Instruction
What: For this assignment you will need to talk with two women of different generations. Your goal is to understand how their work and family choices were shaped by social forces (and not just by their individual choices).
These women should be different generations from your own. So, consider someone your mother's age, or someone near her age (40s-50s).
And consider someone your grandmother's age, or someone your grandmother’s age (60s to 70s).
Or if you fall into one of these age groups, pick someone from a younger generation (20s-30s) to interview.
Your interviewees do not need to be relatives, they could be a classmate, colleague, or friend.
How: Set up a time to talk to both women separately. This can be virtually (Zoom), or over the phone). You will ask both women a few questions so that they can describe the work and family choices they’ve made in their lives.
Paper requiements:
Your final 5-6 page (double-spaced) paper should analyze the responses you receive from both women.
Your paper should be analytic and must bring in concepts from the textbook.
Make sure to use specific examples of their experiences wherever you can.
You can use first person (“I”) in sociology papers.
Your paper should answer the following questions:
How were each woman’s choices constrained by social and institutional forces?
How did inequalities like race, class, ethnicity etc. influence their decisions?
How have women’s choices changed from one generation to the next?
How does what you have found relate to the course reading material?
How do their choices relate to the choices you yourself (or women around you) are currently making?