Interview Subject

I am carrying out this research for my Woman, Work, and  Justice class where I will be analyzing a working mother’s struggle in-between her family life and her work life. First of all my name is Mireya Campos, and I am conducting and interview that will help research  for women employment; in which will define some of the issues that arise from women and work such as struggles of working women, income inequality and benefit inequality, the instability of care work that employers offer, as well as the benefits and  the struggle that women have trying to balance family life and work or a career. For this interview my first thought was to interview my mother however I began to think and realized that it might be a bit more exiting to interview a co-worker it will not only bring me insight on her life as a working mother but also as my co worker.

I will be interviewing my co-worker Luz .I will not be addressing her last name just yet until the interview is complete. Luz, is not only a mother of a beautiful five year old girl, Jacky, but also is a soon to be mother of her first son, that might be called; Julian. Luz became a mother very early in her life at the age of 17, she has not only balanced her education, trying to graduate from High School and then finish her cosmetology school and also raise a child. She has struggled greatly and yet overcome a great deal of things. Her husband is a very difficult situation due to his legal status however, this new blessing in her life, her son, is giving her hope to overcome the adversity of being the one with a stable job( or at least knowing that she will not be fired for not being legal) . I have not only choose her because she is around my age but because this issue of insecurity among Hispanic women has impacted greatly communities here in Arizona. There are numerous events that have occurred in Arizona that have left women as the head of the household due to their husbands legal status. This life is difficult as it is. Luz is an example of how courages young women are being pushed to be the stable bread winner and given a lot of responsibility to make their family persevere and succeed. This interview will be based on her decisions of working , how has she managed and struggled in life and work, and how are some of the ways that have changed her and those around her, as well as listing who has helped he in her struggle with balancing work and family life and the obstacles she has overcome and those she is still trying to overcome.

 

Outline for Interview Questions:

1. What is traditional family in your view? What are some of the roles of your parents?

2.How was it for her becoming a mother at an early age? How was it difficult?

2.Did you recieve child care ? As a mother later on who helped you with your children? Did you have childcare for them?

3.At what age did you get married?

4. Did your husband work? What hours?

5. How do you view work in general?

6. How many children did you have?How did you manage your home? chores? baby?

7. Did you go back to work after they were born? When? What kind of job was it ?did you attend school?Will you plan to go back? How do you see your self career wise?

8. How long were you at work everyday?at home? How does your husband help around the house when you work? what are both of your schedules?

9. How did your family, friends, etc help out with child care?

10. Have you paid or used childcare? How much are the costs? 

11. Who took care of this child on the weekends if you work? 

12. Have you felt supported by your employer in regards to child care and being able to have time with your child?

13. Does your child  associate more with the parent she interacts more or is it with the one she interacts with the less? Why do you think? give examples?

14. Do you feel comfortable by working? How do you think your children see your work? 7. How long did the children live with you?

15.  How has it been raising children while; going to school?working?

16.Has it been difficult to raise children?what have been some obstacles? how have you overcome those obstacles? have any one helped you? Who? What ways?

17. What characteristics would you say are needed to have a good family life? What is having a good balance?

18. What are some of the sacrifices you have made in order to keep your job? 

19. What is your current job position?

20. How much do you make?is it less then your husband?

21. How many hours do you work?how many days do you have off?

22. State your Work history from child was born until now?.

23. How many hours did you work?How much did you make back then?

24. Did you have to sacrifice education for family?family for work? .

25.Are you statisfied with your work? Is it a flexible job to take care of your daily work at home?

26. What do you think are women duties? men? is there such difference?

27. How do you manage work and home?

28. What words of advice do you give mothers that are struggling with work and home?

29. Has it been difficult becoming a young mother at an early age? What have been the struggles?

30. How does your husband support you? What are some of the ways you would like him to support you more?

31. If you were to write a book and list some keys to being a successful mother-worker what are some of the things you would state?

32. If you would to go back and change certain choices as of family life, ways in working at home, etc, what are some of things you would change? why?explain

33. How has current laws in regards to employement (e-verify) have affected your family? has it been difficult? what are some of the obstables? how have you overcome them? How do your children feel? 

