Interview
A different take to our podcast programs. Flashbacks offer personal insights and experiences of gender inequality through conducting personal interviews with activists, victims of gender inequality, etc...
Kaitlyn
Hi, my name is Kaitlyn and I am currently living in America. I was originally born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. As a female individual who was raised in a developing country where mildly restrictive stereotypes happened to persist over decades. Fortunately, my home city already has a high percentage of education about inequality; therefore, problems are not as severe--the most you could see is that females are expected to know how to do chores, whereas males have to be capable of financially supporting their families.
On the other hand, I do not have a say for rural areas; early marriage is a typical case in my family’s hometown, in which women are match-made to marry a guy after the age of 18 and no longer have the opportunity to go further with their education. Another phenomenon is pregnancy before marriage, usually viewed as a humiliation towards the wife’s family. I happened to witness a female friend of mine who has recently encountered this adversity, and for that, she gets treated like a disgrace. They would use profanity and forbid her to enter the house using the front door.
Although the cases that were mentioned are “despicable” and alert, in general, traditional thinking and stereotypes in Vietnam are gradually declining over time. Such concerns like son preference, domestic violence, etc.... are fading and no longer promoted. My stay in America has lasted almost 10 years, where people have more freedom of speech, and did pick up some constructive advice: (1) You need to step out of the comfort zone and speak up for yourself, (2) be respectful to everyone regardless of their genders, age, or race, (3) and last but not least, be genuine.
Zorina
Hi, my name is Zorina. I am from China and I'm currently an undergraduate student majoring in Sociology at Northwestern University. First became preoccupied with women's issues after met a young woman who can neither read nor write during my volunteer work, I've been working hard to alleviate the dilemmas faced by underprivileged women in our society. Apart from doing various independent research on women's issues and studying feminism theories extensively, I'm also part of several feminist groups within and outside my school. Although every social change is destined to be gradual and reversible, I firmly believe in the power of education and individual actions, as well as what we can do all together for creating a better world for all women.
Tracey Chang
In this episode of our podcast interview, we invited a very special guest to come and speak with us: Tracey Chang! Formerly took part in Miss New York, before becoming a part of CCTV - a large, influential, news network in China in 2013. She is currently a YouTube Influencer and a beauty blogger, well-known by her active involvement with multiple different online media; and now, we have her here to discuss and share her experiences growing up in two very different countries.
Alexandra Watson
In this interview, Professor Alexandra Watson will be sharing with us she takes on the relationship of literature and social reform, education and equity, and the theory of intersectionality. Through her anecdotes and personal experience, we hope to provide our audience knowledge and perspectives on current events and social movements such as Black Lives Matter and Feminism.
Alexandra Watson is a co-founder and executive editor of Apogee Journal, a national publication dedicated to highlighting marginalized voices in literature and the arts. She has taught in Columbia's Undergraduate Writing Program and at the nonprofit college access program Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America, where she served as Assistant Director of Writing Instruction.