Exploring the Intersections of Gender
Gender and sexuality play a critical role in defining one’s sense of self and identity. Identity refers to the individual’s psychological relationship to a particular social class system. Besides gender, other aspects such as those of race and ethnicity and others contribute to the shaping of one’s individuality. The purpose of this paper is to provide an interview report conducted with Linda, a 65-year old American woman who retired three years ago as Director of Procurement in a textile company. The essay presents the insights that shaped her sense of self and opportunities based on race, ethnicity, and age. The interview was on a face-to-face basis, and hence facial expressions played a significant role in the communication process.
Linda was an appropriate candidate for the interview, having experienced the impacts of gender, age, race, ability, and ethnicity in her life. Linda is a black-American who grew up in Dahlonega in Georgia. She is the second born in a family of five, raised in an ample background. She learned in the best schools of the United States right from kindergarten to the University. Despite all these, her life was faced with racial discrimination throughout her schooling and also in her career life. However, she has worked in various capacities in the learning institutions until her retirement as the head of procurement. The fact that her determination and perseverance were not limited by the waves of discrimination that encompassed her motivates those whose sense of self and opportunities are marked by suppression. The following is a detailed conversation to support the claims I have made in this paragraph.
Defining Moments in the Interviewee’s Life
Gender and Working Life
I inquired from Linda how being a female affected her self-esteem and academic life. Linda indicated that being a female is an overwhelming and awesome feeling. With the current modernization and the advocacy for female gender opportunities, women experience a sense of self and stable self-esteem. She expressed that during her academic years, the universities were not so accommodating for the female gender, but at least one would feel a sense of esteem, having to study amidst the males (Bécares & Priest, 2015). Even after graduation, she got a deployment immediately, unlike the male counterparts. In this regard, working opportunities were frequent, considering that the era for women empowerment was encroaching.
Age and One’s Self
The effects of aging in women on one’s sense of self have gained paramount interest over the past years. In this regard, she expressed her thoughts on how her ‘self’ and opportunities changed as she aged. Linda claimed that self-esteem was something of great concern during her teenage years that almost affected her academics. She concentrated more on making herself more presentable and noticeable amidst her peers with clear notice of any slight change in her body. However, as adulthood impinged, the body changes yielded less of her attention as her education posed more vital to her. In this regard, her self-esteem began to stabilize as she advanced in years. Her claims coincide with the theories of adult development that suggest an increasing acceptance of one’s self in the course of life (McGinn, & Oh, 2017).
Research indicates that increasing self-esteem is relative to aging individuals as they tend to express improved emotional coping skills (Ertl et al., 2017). Linda quoted that her self-esteem was highest during her early adulthood, where the goals and responsibilities of her life unfolded more visibly. At this age, the significance of establishing her life goals was knocking in her conscience, and she felt the need to shed off her fears and embrace stable self-esteem. According to her, with low self-esteem or lack of self-appreciation is a great hindrance to achieving life goals and opportunities (McGinn & Oh, 2017). In this regard, she felt the need to develop herself by achieving academic success, which would determine the kind of life she would live in old age.
Additionally, Linda claimed the opportunities in one’s life change with the age-group. For instance, the opportunities she had at teenage years, early adult, and now at old age are different and also varied in frequency. After freshly graduating from the University, she applied for job opportunities in various organizations, and almost all applications were replied to, with a 90% positive response. As such, she had a chance to choose which organization to work with based on the benefits offered and proximity to her home, among other factors. Nonetheless, as she approached 50 years, although, with various qualifications, opportunities still emerged, the age limit was a great challenge.