34. How many children do you have? what are their ages? names? do they go to school?girl or boy?How much time do you spend with them? your husband?

BLOG #4

In my personal belief  I think the characteristics of a good family life is in some part stability to have time to care for your family. I think that Love is in fact the most important characteristic in a family following values, communication, trust and loyalty. At some point it is very difficult to continue making those in your family feel love and giving them the attention  they need especially in today's lifestyle. The challenge  then comes in how to balance a career and family. It is not just dedicated a certain amount of time to one thing and another set of time to another. It is trying be dedicated to both environments but not put your career above your family. The NPR " Creative Tips for Balancing Work, Family Life"  states that high profile businessman are now resigning their jobs.  However, many of us do not have the luxury to do this. It is necessary to make ways in which we can dedicate more time to our family , this being by asking for certain days off, dedicating time to soccer games, or simply having a conversation with our family and becoming more interested in the involvement of each individual. It is a matter of dedication to make those close to us happy and fulfill in being in a family. I find this very important. There is a need to make those around us happy especially family.  The video conducted by Cornell University the speaker gave very detailed examples of the "choices" she had to make in order to make her daughter feel she was being supported even though she did not traditionally bake cookies for a bake sale.  This then leads to a "guilt"  for working and not being the typical stay at home mom that does everything. It can also be challenging if their is a need. I know a lot of women that feel very sad leaving their children to go to work but they have to in order to survive and continue to care for them. Often necessity makes mothers feel guilty for not having everything to give to their children, even time.

Gender roles have made work and family issues a bit more complex because they have not only made life a bit more complex due to making women feel a bit guilty for not completing their traditional "duties" because not only they have to be the bread winners but also the sole distributers and organizers of the home. In some ways this has somewhat force husbands and others close to the women that works manage things a bit more easier. Now not only are women those that have to do chores around the house it is almost everyone that helps out. For example my mom works in the morning and runs her company at night, my father is usually the one that cooks for my siblings and tries to keep the house in order, however, when my mom is off she usually still not only does what my dad does everyday around the house but also finds new things to do now that my dad helps a bit more. Women at work have caused a type of revolution in the sense that it has revolutionized the norm of what is expected of a women.

However, there is also what some call the Employers pushdown revolution were women are push down by societies norms and get no support from employers. Instead women making  revolution by working more there is revolution by employers in not sustaining and not being supportive towards women. In the video it was discussed that there is a 20% of women that  live in poverty even if the numbers have increased of women at work. It was also shocking to hear that a  "society that impoverish their mothers impoverish their children" . It is still important and there is a need for better workplace flexibility programs. Women need to feel secure in their jobs or careers if they need time to be with their family a bit more or simply need some time to do whatever is needed. What the UK does with the CARE program that enables women to have some time of leave and feel secure that they can have their job back I found this idea a very positive. The video stated that it not only make the women feel more dedicated to her career or job but makes her feel more comfortable. There is no doubt that we as a society need to stop complaining about women issues and look at these issues as a human and necessary issues. The need of childcare, transportation, education, income are all in the list in my eyes a necessary need of change. Those being affected are children and we need to think of them too by doing so we will not only change the economical state of them but their educational and their generation and society.

BLOG 3

One of the ways that I have experienced care work in my family has been through the help of my spouse and parents. They have been the essential persons that have helped me in this stage of my life. Becoming a mother as I still had a role as an employee and student has been a very challenging and I cannot imagine how it would have been if I had not have the support of my husband and parents. My husband has taken roles that in his family might not be typical. He helps me with as much as he can with chores around the house and the baby.

I found the issues presented in “Juggling Work and Care “ are very beneficial and should be done here in the United States. I found it very interested that the CARE program was very flexible and dependable for any women or mother entering the work force. By employers being more flexible to the lifestyles of the person even those that are working mothers. It can be argued that this will jeopardize the dedication of the women that works, however, it does not do that at all in fact according to the video become more loyal and committed to the job and it even forces them more to be more active in other things. I really like the outcomes of how the UK works. I think even more women would in fact feel more comfortable working with benefits like these especially young mothers who are students and that sometimes depend on their income to provide not only for their children but for their education. Having the security for your job from your employer is in fact very attractive and much needed.

