Week 5

My interviewee was my mother, Renee Cooper-Wright. Born and raised in San Bernardino California, my mom is the second oldest out of her 5 brothers and held a close relationship with everyone in her family. My mother’s ethnic background is Africa American, and growing up she attended a Christian church every Sunday. Growing up my mom also had a step father who played an important role in raising my mom. My mother was very active in high school cheerleading, and playing softball also graduating a year early continuing her education into college. Till this day my mom still communicates with her family on the regular basis, having a strong relationship by making sure they are always updated with what’s going on in each other’s life. When I asked my mother who she communicated with the most she said everyone. She states that she talks to her mom and brothers equally. If she needed to turn to someone for help she would go to her mom and her brother Taylor. She would go to her mom because she has always been supportive, and she would turn to her younger brother Taylor because they are close in age, having a little bit of a stronger connection. My mom states that she didn’t really get to interact with her biological father’s side of the family once she grew older even though she held a healthy and strong relationship with her dad  as if her parents we never seperated. My mother’s family has stayed in the same area geographically, because her family likes to stay together. She quotes that they like to be no more than driving distance away.

Post interview:

I didn’t really experience any discomfort or awkwardness when interviewing my mom, but when I challenged some of her answers in why she would turn to the people she would for help she struggled to find a reason. Even my mom joked during the interview that these questions were a little personal; therefore interviewing someone not related to me would be a little weird. Although being an anthropologist you’re going to have to talk to people and ask individuals personal questions not knowing them sometimes even having that language barrier, making it more difficult.

For the most part my family’s closeness is very equal, having the exception that I and my family are a little close to my Uncle Taylors family. There is not a big age difference between me and my siblings so we all socialize on the same level and have the same attitudes towards each other. A commonality we share as a family is athletics that bringing us even closer together. The trend I see are small families but what one considers a small family might be a large one to someone else. There are no major ethnic difference in my family that would impact how we socialize or interact with each other.

I am very close with relatives on my mother’s side, but as years go by I grow farther apart from relatives on my father’s side. Although this is mainly due to the fact that my parents are separated and I live with my mom.  Connecting the dots, I am the closest to my uncle Taylor and his children (which are my cousins) and socialize with them the most out of anyone outside my actual family. I believe my mom has the most influence on decisions made within the family. She has the most influence because she is the mom; she pays the bills, cooks, etc. My mom has the most responsibilities and takes care of everyone therefore she has the say in what goes.  I would say family members that are married into the family are not treated differently, but if a family member has a girlfriend or boyfriend that we don’t necessarily like, they will most likely get treated differently. There is are different attitudes in my family based upon gender, for example, my brother a lot of the time gets special treatment because he is “the only boy” in the family. I’ve learned from this exercise is that the way we interact and come close to some family members or relatives than others is hard to explain. It’s easy to say “it’s just the way it is” and it’s hard to go back and find substantial reasons on why I might be closer to my brother than my sister or closer to one cousin than the other.