This blog assignment is focused more on my interviewee rather than the book Strangers in Their Own Land. As talked about in previous blogs, the person I have chosen to interview is an older woman. This being said, she was raised with different morals and taught different aspects of life while she grew up, and through the first decades of her life, than I. At the time she was raised, controversial arguments that are talked about now were not even a second thought. These ‘controversial arguments’’ include political issues such as gay marriage, immigration, transgender, bisexuality, and so on. My interviewee was raised on the west coast and was taught that homosexuality is a sin, that all immigrants are bad, that the caucasion race is superior to other races, and so on. Obviously different than what I, and probably you were raised being taught. Now, as she grew, times changed, and she had experiences for herself, of course her views on some of these political aspects were changed based on her opinion, but some aspects she was taught never left. As she explains in an interview I conducted with her, “It is sort of like being taught to set a table, or take your shoes off at the door. Eventually, it just becomes second thought [referring to her opinions that she was taught].” Of course now we would not compare gay marriage and setting a table as even in the same relm of argumentation, but the point she was trying to get across does make sense to me.
You, as a child, were most likely taught basic rules growing up such as don’t put your elbows on the dinner table, don’t slurp your soup, take your shoes off at the door, wash your plates and when you are done, and so forth. The same goes for my interviewee, instead she was taught that women should not speak about political issues, women should do the cooking and cleaning, homosexuality is sinful, immigrants take our jobs, and so on.
What I have learned from the interviews I conducted and just talking to my interviewee is that someone’s political viewpoint does not define them as a person. My interviewee is a wonderful person, and I knew that before I conducted this entire process, but now after researching her and learning more about her, it all makes sense.
Hannah's Blog 