1. Do you consider yourself a feminist? Yes, I consider myself a feminist. I believe that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities. I believe that women have the absolute right to make reproductive choices for themselves. I think that there still is inequality between men and women when it comes to pay for similar work, with similar educational backgrounds. I also think that there is still a double standard when it comes to attitudes towards women about children, sexual behavior family life and duties women have in regards to their families.
2. Have you ever faced discrimination as a woman? Yes, I have. Mostly discrimination used to be in the form of job opportunities. Women’s jobs were to be nurses, secretaries and flight attendants. Few women studied and became doctors, lawyers and architects.
3. Have you ever been a victim of sexual harassment against women? Yes, once I used to work as a waitress for a restaurant when I went to College. The manager wanted me to sleep with him, when I refused, he fired me. When I worked as a flight attendant a man once groped my behind when I was serving drinks to the passengers.
4. Did you learn about important women in school? Yes, some.
5. When you gave birth, what was the experience like for you? The experience was not pleasant. It was long and painful. I remember the nurses praising a woman in the next room who did not scream or cry in pain. It kind of felt as though as a woman you were supposed to take whatever pain and discomfort and you were less of a woman if you requested anesthesia. I did request an epidural , I did not care what anyone thought.
6. What do you think about how women are portrayed in advertising today? Women have and still are portrayed as beauty objects, the focus is on physical appearance and youth above all. Now it is becoming this way for men also. Also in the US women are often portrayed as bossy, and men as wimps in a marriage or partnership setting.
7. Do you think there are stereotypes surrounding a single mother? Yes, I think a lot of people still think today as much as in the past that single mothers are desperate, overwhelmed, and that their children will be dysfunctional because the man is missing from the family setting. Single women will not be able to discipline their kids or control them. People seem to be in awe when a single mother brings up respectful, and well behaved children who go to college.
8. Did your parents influence you as a child, and how did it affect you as a woman? My father was very educated, liberal and progressive. He was much more open minded towards women than my mother. My father always wanted his daughters to get a college education. My father believed that education was the answer, and he believed his daughters should be educated about every aspect of life including sex education. My mother always told us to be beautiful, take care of our looks and get a man who can support us to marry us. Unfortunately I followed my mother’s advice more than my father’s advice, and it did not bring me happiness in my twenties.
9. You experienced your 20's in the 1970's, what was expected of women during that time? Mostly women were expected to work in less important jobs, and eventually it was understood one would marry and have a family.
10. What are your views on same sex marriage? I believe marriage between two loving people is a good thing. People should be allowed to manage their lives in any way they see fit including legal unions between same sex partners. If they are religious, they should celebrate their union in a spiritual way according to their religious customs.
11. What are your views on same sex parenting? I do not see any difference between same sex and opposite sex parenting. There are good and bad parents on either side of the issue.
12. You were 38 years old when you first got pregnant, what were the reasons you waited so long? I did not want to have children when I was younger, I wanted to travel and see the world. I did not want that great of a responsibility at that time.
13. What are your views on abortion? I believe that life begins at conception. I do not think abortion is a good thing, and should be the last resort. However, I believe that it is a private decision SOLELY up to the woman whose health and life will be affected.
14. Can you still be a feminist and pro-life? Yes I believe you can. Being a feminist means you have the right and the power to make reproductive decisions for yourself without interference from society, religion, family. Just because the choice about abortion is yours does not make you want to have an abortion or think it is a good thing. Being a feminist means women have the right to obtain all available scientific and medical education about reproductive health, and to obtain all means of contraception freely without any obstacles. Taking care of your reproductive health and avoiding pregnancy is to be pro life and a feminist. When you have the power to truly plan to have a family when you are physically and emotionally ready, you are pro life.
15. What is some advice you would give to the new generation of women? Do not take your rights, freedom, and privileges for granted. There are many powers at work in our political scene who are working on limiting women’s rights in this day and age, from the right to obtain an abortion, to the right to obtain contraception by making it more difficult or altogether impossible, to allowing pharmacists and health care workers to decline certain procedures because they object morally to the procedure, whether it is dispensing the morning after pill, or performing an abortion for whatever reason. Past administrations in America have limited federal funding for family planning clinics in third world countries where women have little access to health care, contraceptives and no abortion. And remember, statistically, in the US, women still only make about $.75 cents on the dollar for every dollar a man earns for the same job with the same qualifications. Involve yourself in politics, inform yourself on what your politicians really stand for and vote for, not what they say during campaigns and TV sound bites.
