roles of women in the early 20th century as mothers and wives. Others challenged the trends, either by fate or their own ambitions and tried to maintain an independent and family lifestyle at the same time. I noticed a pattern in the lives of the women as they fought the battle of being a working women or a housewife. These were the two extremes to being a woman, and many tried to have both but more times than not returned to being a housewife in the long run. A few challenged the trends of being a “normal” housewife by either unintentional manner’s like Rowley’s and Smethurst’s interviewee’s did by trying to balance being a mother and an independent women. Both, while having children, continued with their education and motherly duties. Other’s such as Leckner’s interviewee and my grandmother conformed to the prescribed roles at the time; marrying young, having children, and never working. While even others were neither part of one or the other extreme. Brau’s interviewee was the perfect example of a women who was somewhere in the middle. She did not get married, even after the loss of her finance and earning herself a degree. At the same time though, she took care of the household at a young age and then always took care of family when they fell ill. The experience that stood out to me most was that Brau’s interviewee was seen as “self-fish” when she finally started taking care of herself and spending money on herself. One the most important life lesson’s I’ve learned so far has been to first take care of myself and then others. We as women always put others before ourselves and sacrifice our own happiness. No one should have to do that and that was just what these women were battling with, trying to make themselves and their family happy at the same time; a battle that is still fought on today in the hearts of many women. -Morgan | ||
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| + | I really enjoyed reading all of these interview assignments. For me, this has been the most interesting part of the course because these women who were interviewed provide us with a direct link to the past and reflect many of the themes we have covered. The main theme I recognized in most of these are the stereotypes in the roles of women, more specifically their role in the house. It seems like most were comfortable with being wives, mothers, and domestic oriented. Another trend related to what we have talked about in class was the role of women working during World War II. It was a temporary role for women and when their husbands came back it seems many were willing to go back to the way it was before. The most interesting quote I liked was in Emma Pecks paper, where her grandmother got married after WWII because it was "the fashionable thing to do." The movement to suburbia was a big thing too that some mentioned. Many of these papers reminded me of "Leave it to Beaver," just from looking at how communities functioned. Another thing was the lack or not lack of jobs available for women depending on what period of time they lived as well as the types. Overall these interviews gave a great perspective of womens' achievements, oppressions, and have made me gain more respect for the contributions of their lifetime. --David Fitch | ||
