Sophia Williams Oral History Interview

Williams begins the interview by talking about her parents, where her mother was the main provider for the family and her father stayed home, and how that affected her childhood and understanding of gendered roles in relationships. She also discussed other people who had an influence on her, including her grandmother, sister, and friends. She then discussed where she sees herself within femininity and the freedom she feels to express herself how she wants to, no matter what other people think. She talked briefly about the impact that religion and social media has had on her, and then started to discuss fashion and apparel design. These have been important to her since childhood, act as a way for her to express herself, and will eventually be the career that she pursues. She elaborated by talking briefly about the fashion industry and why she is drawn to vintage clothing. She then talked about she was a weird kid, which she initially tried to suppress, but then came to accept and embrace it, especially through her fashion. Moving on, she talked about her high school and college experiences, including the academic sorority, Chi Theta Phi, that she is involved in at OSU. She talked about some of the expectations and cultures surrounding sororities, and how hers differs from the philanthropic sororities.

Sophia Williams is from Tacoma, Washington and is studying Apparel Design at OSU. At the time of the interview she identified as a cis woman.

This interview was conducted in support of interviewer Jozie Billings' honors thesis project titled, "Beyond the Binary: Multimodal Oral Histories of Navigating Gender and Finding Identity from Gender-Diverse and Cisgender Students." More information about that project is available in the finding aid for the OSU Queer Archives Oral History Collection (OH 34).