Society needs to reconstruct their notions of the home “women’s work”. In the video in regards to the Love Economy states that women’s work is not recognized which in fact is a mistake because in a way it degrading and it just places monetary value to work a work that is worth probably even more that the one already valued. There should not be a reason why women’s work should not be defined by Love work or have no monetary value and other type of work does. I found all the video such as juggling work and care, love economy, changing gender roles, very uniquely appealing to try to make our society change its ways of looking at the work that mothers do just as duty but also work not just women’s work but everyone sort of necessary work. Just the notation of women’s work just to me seems a bit derogative why should it be this way? I understand that there are myths that define the culture of a women ,however, we must begin to change these ideas deeply installed upon us. I know that as a married Mexican –American wife my role as a mother and “duties” were in fact going to be bit different than what my mother or mother-in-law roles. I still believe that change is its way but there is a need for women themselves construct a different view of their work. Although, it may take a while because like in the video showed, women just want to do the work, even if men try to help.I think the negative connotation should be removed by stating that what women work is not valuable it is just mere love work.

Blog 2

According to the article “one major gender differentiation is set forth by segregations of jobs by sex. Sex segregation is set by how some women have been discriminated to get access to certain jobs or careers. The article also mentions how there is wage gap between men and women.

As I started my college career I frankly did not know what to do for a major so I sort of explored many types of areas. In one of the areas of interest was teaching. In which the majority where women,which, should depict sex segregation and of what a women should aspire. As I got involved with some other ASU students I started to notice a relation between gender and career goals. One of the departments that I saw of most relation was in the engineering department. Most of the ASU students that I became acquainted with where in this field and I noticed that only a few rarely where women

There is actually so many ways that sex segregation is implied in advisors or professors. In particularly the justice studies department there is more women as professors than men. As a freshman my original major was criminology I took several classes and I just came to realize from this class that in the criminology department there are less women professors and more men as professors.

Sex segregation is indeed upon our society since the beginning of our development. In the article research entails that there is actually a sex barrier of what type of career or aspirations to want or not to aspire due to their sex but more importantly what is implied for you to do according to your gender. This is typically influenced by the type of family you are in or how you are raised. For example in my family as a girl I was not expected to aspire to be a police officer or anything related to politics or government related careers or jobs. I was sort of persuaded by my mother to become a teacher. She always told me it would be a stable career and I would have time for me (or my family). However, when I told her I was interested in criminology and more specifically getting in the DEA she told me it was too dangerous. I recently asked why did she tell me this and told me it was because it is dangerous and its not due to my gender. However as I questioned if I was a guy would it still be the same, she paused, for a moment and said yes, but I knew it would not be the same.As the matter of career wise my mother has somewhat now open up towards my other siblings so they can study what they want unlike me that she somewhat controlled my education aspirations. My education was very patriarchal in the sense that in the beginning of my college education my mother told me what to study, she wanted either for me to be a social worker,nurse, or a teacher, or even a lawyer, but it was out of the question anything related to using force, uniforms:police,FBI,CIA,DEA,etc. As if men where only capable of this job.

In fact when I got married she suggested to me that I was not to be the one that had to work that that was the sole responsibility of my husband and not mine. My mother has been liberal in the way that she does control the household but at the same time has still ideas that the men is the responsible for bringing the sole income to the house.

Patriarchal Socialization at schools is also the same way. Schools try to at some point ask students to aspire great things however, most of the pictures about astronauts, doctors, nurses implying a certain gender roles. In the beginning I mentioned that I was an aspiring teacher at force. I met fellow students that where mostly women. There is still a notion that women are better teachers or that women should be teachers at least that is what is perceived when you enter a classroom where there are 35 women aspiring to become teachers and only 1 men. There is still a patriarchy on what a women should study or aspire. Once again there is a gender barrier.

