| Description | An interview with Helen HARRIS, a Other woman with one son, one daughter, who is a Mother, born in Solihull and now living in Birmingham. Helen HARRIS’s father was a Plasterer, born in England and her mother a Factory worker born in England. In the interview, she talks about …
'Helen Harris M52255/2/142 Logged by Helen Butcher
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I was born in 1972 in Solihull, which is a borough of Birmingham.
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Good relationship with older brother
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Describes area where she grew up.
0:18 vague memories of school (Peterbrook School)
0:40 Mother was a factory worker. Father plasterer by trade. Mother was the breadwinner, did everything within the house.
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Discusses living arrangements in the home, shared bedroom with parents, grandfather lived with them.
0:17 mother and father started to fight a lot
0:27 at 10 years old her parents split up. How she felt about their split.
0:57 did no longer feel the need to have father in her life. Moved out. “I eventually got my own bedroom which was quite a good thing”
1:21 moved to a bigger house and moved school (Lighthall Secondary School)
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Talks more about her parents, divorce. Not that common in the early 80’s.
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Talks about why she thinks divorce is more acceptable now and why it wasn’t then.
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Describes her years at Lighthall School. Happy times. What she most enjoyed there.
1:15 Predominately white school. “Now there are so many issues about race and what colour you are and where you come from that I think people just go around looking at everybody else trying to suss them out. Whereas back then there wasn’t such a mix we just got on with it and got on with each other.”
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How her school compared with fictional school shows such as Grange Hill
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Talks about wanting to be a hairdresser when she left school.
0:44 didn’t want to get any higher education qualifications.
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Advantages and disadvantages of not being put under too much pressure to do well at school.
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Continues to discuss advantages and disadvantages. “Not having pressure is good in some ways, children should be allowed to be children for as long as possible.”
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Life outside of school hours. Spending time with friends. Local discos.
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Talking about drugs and alcohol. Some alcohol around no drugs at that time. Age 13-14
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Sex. Heard others at school talking about what they had done. Age 14-15.
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Most people were not having sex before they left secondary school. Not that common.
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Discusses relationship with mother. Remembers her mother taking on both roles as mother and father.
0:47 did not discuss things openly with mother as she was growing up.
1:09 now she has children talks about the importance of discussing things with your children.
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Why parents were different when she was growing up to how they are now.
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Talks about leaving school. Wanting to go to college to be hairdresser.
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“I left school in 1988 and I went to Solihull Technical College.” Beauty and hairdressing course.
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Didn’t enjoy college. Didn’t get on with teachers or other students.
0:43 describes different style of dress she had to everyone else. Black clothes, black make-up. Different background to the other girls.
1:30 Long relationship ended. Met new partner, lost interest in college. It was too much like school.
2:08 worked in a hair-dressing salon in Knowle.
2:19 moved to another salon, got pregnant with son in 1990. 18 years old.
2:30 left job March 1991. Did some part time work in an Army and Navy store
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Left job and son was born in late August.
0:20 Describes meeting her partner. Met him in a night-club while working there. He was a musician.
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Her reactions and other people's reactions to her getting pregnant.
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Why she didn’t return to work after having her son. Why she thinks there is pressure for mothers to go back to work now.
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All mothers should be given the choice to stay at home or go to work. “Having happy children that are around me and I’m there for them all the time is more important than money.”
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Talks about partner’s childhood. Being adopted.
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Attitudes towards marriage. Do not want to get married. Talks about how parents divorce put her off marriage. Marriage is not that important in today’s society.
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Can’t remember father helping around the house when she was growing up. Expectations of men are much higher now.
1:15 it was accepted that her mother did all the work around the house.
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Partner does most of the cleaning.
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How her lifestyle has changed since meeting her partner. Lived in Moseley with partner in 1990. Describes flat. Not very nice
0:53 moved into another flat in Moseley, partner went back to live with parents.
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When she found out she was pregnant they moved to a place in Kings Heath. 1 bedroom flat. Too cramped
0:35 moved back to Moseley. Lived in a house for 5 years. Describes house.
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Discusses renting accommodation.
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Talks about various landlords she has had. Rents were too high. Landlord at the moment quite good.
1:11 now lives in Kings Heath. Lived there for 2 years.
Talks about her property now. Who owns it.
2:17 Talks about the council, things they aren’t doing which they should be.
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Talks about area, which the houses are built on.
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Problems within the area with respect to the properties.
1:00 Talks about her son and how well he gets on in the area
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Importance of having a sibling to grow up with. Daughter was born in 1988.
Financially couldn’t afford another child.
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How different her daughter’s upbringing was compared with her sons.
1:10 what she does during the day while the children are at school.
Partner builds computers for a living. How they use the computer in the house.
3:30 Partner started out in a band. Uses the computer to generate music now.
4:16 partner performs in Europe. Partner has travelled a lot.
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Finances are difficult. Children have second hand clothes. Fresh food on the table is more important than flashy things.
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Compares her lifestyle to that of the neighbours. Likes her home to be clean and tidy, well decorated.
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Calls the people that live around her "door- steppers" because they don’t keep their gardens tidy so their children can play out, so they all sit on the doorstep.
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Internet influences how they decorate their house. Pictures of pickled animals.
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Talks about finding a playgroup in 1992. Felt different from the other mothers.
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Changes in attitudes to race. Taught that she shouldn’t mix with other races. Ideas changed when she moved out.
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Drug culture. Discovered drugs when she was 14. Cannabis still uses it now.
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At 16 experimented with other drugs.
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Where the drugs came from.
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Drugs are more accepted now.
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Interested in other cultures in different countries.
Opinion on the Euro. British pride.
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Political views
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Discusses religion in her life. Mother brought up in Catholic background in Ireland.
Not very religious.
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Doesn’t believe in religion
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Talks about the future. Working with children. No set plans.
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Hopes for her children.
ENDS |