Title

Identity Perspectives: David Lemon

Interviewer

Natalia JaraFollow

Project

Identity Formation Interview

Loading...

Media is loading
 

Interviewee

David Lemon

Summary of Interview

David Lemon was born in El Paso in 1962 and grew up in the Northeast part of El Paso. Mr. Lemon admitted throughout the interview that his family did not discuss gender identity and sexuality in an open manner. Although he was not exposed to these things as a child, his upbringing has had no impact on how he thinks about and perceives gender and sexuality because he has no problems with any of the possible sexualities. Although Mr. Lemon was aware that some people are homosexual, he never expressed concern about this and never passed judgment on such people. When Mr. Lemon entered high school and college, he made acquaintances with LGBTQA people, which didn't distress him or cause him to feel differently about them. Mr. Lemon first learned about his gender role in society when he was around six or seven years old. Additionally, he said that while some of the people close to him could have issues if he came out as someone different than himself, those who truly love and support him shouldn't have any issues at all. Some of the problems he thinks he would have encountered include bullying and unfavorable treatment if he had actually been a different gender.

David Lemon’s relationship with gender was that he is attracted to women but does have male friends. His gender identity reflects his gender expectations by males being the ones who should always make money and not as involved with home duties, and he differed from that. Lemon stated that he differs from those expectations as he has always been responsible for home duties as well and when his wife was working and was not able to do home chores, he was the one who did them with no problem. He treated himself and his wife equally as a result, which is something that is uncommon among men who are not equally connected with their children. In order for them and their wives/husbands to receive equal treatment and not feel as like one is doing more than the other, Mr. Lemon and his wife taught their children how to act this way as well. Something that I found really interesting on my interview with Mr. Lemon was that he felt comfortable talking about gender and sexuality even if it could be a bit unconformable for older people to talk about. Additionally, it's uncommon to see elderly people accept and be happy about the fact that people are expressing their thoughts. I was concerned that an older adult might have different perspectives and make me uncomfortable before conducting this interview assignment, but Mr. Lemon made the conversation feel natural and pleasant.

Date of Interview

10-12-2022

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS