Introduction
Culture is the art of living, while gender equality is where both genders are treated the same through equal opportunities (Zinn et al. 13). Assessing the culture of a given population can be effectively achieved by carrying out interviews. This stems from the fact that interviews play a critical role in our social lives, as they help to assess other people’s experiences, their motives in life, their feeling towards diverse subjects, and the effects of their day-to-day routines, among other aspects.
The close relationship developed during the interview process facilitates the acquiring of information in a broader context. This study will seek to develop an in-depth understanding of career and family expectations with respect to ageism and feminism by interviewing two fellow college students: a male and a female.
Open-Ended Question Interview
Female Interviewee
Interviewer: “Who do you think holds the primary duty of providing care to the aging population within the family setting?”
Interviewee: “Both women and men have the ultimate responsibility of taking care of the elderly within the family setting.”
Interviewer: “What factors are attributed to ageism within our communities?”
Interviewee: “Industrialization is the main cause of ageism, as rural to urban migration tends to reduce the close interaction between the caregivers and the care providers.”
Interviewer: “According to your opinion, does providing a woman with higher education strengthen or weaken marriage?”
Interviewee: “I am of the opinion that education plays a critical role in strengthening marriage because a woman is perceived to be the foremost person responsible for enlightening the young in the family setting.”
Interviewer: “What constitutes a stable marriage?”
Interviewee: “A stable marriage is characterized by a partnership between a husband and wife that resembles a social bond between two individuals. Therefore, a woman needs to have equal knowledge to uphold the partnership.”
Interviewer: “Between a husband and a wife, who is supposed to be more loyal in the relationship?”
Interviewee: “A successful marriage necessitates loyalty from both the husband and the wife. Thus, it is required that both men and women should participate in their role of duty equally.”
Interviewer: “Do you think the women’s beauty contest adds value to marriages, making the woman become equal with the man?”
Interviewee: “No, beauty and fashion do not contribute to the role of marriage partnership since it does not help women to become educators of their children.”
Interviewer: “What do you think is the main reason for the escalating domestic violence?”
Interviewee: “The domestic violence has escalated due to the fact that many women face unfavorable positions such as being in a state of unemployment. Therefore, even though women are educated about their rights, they have no options but to remain with their abusive husbands.”
Interviewer: “Would you prefer to retain your name after getting married, or to adopt your husband’s name after getting married?”
Interviewee: “I would like to retain my name because I would feel that I have equal rights in relationship with my husband, meaning that I am not entitled to lose my property or even my status.”
Male Interviewee
Interviewer: “Who do you think holds the primary duty of proving care to the aging population within the family setting?”
Interviewee: “Traditionally, women are the main caregivers for the elderly within the family setting.”
Interviewer: “What factors are attributed to ageism within our communities?”
Interviewee: “ageism is attributed to equality between sexes, as this makes women to be overwhelmed with family responsibilities, and therefore lack sufficient time for providing care to the aging population.”
Interviewer: “According to your opinion, does providing a woman with higher education strengthen or weaken marriage?”
Interviewee: “Providing a woman with higher education weakens marriage since education creates an avenue for job opportunities, thus reducing the level of parental control and the provision of social skills to their children.”
Interviewer: “What constitutes a stable marriage?”
Interviewee: “A stable marriage is characterized by traditional roles of family settings, where the role of women in the society is clearly defined.”
Interviewer: “Between a husband and a wife, who is supposed to be more loyal in the relationship?”
Interviewee: “Both have an obligation towards each other, and even though the wife is expected to be submissive to her husband, it is a taboo to restrict women from airing their views.”
Interviewer: “Do you think the women’s beauty contest adds value to marriages, making the woman become equal with the men?”
Interviewee: “Yes, but most importantly, maintaining the traditional roles of family setting adds value to the relationship within the family setting.”
Interviewer: “What do you think is the main reason for the escalating domestic violence?”
Interviewee: “Domestic violence is not attributed to lack of equality between men and women, but lack of harmony that leads to a healthy relationship.”
Interviewer: “Would you prefer women to acquire their husbands’ names after getting married, or to retain their names after getting married?”
Interviewee: “I would prefer women to acquire their husbands’ names because this portrays cohesion between husbands and wives.”
Summary
The interview aimed at studying career and family expectations with respect to ageism and feminism. From the data provided about work and family expectations, it is evident that there are different expectations between the male student and the female student. As both enter the full-time workforce, it is apparent that the community will often be characterized by a breakup of the nuclear family to the breakdown of traditional values of the community due to migration from rural to urban centers, thus creating an avenue for ageism (Zinn et al. 232)
As the male student and the female student enter into a relationship, the female student will tend to think that both men and women’s freedom could only result from exercising their family responsibilities equally. As such, women are entitled to acquire quality education that would facilitate recognition of their parental duties not only in the physical realm but also in the intellectual realm. In doing so, the women would be able to attain equality with men in their relationships. The male student, on other hand, will tend to think that alterations of family setup only serve the role of weakening the family ties (Zinn et al. 341).
Additionally, the male student’s expectation differs from the female student’s expectation with regard to traditional family arrangements. This is evidenced by the fact that the traditional family arrangements imply that the man should be the breadwinner of his family, while the women should take responsibility for their children and household chores. The women, on the other hand, believe that equality entails having equal opportunities, including job opportunity and family status; thus, it is common for a woman to go to work and leave the man taking care of the children and doing household chores.
Given these differences, the male student and the female student’s goals need to be amended, as they leave a gap of weakening the family ties, and this ultimately will result in societal decay. The aged people within this society have also realized that they no longer have control over their children as they did during traditional work arrangements. This makes the aged people to be handed over to other institutions instead of being given the primary care by their parents. Thus, amending goals would facilitate the family’s productivity, which can only be achieved when the goals of both genders are in accord with each other.
Works Cited
Zinn, Maxine B, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, and Michael A. Messner. Gender Through the Prism of Difference. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.