In this activity, you will experience opinions other than your own. Your task is
In this activity, you will experience opinions other than your own. Your task is to interview someone from a different gender identity. For example: an individual who is male would interview a female, an individual who is non-binary may interview someone who is male or female, an individual who is female would interview a male. You will ask them these questions and report their responses. Remember, this is not a time to argue. You will be practicing active listening. Please write your interviewee’s response as they state them. Your writing should be coherent, so use full sentences.
Provide their responses to the questions below. Refer to the rubric located under the works cited to see how you will be graded.
Name of interviewer:
Name of interviewee (person being interviewed):
The 19th amendment was passed in 1920. It allowed women the right to vote. Why do you think it took our country so long to allow this?
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 states: “It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer–to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” Do you think this act is being upheld? If not, where is there room for improvement?
“We teach girls that they can have ambition, but not too much … to be successful, but not too successful, or they’ll threaten men,” says author and speaker Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Do you think this kind of culture still exists in the U.S.?
According to the author and speaker, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a feminist can be defined as “the person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.” Would you consider yourself a feminist based on this definition? If not, what do you disagree with?
Why do you think, particularly in the last couple of years, there have been so many women lead movements? Examples include: #MeToo, Women’s National March, and #Timesup.
According to an article from Time titled “This is how much the average American Spends on Child Care,” “Nationally, the average cost for a week at a child care center, for one child, totaled $196. An after-school sitter set the average family back $214 for 15 hours of work a week. And hiring a nanny topped $556 a week…It’s not so surprising when you consider that the Economic Policy Institute found that full-time childcare for a 4-year-old is more expensive than in-state public college tuition in 23 states.” How do you think childcare costs relate to gender roles?
A statistic that has become popular is the idea that women make 78 cents to the dollar when compared to men. Forbes Magazine disagrees and proves otherwise “Using the statistic that women make 78 cents on the dollar as evidence of rampant discrimination has been debunked over and over again. That statistic doesn’t take into account a lot of choices that women and men make—education, years of experience and hours worked—that influence earnings. If we want to have a fruitful discussion about a gender wage gap, we should have it after the comparison is adjusted for those factors.” What is your opinion on this? Do you think a pay gap exists? Why or why not?
The New Yorker writes quoting author Jessa Crispin “Feminism, she tells us, has become a self-serving brand popularized by C.E.O.s and beauty companies, a “fight to allow women to participate equally in the oppression of the powerless and the poor.” Do you think that feminism has become sensationalized and actually a “brand” more than a revolutionary movement? Why or why not?
According to NPR “Out of 193 countries in the United Nations, only a small handful do not have a national paid parental leave law: New Guinea, Suriname, a few South Pacific island nations and the United States” (Deahl). Why do you think that the U.S. is one of the few remaining countries in the world to not require employers to offer a paid parental leave?
What do you think our country can do to address childcare costs, paternity leave or gender equality?
Works Cited
Agness, Karin. “Don’t Buy Into The Gender Pay Gap Myth.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Apr. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/karinagness/2016/04/12/dont-buy-into-the-gender-pay-gap-myth/#256104a22596.
Deahl, Jessica. “Countries Around The World Beat The U.S. On Paid Parental Leave.” NPR, NPR, 6 Oct. 2016, www.npr.org/2016/10/06/495839588/countries-around-the-world-beat-the-u-s-on-paid-parental-leave.
“This Is How Much the Average American Spends on Child Care | Money.” Time, Time, time.com/money/4444034/average-cost-child-care/.
Tolentino, Jia. “The Case Against Contemporary Feminism.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-case-against-contemporary-feminism.
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