Linda Black

     My grandmother was born April 19, 1944. She had one brother, Tony. 

     Her experience of gender roles was "I was a girl, and I did froo-froo things. I made houses out of rocks.... I played house." 

     She had baby dolls because there were no barbie dolls. 

    " I took gym, and we played volleyball... and some tennis.. and we played a lot of dodge ball."

They always separated the teams. (Example: girls' volleyball team.)

History of Feminism

      "Well, we really didn't have a lot of that back then."

     "I got a swat from my ninth grade math teacher. Because I was a girl, I got to wear petticoats, and the swat didn't hurt so bad." 

Life Experience

     "When they invoked the draft during the Vietnam War... I knew that I didn't have to worry about it because I was a girl."

     "When I graduated from high school, the accepted social thing was to get married and have a family. It was not normal for a girl to go to college."

     "It wasn't done regularly. Most of the people that went on to college... they either went on to college or the military. But girls did not. They either went to work at a proper job or they had a family."

Thoughts on Feminism

     "I think I ought to be allowed to do anything I think I'm big enough to do. But on the other hand, it's kind of nice to be a girl and not be expected to do a lot of things that men are expected to do."

   It is interesting to note, however, that because of the more radical viewpoints that some feminists took, Linda has a difficult time saying whether she is a feminist. This idea, discussed in length in "The F Word: Feminism In Jeopardy," is one of the reasons why the third wave of feminism is having such a difficult time gaining momentum. Until all pieces can come together and stand united, this stage of feminism could be the last.

     Her mother got married at 14, and she married at 19. If she had it to do over again, she would have liked to have gone to college. Looking back on it, Linda believes she would have eventually become a lawyer if she had been given the opportunity to do so. 

     My grandmother is a very strong-willed person. She is full of ideas, and worked as a secretary for several years. In her own way, it is my personal belief that she is a feminist.