Abigail Neeley

SOWK 331

Bree Alexander

6 November 2022

Interview Paper

The person that I chose for my interview is one of my friends that I have known for about

a year. “Danny,” as I will refer to him to protect his identity and have him remain anonymous,

has one of the most diverse backgrounds that I have ever seen, and this is why I chose him for

the interview. I felt that Danny was also an excellent choice for this interview because since

meeting him a year ago, he has introduced me to a culture very different than my own. He has

also introduced me to many people very different than myself, and this has allowed me to learn

about unique cultures and identities that I had previously not known much about.

Beginning with his ethnic background, Danny is Hispanic and lived in Mexico until he

moved when he was nine years old. He speaks fluent Spanish as well as English and uses both

languages in his everyday life, especially at home with his parents and siblings. He stated that

most of his friends knew Spanish as well, and the majority of his friends were also Hispanic.

Danny reflected on this aspect of his identity much more than other qualities that made up who

he was, and he said that “being Hispanic is where my community is. Not only is it in the

language when I speak Spanish, but it’s in the food, the music, the bonds that I create with

people through just simply being Hispanic.” In his interview, Danny described how being

Hispanic was the most important part of his identity, and he felt that when people viewed him,

they saw Hispanic as being a large part of his identity. “Family has also been a huge part of it,”

he said after I asked him where this identity is most prominent in his life, “in Hispanic culture,
family means almost everything to us. Back in Mexico, I lived with two aunts and five cousins.

We took care of each other.” Danny also said that this was a trait that he will always carry with

him and why he sometimes feels closer to his Hispanic friends than non-Hispanic friends.

“There’s just kind of an understanding there. Especially when we’re all talking in Spanish

around people who don’t speak the language. It’s a close connection.”

When asking Danny about his sexuality, he seemed to be more hesitant about his views

of himself and the relationship that had with his identity. Danny identifies as bisexual and came

out with his sexuality about two years ago. He states that though this is a major portion of his

identity, there are many times where he has to push that portion of his identity away depending

on who he is with and where he is. After asking him more about where he felt he could share this

part of his identity and where he had to hide it, he said that he “mostly [had] to hide it with [his]

parents, family, and also whenever [he] goes to church or around religious people.” After Danny

made this statement, I found that I had also felt the same way various times with my identity of

being a lesbian. We discussed what he said about feeling like he needs to hide this aspect of his

identity further and noticed that we had both been in similar situations where our sexuality would

need to be hidden for either safety reasons of fear of prosecution.

Danny also mentioned how he sometimes had a difficult time identifying with the LGBT

(lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*) community. “I don’t really have a lot of stereotypical gay traits or

interests, and I think that’s why people get confused when I tell them I’m bisexual. It makes me

uncomfortable sometimes. People will always make comments about how I don’t look or act

gay, which is pretty offensive. Most of the time I find it easier just to keep that part of my

identity to myself.” At this point in the interview, I decided that this would be the perfect time to

discuss response triggers after Danny made the statement about sometimes hiding his identity
with certain people. With his sexuality, he said that he was normally avoidant when others

brought up rude or sometimes homophobic comments. Danny stated that sometimes it was easier

to joke around with people if they were being rude or to sometimes ignore or avoid their

comments altogether.

Despite considering being lower class to make up about 20 percent of his identity, Danny

discussed the importance of his class in great detail. “For me personally, I don’t consider class

that much when I look at myself, but I think that that’s something people view the most when

they look at me. They see the really old, run-down car that breaks down all the time, and they

make a judgement about who I am.” Danny continued to discuss how he thought people viewed

his identity greatly off of his class, and he also talked about how growing up lower class has

been a major disadvantage for him in his life. When I asked him more about his disadvantages

growing up and how it affects him today, he seemed uncomfortable talking about the hardships

that he has faced due to being lower class. “It’s kind of hard to talk about. I think I just get

embarrassed going into it in more detail because this isn’t how I want people to view me.

Growing up was hard. My parents both worked all the time and even then, we weren’t sure if

there was going to be food on the table.”

Albeit Danny felt that his class was not a major part of his identity, he talked for a while

about how being lower class made him “who he was today.” He stated that being “poor” meant

that he had to work much harder than everyone else for everything that he had, and that this was

an important part of his character. I believed that Danny put lower class as 20 percent in his

identity wheel because he associates this term with his early childhood, and when asked about

this he said that “even though I’m still technically lower class, I’m nowhere near where I was at
when I was a kid. It’s different now. That may be part of my identity, but that’s not how I see

myself.”

