Week 2 Interview: Wanda Stewart

For my interview, I talked with my grandma (Mimi), Wanda Stewart.  When I asked her what her experience of gender was she told met that she had always wanted to be a pilot, but that women in the 40's and 50's were only nurses and secretaries so she knew that she would never be able to become a pilot.  I think this is interesting because my major is aviation, and like her, I also want to be a pilot.  However, now a women pilot is socially acceptable, whereas back then it wasn't.  I also thought that it was interesting that she defined a feminist as someone who is still a lady, but is self assured and capable of doing what a man can do.  Yet, she specifically told me that she was NOT a feminist.  I think she does not define herself as a feminist because her parents never talked about it and she said that feminism was given a bad rep in the 60's when women would burn their bras and act obnoxious.  I believe that based on my mimi's definition of a feminist that she would be a feminist, but I guess she doesn't like to claim herself as one, as many women today do not.  She also told me how when she was in school the women were always seen as being weak and unable to do what the boys did, but when she went back to college at 50 she was seen as being a strong person and received affirmation from her professors.  However, she told me that feminism was still present today and she experienced it the other day at the computer store.  She said when she would ask the salesman questions he would direct his reply towards her husband because he figured that she wouldn't know what he was talking about.  It was funny because she said that my Papa doesn't know anything about computers and that's why she was asking.

One experience that can think of that made me conscious of gender was just the other day when i was getting my car washed.  I had actually just gotten out of women's studies class and I took my car to the car wash.  After I had gone through the wash I went to the vacuums and began vacuuming out my car.  This guy came over and started trying to talk to me.  He then asked me "where's your dad, why are you having to vacuum out your car yourself?"  Since women's studies class was still on my mind I was greatly offended and replied "I can do it myself, thanks!"  After that he left me alone, but just knowing that men today still believe that a woman can't even perform the mere task of vacuuming out her own car, it's amusing!

In response to the readings, I thought it was interesting to see how the topic of sexuality has changed.  It is now acceptable to buy birth control and to talk about sex, whereas back then it was not.  I find it interesting how much things have changed regarding sex.  I think that women have made great progress in the issue of sex because like Jane said on page 37, " access to reproductive choices has mad a huge difference in women's freedom of choice about how, when, and where they're going to have sex, lives, and children."

In the fifth chapter, the book talked about the third wave and how women today do not want to be labeled as feminists.  I think this is true, because feminism was given such a bad name in the 60's that women today don't see being a feminist as being a good thing they only see it as a women who hates men or is a lesbian, etc.  Even my own grandma did not claim herself as a feminist when her own definition of it matched perfectly to the type of woman she is.  I believe that many women these days are feminists, but the label keeps them from claiming it.