Ethnography

Research Design:
In reading the book “The F Word” by Kristin Rowe – Finkbeiner, there is a section where it talks about how women in the work force are progressing. I think this is very true and I would like to know what it is like for women who have progressed in the work force. Are women who have a high ranked job positions discriminated or favored? Did they have to do more than a man would to get the job they have? What is work like for a successful woman?

Methodology:
I have decided to interview and observe my friend who is an office manager for a medical staffing company. She is younger than any other employee, and she is the only woman manager. I knew she would be a perfect specimen for my research. I went to her office to see what her work life was like.

Questions and answers by my friend.

How are you treated by your male employees?
When I first transitioned into the management role there was animosity from one particular male. I feel as if the hard feelings came from the fact that he was with the company for three years and I had only been there for six months. However the Sales Director who is a male was in favor of me being the manager and had a part in making the decision.
What makes you successful as a woman leader?
I feel that being a leader is treating everyone the same regardless of whether they are male or female. I try to always have a uniform thought process which means that everyone is treated the same regardless of gender.
What has it taken to become a successful woman in the work force?
Time. As with most things, it takes time to prove your worth and validity in the work place. There are many times I put in long hours and am always trying to think of how I could become a better leader. I read many business books and try to think as if I were the owner of the company.
Are there any times you feel disrespected because you are a woman in a management role?
Fortunately, not for me. However, I know many women who have similar roles as me who are treated like they are a lesser person because they are a woman.
Did you have to do anything more than a man would have to qualify for that job?
No, because I had a degree and it was highly looked upon.
My observations:
While I was at her office, I felt like everyone there had a deep respect for my friend. They relied on her, and didn’t doubt her decisions or answers.

Write up:
After doing my research and interviewing my friend, I have found that there is some discrimination towards women but not as much as some theorists make it seem. For the most part, I think the answers to these questions differ from person to person. It’s dependant on where they work and who they are working for. This research has proven that women are progressing in the work force. I think that the anthropologists/ sociologists who think that women are very aggressively discriminated against or treated unfairly in a high ranked position are correct but not to a severe extent. I think there may be some discrimination, but there are also places where they are respected and almost favored. In my friend’s case, she is very lucky to work with people who treat her with respect because of her success.

Blog 8

In Belkin's essay it talks about how women who are in the work force are leaving to have families. Some people think its a choice and others think its not. Is everyone entitled that choice? Or do you have to be weathier with more convieniences?
I think that its a little of both. It does make sense that if you are weathier you have more of a choice to decide to quit work and have a family. If you don't have money then it could be harder to make that choice.
In my life, both of my parents worked. They both still do. I can remember telling my mom that I wanted her to stop working and be home, but they would tell me that they couldn't afford to do that. I think my mom would love to not have to work, but there are a lot of things my parents have to pay for, which makes it kind of hard. They're paying for me to be in college, I've got two growing younger brothers (that eat lots of food! ha), and everyone has bills.
So I think its definatly a choice to stop working and do the family thing, but I think financial status does make a difference in how easy that choice is made.

Blog 7

The movie that I have chosen to review is called " Changling". It is a perfect example of gender. The movie is set back in the 1940's, and it is about a single mother and her fight to find her son. Her son was kidnapped one afternoon while she was at work. The whole movie is about how the government sends her a different boy and tries to convince her that it is her son. The people who worked for the government would not believe her. The government workers were mostly men, and because she is a woman it would look bad for them to admit that a woman had proved them wrong. The movie was advertised by showing her constantly trying to convince they government that her son was still missing, and that they were wrong. In this film the gender significance is that a woman couldn't prove a man wrong no matter how easy it was to see that they were right. The head guy even had the power to throw her in an insane assylm! I think that this portrayal is very true for the time period. But I think that it is awful that this kind of thing went on back then. They wouldn't even let her speak, it was almost like because she was a woman she wasn't good enough to have rights. Obviously she would know if the boy was her son or not. This movie just made it very clear about what things were like between men and women in the past.

Blog 6

Here is the advertisement that I found. It is from the "lucky brand" outlet. Well, gender is obviously represented in this advertisement. It shows that women with long hair, tight jeans,and a tight shirt have "the look". The way they have her standing is using her sexuality to sell this product. The look is to be skinny and pretty.

In the book FIFE in chapter 6, when Hooks talks about women and their eating disorders, I thought that this issue was very true.

"The disease of anorexia has become a commonplace theme, a subject in books, movies, etc. But no dire warnings work to deter females who believe their worth, beauty, and intrinsic value will be determined by whether or not they are thin."

Women are constantly bombarded with what they should look like, how much they should weigh, and what size clothes they wear. Like Hook says in her book, magazines tell us all about the dangers of anorexia, yet fills its pages full of dangerously skinny women. Our early feminists fought to be able to wear what they wanted, to not wear heels, and to be comfortable. Why are women today so obsessed with their bodies. Is that our only source of power? Shouldn't we be more worried about what we are on the inside?

Blog 6