Improve Your English: English in Everyday Life

THE ROLE OF WOMEN
In this chapter, interviewees talk about the 
sometimes-changing role of women in the 
United States and in their countries of origin.
1. A GOOD WIFE
My mother, my mother wanted me to be a doctor. I don’t 
have the temp—, really, the temperament for it. She 
wanted me to be a doctor, but at the same time, a really 
good wife. And I think my-my mom was kind of just torn 
in those, you know, in the two ways, and it was this idea 
that you had—mother, wife—that was, you know, num-
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ber one. And she just says, y’know, she wishes things 
were diff erent when she were, when she was younger 
’cause it was a bit harder. My nieces, um, I think my sister 
didn’t have to worry ’cause I think my, the one niece has a 
pretty good head
-head 
on her shoulders
and thought it, 
you know, was an easy class, something that was kind of 
interesting, you know, like that, but she’s pretty focused, 
and I think-think she won’t have that guilt that, you know, 
my mom certainly had and, you know, I had a little bit of 
that, you know, being Catholic. Th
at’s something you deal 
with, I think, and also with women, I think there’s this, 
um, so, but I think it’s good because there were contem-
poraries of mine whose, like, their parents didn’t want 
them to be doctors, they wanted them to be nurses, you 
know. My mom, at least, my par—, and my dad, too, you 
know, “Well, be a doctor—just be a good wife,” so.
2. OPTIONS 
I think that I’m a more, um, I’m more cognizant of my 
role as a mother. So I-I purposely think about that role 
and-and our relationship where I think my mom, because 
of circumstances, it, she was a mother and she was just 
doing mothering things. I don’t think she thought of it 
more as something that you could, I don’t know, plan for 
or-or perfect in any way. I’m not saying I’m good at it, 
but I just have thought about it so I did research about 
thi—, certain things ahead of time, to sort of anticipate 
things, um, and because of that, I-I don’t think I felt as 
overwhelmed by the, by that role, so I’ve enjoyed it more, 
and I think that our relationship has—you know, in the 
twenty-three months that it’s been around—has, i-it’s-it’s 
more, it’s not as stressed, I don’t feel like, I don’t feel like, 
I mean, at twenty-three months, I can’t remember what 
my relationship was like with my mother, but, um, I do 

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