#interview reflection

[exalted-8th-blog1]

Interview Reflection

In the interview, I did use all of my questions and formed about as many as we spoke as I had going into it. I knew that the questions I asked would lead to more, but I didn’t expect some of the stories my mom had to share, which were amusing in a frightening sort of way, particularly to me, as someone with food allergies. I think the unexpected outbursts from my mom were the most insightful, actually, as shown by quotes like, “So you’re thinking she’s not going to be on the floor but, as this shows you, you never know with kids.”

I think we often forget how chaotic kids can be and how often the unexpected does in fact happen. I honestly thought it would be easier to keep the kids safe from their allergens than it really is with them running around dropping forks and the contents of their meals being unknown to their teachers. It’s scary to think about how close they are to the things that could kill them and they go through this every day with a $600 backup plan in case something goes wrong.

All in all, I feel like I learned a lot from this conversation as it gave me insight on another, very specific, view of the situation: that of a teacher’s. I wasn’t fully prepared for some of the turns the conversation took, particularly when it came to my own family. I honestly didn’t know that my cousin was having problems along those lines and it hit close to home. The whole issue has always felt personal to me, but now it feels much more so.

[alvrene-blog]

Gender Pricing and The Pink Tax: Interview Reflection

To gain a more personal perspective on the issue of gender-based pricing, I decided to interview my mother. I noticed as the interview progressed, that my mom felt pretty passionate about this topic— as I expect most women would. When asked if she had ever experienced gender-based pricing when shopping for personal care items or when getting dry cleaning or getting a haircut she immediately responded “definitely, the dry cleaning and haircuts.”   She then went on to inform that if she were to have one of my dad’s big men’s shirts washed and pressed she would pay $1.50 but if she got one of my small women’s shirts washed and pressed, she would have to pay $2.50. My mom seemed to be quite frustrated with the luxury tax on feminine hygiene products; her tone became exasperated as I asked her if she knew of the tax as she said “Yes I do. I think its BS. What? Are you not supposed to use hygiene products? What else are we supposed to use?”  We discussed the luxury tax on feminine hygiene products further and my mom pointed out the fact that cigarettes and alcohol are luxury taxed because “those are legitimate luxuries— no one’s buying [feminine hygiene products] for fun.” I thought she made a good point with this, that no one buys feminine hygiene products for fun. It is unfair to tax them, and clearly my mom felt the same way. As far as the price disparities between men’s and women’s products, my mom said she had never noticed it before since she only buys whatever items are on sale. When I informed her that such disparities do exist, she seemed upset and frustrated as she said she found the issue discriminatory and she felt it does contribute to not only economic gender inequality but gender inequality in general.  At one point in the interview, she even wondered “I don’t even understand how [gender pricing] is legal.” This was one of the reasons I decided to research this topic in the first place; I wondered the same thing. I think the insight my mom provided really captures the frustration women feel over these issues of inequality.

Lozada, Lorene. "My Mother on Gender-Pricing." Telephone interview. 23 Oct. 2016.

[jenniferhanoltlang120-blog]

Interview Reflection

Q: What types of diets have you followed?

A: I have followed a vegetarian diet and a vegan diet. Currently the only meat I eat is chicken.

Q: How did you feel during each of the diets?

A: At the beginning and towards the end of being vegetarian and vegan, I lacked necessary nutrients in my everyday diet. But, when I planned out and cooked my meals and made sure I got enough protein, I felt better and had more energy than when I ate meat/animal products.

Q: What inspired you to go vegetarian?

A: I chose vegetarianism to help the environment, and to protest the cruel treatment of animals

Q: After being vegetarian for some time, what made you choose to go vegan?

A: I chose veganism as sort of a next step up in my vegetarian lifestyle. I had researched enough about it to make me want to fully commit to being vegan.

Q: Would you ever consider transitioning back to vegetarianism or veganism?

A: Yes, definitely. I had to initially start eating meat again due to the fact that I didn’t have time to prepare my meals and snacks, and began to lack vital nutrients. Once I am at a place in my life where I can devote my time to my lifestyle choices, I will.

For this assignment, I chose to interview my friend Caroline. I chose to interview her because I had known that she had been vegetarian for a long while before choosing to stop, which was interesting. It’s fascinating that she decided to quit because of time constraints. That reason is one of the most common as to why more people choose not to go, or even stay vegetarian. This also ties into one idea I’d like to speak on in my paper, which is the instantaneousness and convenience of food in this day and age, and how that negatively affects us. Overall the interview went well. It was interesting when she said “I had to initially start eating meat again due to the fact that I didn’t have time to prepare my meals and snacks” because of how relative time is to everyone. As a college student, especially here at UNCA, it’s not terribly hard to commit to a diet, seeing as most dining halls provide some types of veggie options, and we even have Rosetta’s here on campus. It all boils down to commitment and how seriously a person wants it, and that’s fine with me. Not everyone in the world can or will be vegetarian, it just isn’t realistic. Moderation is key, and limiting the consumption of animal products still has a positive effect. Caroline still monitors what she eats and consciously tries to eat as well as she can for both herself, and the planet. Even by only eating chicken, that still helps the Earth so much more than if she had gone back to consuming any red meats.

[kreepskate-blog]

Interview Reflection

Last Friday, I sat down for an interview about sexism, music, and Kesha with Women and Gender Studies professor, Anne Jansen. I waited out on the bench across from her office, palms slightly sweaty. As a person who is seriously considering journalism to be her calling, this marked the first interview--potentially--of my entire career. It was no small feat in my mind, and I’d spent all week worrying about/polishing my questions; a habit that already felt professional enough. When she arrived, she ushered me into her office and we greeted each other. I quickly tried to shake my nerves; it was business time.