When asking Danny about some of what he considered to be the smaller sections of his

identity, he said that religion, ability, and age were some things where he felt like he was

privileged and parts of his life that were less important to him, so there “wasn’t as much of an

impact on [his] identity.” Danny identifies as Roman Catholic because that was the religion his

parents raised him with, and he continues to identify that way because that was “all [he] knew”

growing up. Despite having Roman Catholic beliefs, he stated that he did not attend church

regularly or practice Catholicism at home. “It’s mostly for my parents,” Danny said after I asked

him where this identity became apparent in his life, “and I guess I believe in that stuff. I don’t

really know what else to believe in, and it was always a big part of my life growing up. My

parents would also be really upset if I didn’t identify with the church.” He also discussed how he

had felt “weird” being at the church after coming out, especially with his parents. Danny said

that he was more involved with the Catholic church before he came out, but once everyone knew

about his sexuality, he found it harder to connect with others in the church due to their

judgements of him.

As far as ability, Danny said that these were two things that he felt privileged to not have

as a large part of his identity. “I really should recognize my privilege that I’m able-bodied more

often, it’s just something that I really don’t think about.” Out of all the identities that I asked

Danny about, this was the one that he seemed most unaware of, but after more conversation, he

told me about some of the times where he recognizes this identity. Danny discussed how if he is

ever in a situation where he can use the stairs rather than an elevator, he always takes the stairs

and remembers how “lucky” he is to be privileged enough to make that decision. “I guess I
recognize it more in a way where I’m grateful for what I have rather than having this as part of

my identity. It’s definitely something that I’m going to think about more often.”

Before discussing Danny’s responses to my interview with him about how his age is part

of his identity, part of his background is needed before being able to accurately reflect on his

answers. Danny is 25 years old, which has been difficult for him as a college student coming into

college at a later age. He did not attend college right after high school so that he could work full

time and pay for school, since his parents could not help him financially. When I asked Danny if

he viewed his age as a privilege or oppression, he seemed conflicted. “It’s kind of both. I’m

happy to be a young adult. I love going out all the time, having a ton of energy, and being able to

have lots of options for whatever I want to do.” After talking about the way that he is privileged

with his age, Danny became quiet when we started to talk about why he felt he was oppressed.

He stated that it was challenging for him being an older college student and that either he could

not connect with college-age students as well or people would judge him for being several years

older than everyone else. For Danny’s identity of being a young adult, he felt that this was

another one of the groups where it was hard for him to fit in or feel included.

The question I was most uncomfortable asking Danny was how his identity as a cisgender

male had an impact on his life. I was uncomfortable asking this question because he had put his

gender as about 20 percent of his identity in the identity wheel, while I would have had a much

higher percentage. When talking with Danny about his gender identity, several of my feelings

were discussed as well, and there was a conversation about how our differences in gender have

an effect on our lives. As a cisgender woman, I find this being a much larger part of my identity

because of the oppression that women have faced and the safety issues that come with being a

woman. When other people view you as a woman, you are automatically facing judgements
about what you can and cannot do, while being viewed as a man you are automatically

privileged.

“I think I take it for granted most of the time, that’s why I wouldn’t consider it a larger

part of my identity,” Danny stated when we discussed what being a cisgender male meant for his

identity. He then reflected on what I had said about how it is different being a woman, especially

safety wise, and he explained how he almost never felt unsafe or worried if he was out by

himself. One of his answers surprised me the most about how women and men feel different with

safety in our society: “unless I’m in an unsafe situation, I’m normally good. Parking lots, being

alone at night, none of these things worry me at all really. I’m a big dude.” Before having this

interview with Danny, I had previously thought that no one had felt safe alone at night or in

parking lots. Following this conversation, I realized that most of the people that probably felt

unsafe in these situations were not cisgender men.

After interviewing Danny, I learned a lot about similarities and differences that we have

due to our individual identities. This interview was very unique because I had only assumed what

his answers could have been based off on what I had thought were parts of his identity, and I was

surprised about what he considered to be the main parts of his identity. Before this interview, I

had assumed that being Hispanic, able-bodied, and a young adult would be the key parts of his

identity due to his lifestyle, stereotypes, and what he normally talks about. This interview

showed me how differently someone’s identity can be viewed from an outside perspective than

how the person actually views themselves and how two very dissimilar people can have many

similarities despite having contrasting backgrounds.

Appendix

Identity Wheel

Cisgender Male Bisexual Hispanic Catholic

Lower Class Able-bodied Young Adult