At the climactic moment that the dragon is slain, children watching a
puppet show in a Paris park in 1963 react in various dramatic, charming
ways. That Alfred Eisenstaedt was able to capture such a range of
emotions in a single shutter click is a miracle." -- Dawnie Walton
These children are experiencing life. Africa is the land of sound, a place where I can go to figure out the rhythm of life: I am preparing for a journey that will teach me more in 3 months than any single experience I have ever had before. A journey which promotes understanding, reason, and light. Of course I can do these things anywhere, even in Provo or in the least exotic of places. It is all about perspective and what you want to take out of an experience and this, Asamang...Ghana...Africa... is mine. For my third methods practice I was going to interview one of the Ghanaians in my Twi class and just ask them how they would do my project but it didn't work out so I just conducted participant observation. Especially throughout this past year I have noticed myself being much more observant and thoughtful about my observations than I ever have before. I have always been a very observant person though I did not realize it until I really thought about it but it is hard for me to walk past people and not try to analyze them. I want to know what they are thinking about and why, I want to know where they came from and what events have shaped their character, I have always thought this way but I never identified it so much to my wonderings about human nature and human being as I do now. This character trait is something I have developed naturally being an anthropologist. I think the reason this major is so right for me though is because of the way my brain has always thought. It is so interesting to read a selection for a class and then discuss it in class because every person who makes a comment thought about the same thing in such a different way. Humans are so fascinating that way. My main methods of observation come from simply being around people and learning from them while making assumptions based on the knowledge and data I have. Gender is such a general, every day part of life yet it can also be so foreign.
Differing gender roles vary from place to place all over the world. Something seemingly acceptable to me may not be even from someone born outside of the United States, now attending BYU. Within their experience here they might adapt and recognize how the gender roles are subconsciously defined and they may adopt them yet still might feel like a foreigner to their own gender within those newly defined roles. What are those gender roles though and how are they defined? I asked myself that question while I was working out at the gym where I did my participant observation. It was interesting to note which machines were mostly used by males vs which ones were mostly used by females, which machines were used by females when they had another female with them and which ones were avoided if they were working out alone and such. I will have to go back and observe the same things again to really see if the observations I made were valid and were reproduced but gender plays a larger role in daily life than I think we even recognize here in America. At a glance it seems like gender roles are far less defined than they used to be in the Americas because of women's emerging roles in the business world and how the stay-at-home mom and housewife is not the general stereotype anymore but gender roles are indeed just as prevalent now as they ever have been. It is just the way of life.
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