I have pretty much been desperate to take a Women and Gender Studies class since my sophomore year of high school, when I first embraced feminism. But, with the sometimes daunting task of fulfilling prerequisites, I haven’t yet had time to take my long desired WGS. Yet, as I’ve gone through my freshman year, and articulated this eagerness to my peers, I’ve been consistently referred to Anne Jansen. You can imagine my excitement when she emailed me back and agreed to give an interview! So when I went in I was charged with an extra sort of anticipation; an allover sense of excitement and good fortune. She did not disappoint. She gave excellent, thought-provoking answers to each of my questions, and had a great deal of evidence to support all her claims.

Though my paper is based around the Kesha case, our conversation tended to range in more general terms about sexism in music. She talked representation, body politics, and money, making several interesting points that caused me to look at my research from another angle. Often, the things she said inspired new questions in me for her, and ultimately for my research. I shifted in my seat, mid-conversation, realizing that we’d exceeded our 15-minute time slot. She had a meeting with an advisee, who to my relief, appeared to be running late. I had just one more question written in my notebook, confident that I had nearly all the material I needed. I asked her, “What do you see as a major problem with representation in female musicians--and I guess--women in general in highly publicized mediums like this [music]?” She cites, “the scrutiny applied to their bodies.” It was an answer so simple, yet so integral to the perception of all women in society, that I’d somehow overlooked it. I had an aha! moment. An epiphany for a new train of thought chugging into my Kesha Grand Central Station.

When the interview was finished, I stood up and shook her hand, and thanked her twice for the interview before striding off down the hall. I let out a sigh of relief, glad that the first test-run of my career went so well. The interview process was one I could do. I really enjoyed getting to hear another opinion on the case, and an expert assessment of current sexist media. Having a fresh perspective on the case was not only helpful in opening up new topics of interest, but it also renewed some of my former passion for this project. Ultimately, I think the interview couldn’t have gone better, and it was a real learning experience that I wholeheartedly enjoyed. I left Karpen, sun shining on my face, feeling like I’d made some real progress. Across the way, my friend called to me from an Eno. I happily trotted over to him, already gearing up to tell him about the interview I just came from.

[superxuezhuzhang]

Interview Reflection

The name for my interview is "Music And Young people" is is about the relationship between music and young people. Base on my interview with my interviewee, I learned that music have significant influence to the young people that have never seen before appeared. Because my interview also mentioned that music sometime can reflect their life conditions, and it is a very good way of thinking about themselves. 

during the interview, I found that young people at this time is the group that praise show themselves. Sometimes they are called Generation Me. So they like to use unique way to express themselves. In this case, various music provide more place for young people to show themselves differently. They concern about music as their characteristic. before I interview the participant, I thought she would like to think music has very strong relationship with young people, Because I heard from a friend of mine who are very familiar with that participant said that she is a crazy fan for music, So I believed that she can give me more interesting ideas about music. fortunately, in the interview she used her experiences and experience of her brother to show how strong relationship between music and young people. I think I got right people to talk. 

[mcnall62-blog]

Interview Reflection

The topic of my interview was the current youth and their take on dating. Some things that really stood out to me during the interview were that the person I was interviewing was not only extremely comfortable talking about her dating history, but also she continuously talked about it as if it were a group experience opposed to an intimate time in her life. Another thing that stuck out to me was how casual she was about the idea of not really wanting a serious relationship until at the least tail end of her college career.

I learned that not only has dating changed in that girls are almost just as responsible as men for being the ones to ask the other out on a date, but there is little to no one-on-one intimate dating time like the traditional dating of the past has been. Hanging out in groups appears to have become the norm, and the youth of today feel much more comfortable with their friends around to take away some of the anxiety and awkwardness that dating (especially early on) can provide.

My interview participant responded in a way that I had envisioned going into it. From what I have seen and heard about today's youth, being casual and informal about many important issues such as dating appears to be the norm at this point. Keeping anxiety down and limiting face to face contact through social media and text messaging has taken over the long phone conversations and intimate time spend on a regular basis. Overall I was very pleased with how the interview process went down.

[victoriathomaslove-blog]

Seen and Heard Interview Reflection

I thoroughly enjoyed completing the seen and heard assignment. I interviewed an 17 African American female, discussing topics including family and friends. The interview showed me that even I, as a youth have assumed much about those which the same age cohort as myself. The individual that I interviewed actually placed high value on morals and family values, rather than simply relying on the thoughts and actions of her peers. However she does note that peer influence in many of her friends thoughts and actions. Rachael saw friends as an constantly interchanging aspect of her life. However family remained a constant. She acknowledge the position that that friends have in her life. However she still places family relationships to be of highest importance.

[stephanie-saperstein-blog]

My interview experience was actually very interesting and definitely eye opening. I interviewed a really close friend of mine so we shared a lot of the same things. Our interview almost worked more as a constructive conversation rather than a one-sided interview. I would ask a question which would initiate a much more in depth conversation. The conversation flowed very quickly and we found we actually had a lot to talk about. We also both agreed that these question were actually hard to answer. Further more we realized that we really had never discussed this in depth. My topic of the interview was about how influential family and friends are. Our conversation consisted of going back and forth between family and friends and how different their influencing factors are. We also discussed how age really influenced the affect that our friends and family have. It was a really great conversation and I'm glad this class brought these things to my friends and I's attention.