Interviews, Power, and Change

I have really been thinking about whom to interview for class and how to make this project meaningful, yet not necessarily have it be the pinnacle of my doctoral program, or necessarily include it for further research. I think it is possible to do a project in this way and think of it as a practice run for learning how to do interviewing and oral history and looking at it in terms of stories. As Thomas King writes, “The truth about stories is that’s all we are.” When I read this I have a very visceral reaction, and though I digress, I read parts of this book at my great grandmother’s funeral because I remember her as a storyteller. While I cannot interview her, I am interested in hearing someone’s stories just to hear the words of someone else in order to learn about their everyday. And King’s words ring true, we are our stories, and our stories make us. They tell us how to behave in the world but they also make up our world. They show the differentials of power in the ways they are told as well as the messages they convey. It may seem silly but the person I want to interview, although I am not sure if I will, is the woman who threads my eyebrows. She is an Indian woman who has been threading eyebrows since she was a small child. While we had a short conversation the first time while she was doing my eyebrows I would like to get to know her more formally and talk about her life. Threading eyebrows is a traditional Indian practice of hair removal, where a cotton thread is used to remove hairs. The process is less abrasive than waxing, and helps to shape eyebrows in a more natural and less dramatic way. I feel that this woman, Priyah is her name, is situated in the theoretical lens of the everyday and at the very least is a part of my everyday. While I feel that it may be a stereotypical role (the beauty/service industry,) and I would in no way want to exploit her, I think she may have interesting stories. She deals with mostly white, middle class women on a daily basis, taking part in this ancient Indian ritual. It would be virtually impossible to not see some of the power relations, but I see much more her agency in the situation. She is the one with this somewhat subjugated knowledge imparting it on me, giving me a lecture on how I need to let my eyebrows be more natural and how she can help me with that but how I need to trust her to let them grow. She has power in this situation although it might not always be seen as such. Anyway, I think she might be very interesting and I think she might have important stories to share and ways to speak to knowledges of the mundane and everyday. But of course I have the important first step of asking her and the dynamic has the potential to be awkward but we’ll see. To be continued… [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIeHYNt-rl4&hl=en&fs=1&]