Gender Expectations: Priority or Just Stereotyping?

What is it about America and it's expectations for the individual's gender, race, sexual orientation, and so forth?  When a human being has a certain body part that determines their gender, are there automatically "rules" for them to follow?  Why is it that a man is expected to pay for himself and his date while at a restaurant?  Many people will most likely answer with something along the lines of "That's just the way it is."  But many fail to put some serious thought into these ground rules of society.  After watching "The Graduate" in my English class, I found that there were several scenes which appeared to have contradicted these expectations.

It is without a question that in an ideally patriarchal society, men tend to have more leadership over women.  Now before I move on, I am not saying that this is always the case in modern society, but it was definitely evident 30 years ago.  The Graduate, from my perspective, tends to go against the grain of what is considered patriarchal.  In this film, it is the woman to takes on the role of being the leader, specifically Mrs. Robinson, as she seduces the much younger Benjamin Braddock.  She is the one who approached him first, and she is the one who helped Ben become more experienced in sex.  Simply stated, Mrs. Robinson is the one controlling the relationship she has with Benjamin.

I believe that the same kind of expectations we hold for certain groups could go with people who have different ethnicities.  Let us look at music for example.  Rock is a genre that most would affiliate white people with, while Rap is a genre that most would affiliate black people with.  Therefore, many of us were quite surprised when famous rapper Eminem made his debut in the late 90's.  A highly successful musician, Eminem had garnered plenty of attention when the world saw that he was actually a caucasian, making music that appeals primarily to a black demographic.

I think that this proves how we tend to put certain groups of people in these little boxes, telling them what they are expected to do, how to act, and how to be.  The above examples prove that it does not matter what your gender or your race is; rather it depends on who the person is.

My Ethnography

Jeffrey Vandenburg

English 313

September 19, 2010

Ethnography

            For my ethnography, the setting I chose to observe people living out their daily lives was, I believe, quite a unique place: a karate studio.  Doing my ethnography at a karate studio was convenient for me because I currently work as an instructor, and there are usually a lot people for me to observe when I have some down time.  But the people I watched were not the students taking class.  Instead, I have decided to focus on the parents of the students, waiting until their children are done with their classes.  As I sat back and wrote down whatever the parents were doing, I began to notice a few common habits with the parents, several patterns of behavior among these parents, and a few things that stood out in my eyes.  Here are the many things that I saw.

            The first few actions I saw from the parents were simple actions that most of us do on a daily basis.  During the first ten minutes, most of the parents were sitting down and looking around.  Their eyes were on the kids, and then they’d look at pictures on the walls, at themselves in the mirror, and so forth.  On occasion, they would even look at me, probably wondering what I was doing sitting in the corner, cross-legged and writing whatever it was I was writing in a notebook.  I assume they thought I was doing my homework, or writing the rough draft of an essay.  Another act the parents engage in while their kid is taking class is socializing amongst each other, and I found that the biggest topic they bring up is about their children; not necessarily their own children, but the children of the parent they are communicating with.  A few common subjects would be praising about how cute their kid is, talking about how much their child “loves going to karate,” or about their own lives.  Most of the parents would watch class, and what was interesting was how I was able to get an idea of what they thought about the class.  I can tell by their facial expressions and body language.  If they slouched over with their heads forward, hands together and eyes wide, they watched the class with what seems to be of great interest and intent.  If they leaned back with their heads against the wall and eyes half-way open, they watched the class but seemed bored or indifferent; simply waiting for their kid to be done.  Overall, the parents in the karate school do average, mundane activities that any of us would do if we were waiting for something.  They would bring a book to read, or they would bring paperwork to finish—I assume they were paying bills, or doing homework for those who have kids and are in school at the same time.  I realized that the most common activity these parents do is that many of them would use their phone.  Whether they were using their phone to text message, go online, or call someone remains unclear, but what I do know is that I found a strong correlation between people who would use their phones in the karate school, and people using their phones everywhere in society—they’re on their phones during classtime, or when waiting for their appointment at the doctor’s office.  I can recall that at one point during my observation, more than half the parents were sitting, head down and eyes on their phone, completely oblivious of what their child is learning.  This quickly made me realize how much we, as human beings, have become dependent on technology.  With the boost of text messaging, we no longer have to be social animals in order to stave off boredom.  Interaction with your fellow peers is no longer necessary when you have your phone to keep you company.  I found a small connection between people with their phones, and Brick with his liquor from “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”  Instead of socializing with his wife and the people in the house, Brick would much rather spend his time drinking alcohol.  He even states during the end of the play that he is a man who is “married to his liquor.” (Williams, 1954).  In this case, it is the parents who are married to their technology.  During my observation, I have theorized that there is one thing these parents all have in common: they are on their best behavior when waiting for their child.  How they interact in the studio is most likely not the same way they interact within their homes.  When in the karate studio, these parents have given themselves a social identity that we perceive them as.  A dad who comes in the studio wearing a tie and slack is probably perceived as someone who works at a high end position, e.g. manager for a software company, or even a lawyer.  As Chris Barker points out, “Identity is expressed through forms of representation.” (Barker, 2008).  When they are present in the studio, they seem to be following an unwritten rule on how to act, on what to do, and how to be.  (Barker, 2008).  

