Kinship

     For this analysis I chose my father. This was a great choice for my interview because my father is very private and hardly chooses to disclose any information on his upbringing and thoughts about the family. He is very warm at heart, but he very reserved. My father was born in Tequila, Mexico in 1946. He was the second oldest of fourteen siblings. My father's life was very rural, doing chores that any farmer would do, like milking cows, tending to the pigs, and even grinding meat. Until he was about twenty two years old, he decided to travel to Los Angeles where he met my mother and married four years later. 

     The interview went very well with no pressure on both parties. I found my father to be at ease. We had just ate dinner so we were very relaxed. The television was kept at a low volume and we sat next to a shaded lamp, making the mood very relaxed. This interview was conducted in our home so it made things much more familiar and comfortable. There were moments of pause between questions that I had asked my father, but they were pauses of ponder, not awkwardness. He has a very serious tone and low voice, but he exudes a comfort with his words. This made me feel right at home, so there was no discomfort that affected me. If this was done in a different setting, however, it would have been more uncomfortable. Interviewing someone unrelated to me would be a bit of a challenge because of the personal questions I would ask. I would have to think of the setting, the words I choose, the tone of my voice, the lighting, the time of day, and other factors in order to make my subject feel much more at ease. Also, it would be more uncomfortable for me as an interviewer. I would have to mentally prepare myself which would give me a bit of anxiety throughout the entire process. 

     When analyzing my family’s kinship chart, I found some patterns dealing with family size, closeness, and socialization levels. The size of my family is very large and continues throughout the entire chart. Most sections of my family have at least three to five kids. This is higher than the average amount of kids. My father had so many siblings that their culture passed from generation to generation. My father is close to his children more than his nephews and nieces, but this was expected. Looking a the chart, I realized that most of the family members who were close with each other were in the same working class system with almost the same culture values. Although my immediate family is the same ethnicity, we do have many different types of cultures coming in from different places. There can be a clash of cultures at some points, but it is very light and meant for entertainment. There is a larger emphasis on paternal lines through my dad’s side. The attitude towards younger adults in the family is that they have to be great and work hard in order to strive. For the older adults, life is taken much more easier. My kinship chart did not follow a patrilocal residence because most of our families tended to live independently and away from their father’s home. 

     I know both sides of relatives from my mother and father's side well, but I know my father's uncles and aunts much more than I know my mother's sisters and brothers because of their distance away from Los Angeles. I do not socialize with anyone as much as I should because of who I am as a quiet and reserved person. It must be my father's gift to me. I do, however, know my father's side of the family more because they are very lively and hold annual parties which I attend if I have the time and energy. My sister holds the most decision making influence in my family. The reason I believe so is because of her righteousness, dedication, and ambition. She views our family as a sort of traditional family with morals, standards, and ethics. Because of this, her stern way of telling the family what ought to be done goes unquestioned and unchallenged. All family members who marry into the family basically become part of the family. Some of the members who marry are from different parts of the country, like Michigan, where their family is far away. We have always adopted them as our own and basically treat them like siblings. Some of the members who do marry into the family have different attitudes towards different genders, but not in a demeaning way. For example, my sister's husband is from Pakistan, and he treats men a little more serious then women because of his culture. Everyone, however, understands and tries to open up his perspective. Through this exercise, I learned that my family is very open. Although they hold on to tradition, they are able to open up enough to accept all different types of cultures and attitudes. I believe we enjoy life much more when our minds are open.