The last report to reflect on was the radio report “Moms become Breadwinners As Job Losses Hit Men” from the NPR report explains some shocking numbers and statistics. One major themes that made me reflect was the reality in which as I women I live but I do not see. I found it very interesting that as our country is suffering an economic breakdown men are the ones that are losing their jobs and not women. Most of these jobs are related to manufacturing and construction in which men are dominating. However, the healthcare system which is mainly mad by ¾ of women is still on the rise. The reporter asked if women then are not loosing anything now knowing that those suffering losing their jobs are men. The most shocking thing was revealed to me even though, if I do think about it it really is true. Women do not tend to have any type of insurance or healthcare benefit due to the type of jobs they have in which, men in particularly hold jobs that are related to unions which have these types of benefits. The wage gap still persist even if men are still unemployed. Although men continue to lose their jobs women still have to work as much or even more than men without benefits or something that men usually get without any work due to their job related field or skill. It is really shoking to see that there is still political and moral progress needed toward the true dignity of the women in regards to work and income equality.

Intro

My name is Mireya and I am a senior at ASU. I chose my first name as my blog handle first of all because it is such a unique name and I am pretty sure no one in the class has it. I think that it really points out that I am from another place other than the U.S. however it also gives a bit of interesting perspective about me.
I am a Justice Studies major with two minors in sociology and political science and if the opportunity comes I would like to attend Law school next year. If it does not happen then I will get my masters in Legal studies from the Sandra D’ Law School also here in ASU. I am packed with excitement however a bit paranoid because it is my first time doing a blog and after all the confusion I just got this sort of down which is why I am barely posting it, not because I am slacking. I am doing my best at attempting to manage full-time work, 15 credit hours, and an intern that I just got this Monday for a nonprofit organization. I also have at home a 13 month year old who seems like I don’t know three kids in have other responsibilities which involve a youth ministry in a local church close to ASU. Which is why this class seemed interesting to take.
I know and acknowledge my roles as women, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a student, and an employee. I would like to understand and identify from this class some of the basic things that I live in my everyday life by reflecting on stories and theory that speak to me. The women of the 21^st century that is not just at her house but making things happen. I hope to be and learn more of how I can also affect history and future women of my society.
One of the first things that came to my mind when I can think of the past roles of women is the movie MONA LISA SMILES, it is clear of the injustice. The idea of a woman was set as a role model that had nothing to say just to do as her husband said. Work was just unbearable. I think justice is a notion of understand and having a choice which gives dignity to a person. Some issues of justice that I am concerned of are family, work, immigration. First of all of these issues have impacted me in some way personally. Justice is not vengeance it is finding true meaning of dignity in a person. For example. I took a class about Immigration and justice and I saw well first at hand from family members and in the class how at time we tend to scrutinize people and better yet label them as legal and illegal being so that all are human. Justice is an act that gives dignity and sometimes entails the truth but at times our judgments are beyond a clear view of what has to be done… Going fort to the injustices. I will use the same example with immigration. Students that I know of here in ASU were born in other countries other than the United States however lived all of their lives and gone through the school system until entering a university level, in order to continue with school some have to pay more than 10,000 dollars in tuition for just one semester, I really don’t see the justice in a person who is out of state can automatically become instate after being in the state for a year or two and then having the privilege of paying in state tuition while a student that has been living in the state but is “illegal” has to pay as much or more. I don’t see the justice in that.
I believe that there are still inequalities in how women are treated. As a mother and being married I can sense in ways that there are injustices. Employers might think that I might ask for days off or not be on time due to the fact that I have children. Also maybe in government or state jobs I think there might be inequalities just due to gender. Engineering is one that I have seen more inequalities. I used to help my mom in a cleaning company that she has and she clean and managed a engineering firm and I just saw 3 women out im guessing 100 employees. The bathrooms where around 10 and only 1 was for women. There is still a notion that women can only get into some areas or fields. I know that when I got into justice studies my area of interest was to work for the DEA and my mother told me it was too dangerous for me. I never really asked her whether it was due to my gender or in general. Hopefully I will understand both injustice and justices this way I can be aware of both and actually act towards them.