Cohort Change
Assignment 1: Cohort Change
When my parents first met at a dance club, they never imagined changing diapers in a family bathroom a year later. My parent’s honeymoon stage in their relationship was cut short on April 13, 1991. I learned the information of my birth and mothers work history through questioning and interviewing her about employment and family experiences as well as her mothers. My mother was 23 when she had me in Sanger, California; I was their first child, born from an unplanned pregnancy and out of wedlock. Although abortion and contraception were legally attainable, these resources were economically and culturally inaccessible to my parents before my birth. My mother came to the United States when she was sixteen and worked in the fields as quickly as she could to repay her sister for traveling expenses. Her goal was to make enough money to start a better a lifestyle than the one she left back in Mexico. She stated that she did not plan on having a family until she had enough means to support herself and have a home of her own. During her interview she mentioned, “No queria hijos todavia, pero te tuve a ti a un buen tiempo,” meaning that she did not want children as early as she did, but she had to accept the outcome of her actions. My mother did not have the privilege of having an education due to her economical constraints. Therefore, my mother’s job came first and family a few years after due to the hardships of settling into a new country and culture. My grandmother on the other hand, had eight children starting at the age of 18. She resided in Mexico and had her first child in 1944. During that time, cultural expectations limited the ability for women to participate in the labor force and as a result they stayed at home. My mother’s family was poor and needed my grandmothers sewing and cleaning abilities to provide more economical means. Even though women’s labor was a dishonor to her husband, my grandmother would complete tasks for her
When my parents first met at a dance club, they never imagined changing diapers in a family bathroom a year later. My parent’s honeymoon stage in their relationship was cut short on April 13, 1991. I learned the information of my birth and mothers work history through questioning and interviewing her about employment and family experiences as well as her mothers. My mother was 23 when she had me in Sanger, California; I was their first child, born from an unplanned pregnancy and out of wedlock. Although abortion and contraception were legally attainable, these resources were economically and culturally inaccessible to my parents before my birth. My mother came to the United States when she was sixteen and worked in the fields as quickly as she could to repay her sister for traveling expenses. Her goal was to make enough money to start a better a lifestyle than the one she left back in Mexico. She stated that she did not plan on having a family until she had enough means to support herself and have a home of her own. During her interview she mentioned, “No queria hijos todavia, pero te tuve a ti a un buen tiempo,” meaning that she did not want children as early as she did, but she had to accept the outcome of her actions. My mother did not have the privilege of having an education due to her economical constraints. Therefore, my mother’s job came first and family a few years after due to the hardships of settling into a new country and culture. My grandmother on the other hand, had eight children starting at the age of 18. She resided in Mexico and had her first child in 1944. During that time, cultural expectations limited the ability for women to participate in the labor force and as a result they stayed at home. My mother’s family was poor and needed my grandmothers sewing and cleaning abilities to provide more economical means. Even though women’s labor was a dishonor to her husband, my grandmother would complete tasks for her