Words: 862

You know you're unhappily married when...

Marriage, something of which many of us yearn for.  To find that soul-mate of ours and to live happily ever after.  We see the ideologies and joys of marriage in movies we watch, or in books we read.  But there is one particular story that takes the concept of marriage and sticks it in the grinder.  That story: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof revolves around the lives of several married couples: Brick and Maggie Pollit, Big Daddy and Big Mama.  From the male character's perspective, they are far from happily married.  On the contrary, Brick and Big Daddy cannot stand their wives.  Brick, who's clearly an excessive drinker, does not hold back his true feelings for Maggie, often stating that he can't stand her even when she is in the same room.  The weirdest part about their marriage is that their wives, despite the dreadful treatment and verbal abuse they receive by their significant others, will still hold on to whatever they have left in their relationship.  When Brick tells Maggie, "I hate you," she puts a smile on and says "You don't mean that." as if his statement was all in good humor.  This act of denial, I believe can be comparable to real life marriages.  As human beings, it is natural to want to hold on to a member of the family, despite how awful the relationship is.  Many people also get married just to get married, being that it is a huge expectation in American culture.  This, I believe, is the result of many failed marriages.  Most people get married on the motive so they won't die alone, even though they may not care too much about that particular person.  So maybe that's why Brick married Maggie, because it was expected of him, not because he yearned for her.  Or perhaps, as the book so discretely points out, that he did in fact have homosexual feelings for Skipper, his good friend who recently passed away.  The reason Brick and Maggie's marriage had failed remains a mystery, and sometimes, the motive for people in real life getting married is a mystery.

American Psycho Analysis

"Self identity may be conceived of as our project.  Nevertheless it is a sociological truism that we are born into a world that pre-exists us." (Barker, p. 218). 

After watching a segment from American Psycho, I could not help but feel a strong relation between Christian Bale's character, Patrick Bateman, and the phrase I wrote above.  Near the beginning of this film, Bateman reveals to us that his public figure, personality, and even his name are all "ideas," and that he is "simply not there."  In relation to the sentence mentioned in the above paragraph, Patrick Bateman is a project, performing all the routines he feels is necessary to maintain his social identity...the charming, handsome yuppie.  Having seen this movie before, I know perfectly well that Bateman is neither of those.  There is something dark within that makes who he is on the inside a complete opposite of how he displays himself on the outside.  He is a wolf in sheep's clothing, born into a world where he was most likely expected to live up to a set of standards which, in my opinion, is what might have caused the darkness inside him to grow.   This  leaves me with a question: Does that make him human? The secrets he wants to hide from the rest of the world, his "golden boy" persona, his sinister nature.  I believe that these are all traits we can somehow relate to as humans.  We keep secrets, we have a dark side to us, and most of us would like to create an identity for the rest of the world to know.  I myself, can admit that there are things I did in my life I wouldn't wanna share with others.  Of course, any sane individual would never do the things Patrick has done (or supposedly has done), but I hope you can catch my drift.

Another thing I found so interesting were the similarities between this film and Dexter, the television series on Showtime.  Dexter is my favorite show, so I could not help but think about it while watching this film.  Like Patrick, Dexter hides a dark secret, and creates a persona that is of  the complete opposite.


Here is a link scene from the first episode to prove my point.  What is interesting is the sudden transition the scene makes from his dark side, to his seemingly "good" side.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI9PRA9zBx0

Music Man Analysis

As we watched a few scenes from the classic film "The Music Man," we discussed how the protagonists' methods of monetary gain can relate to the culture we live in today.  To summarize the scene we watched, Harold Hill (the film's protagonist) gets the adult residents of the city in an uproar, convincing them that the children in their city are rebellious and sinful.  Hill first comes off as compassionate for the future of the residents, but his motive is different in that he is doing this for profit.  In today's corporate world, thousands of business men and entrepreneurs are using various methods, such as compassion and empathy, for profit.  While watching and analyzing this scene, I could not help but draw some sort of comparison toward religion, especially the religion known as Scientology.  Scientology was founded by the late science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, who created this religion (or cult, as critics state it as such), soon gaining a strong following.  Followers of this religion believed that Hubbard was able to help them gain access to their past lives, recognizing the mistakes they've made to help them with their future successes.  Members were expected to pay fines, making the church very lucrative.  L. Ron even said himself  "You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion." As you can see, Hill and Hubbard  are very much alike; they were both rallying groups of people, using the power of persuasion and convincing them that they need guidance, but for their own purposes...money, money, money! The way I see it, the only difference between these two gentlemen is that one is a fictional character, while the other isn't.       

High and Low Culture

The first week of our English class revolved mainly around culture, and the various factors within that particular group that makes it become a culture.  People would argue that there is a higher level of culture that one can achieve through either their taste in music (Mozart, for example), appreciation for the fine arts, or if you have the right funds to buy a nice house right smack in the middle of the suburbs, living happily with your spouse and children-the All American Family.  Sometimes I wonder, what entails people the right to be considered members of that "higher" culture?  Anyone can appreciate the fine arts, from the multi-millionaire businessman to the poor immigrant living in the ghetto.  Do you have to have a little bit of both taste in music and money?  Or maybe there is no such thing as a "higher" level of culture, and that the status of certain cultures exists only because our society says so.