(December 11, 2007) — As a young girl, stories of the “old country” were told at almost every large family gathering I went to. After my grandmother passed away, her life became a daily topic of discussion. It wasn’t until after I started high school that these stories became a reminder of what an easy life I live in the “new country.” My father recalls the days of his childhood when he would wake up to his mother’s cough that she had developed from childhood, as she got home from her 14-hour job at the public bath. She would begin her household motherly duties of washing clothes and cleaning the house until daybreak. It’s hard to imagine myself ever doing any of that work without a laundry machine, liquid soap and a Swiffer duster. When I listen to stories about life in the past, however, I notice many of the restrictions have remained the same for decades. The belief of the Middle Eastern cultures is typically one of male dominance in the household, as he maintains the family’s financial status, while the female role is one of serving her family, while obeying the rules. Most of these “rules,” or traditions, are usually only passed onto the females of the family, because the males are the ones setting the boundaries of the women’s lives. Although a new language and habits have been adopted as a change of residency to America, most foreign-born American residents stick to age-old traditions and rules as they are passed down to them from family members. I consider myself lucky that I do not have to reside in a patriarchal household in which my father decides every aspect of my life. Many young American girls of my heritage are born into the influence that marriage at the young age of seventeen is perfectly fine. These young girls usually then have children and begin to take care of the “motherly duties” as my grandmother did 30 years ago, in a country half-way around the world. Of course, I respect tradition and both of my families’ cultural beliefs; but the idea of getting married at my current age and my parents agreeing, or furthermore, encouraging it, is completely foreign to me. The difference between the “traditional-minded” family’s beliefs and those of my family, is the differing expectations of a young woman’s life, and the difference in roles women have played in my family. Although my grandmother carried out her “housewife duties,” she was a pioneer for women in my family, as she held most of the financial responsibility in my grandparents’ household. I therefore was born into a more liberal-minded family regarding the equality amongst men and women. I someday wish to become a mother, and a wife, who can take care of her family, but that is not my primary goal for my future. I hope to have a career of my choice, and when I feel I have accomplished what I want in life and know how to take care of myself, I will then consider having a family of my own.