Ethnography Assignment

Ethnography Assignment

Research design:

When thinking about what question to ask for this project I thought that I wanted to do something that related to my life in some way. Growing up I always felt like my mother was the only mom that didn’t work and always felt that my family was perhaps a little too “old fashioned.” In many of the readings we have read for this class women balancing work and family has been a major topic. Women coming home from a full time job and pulling what is now being called a second shift at home is in the top ten major issues women are most concerned about. Although the issue of having a job and simultaneously fulfilling necessary roles at home was mentioned frequently, the idea of being a full time housewife has only been mentioned in passing. Even though it is definitely not the norm these days it has been said that a full time housewife does have a real job. Therefore I wanted to ask the question: Housewives at work: can this really be considered a full-time job?

Methodology:

I decided I would spend time at my parents home for a day and really study what exactly it was that she did all day. After the observation period I write down a schedule of her typical busy day and then would sit down and interview her and find out her thoughts on the subject. Below are the interview questions I asked, answers included.

1. Do you feel like the work that you do every day around the house can be considered equivalent to a full time job?

Yes, definitely. I fulfill many roles, many small part time roles like taxi driver, accountant, seamstress, etc that maybe not by themselves equal a full time job but all together I definitely do as much work as someone with an 8 to 5 job.

2. Do you ever feel inferior because you don’t have a “normal” job and contribute financially?

No, because I do in fact, contribute financially. If I were to stop doing the things I did everyday then we would have to hire someone to do all those things.

3. Do you feel like you still make a contribution to society as a full-time housewife?

Yes of course. I am teaching and instilling values in my children so that they will grow up and be functioning productive members of society. Since I have 5 children I feel like counts as 5 substantial contributions!

4. Do you think that it would be possible for you to continue the work that you do every day and also have a career?

No, there would simply not be enough time in the day. It would be literally impossible.

5. Do you feel fulfilled in your role as a housewife? Do you feel that your family appreciates you enough?

Yes I know that I am doing important work no matter what anyone says. Although sometimes I am stressed out and feel like my family takes me for granted occasionally, I know that they really do appreciate me and would much rather have me here at home with them than at a desk somewhere all day.

Field Notes:

I have always known that my mother was indeed a busy person although she didn’t have a job but I didn’t realize to what extent she actually worked each day. I decided to write down everything I saw her do that day and she filled me in on the rest of what I missed, including everything in between waking up and going to bed at night.

5:40 am: Alarm goes off, get up and dress, get Molly (my little sister) clothes out for the day

5:50-6:00 am: Head to kitchen, assemble Molly’s lunch to take to school, start working on breakfast

6:15 am: Wake Molly, get her dressed and ready

6:30 am: Back to kitchen, feed Molly and give her medicine for the day

6:45-6:50 am: Bus arrives to take Molly to school, wait and wave goodbye

6:55- 7 am: Wash dishes, make beds, and clean up around house

7:30ish: Lie back down and take about an hour nap if time permits

8:30 am: Up again, get ready for the day, eat breakfast, put on laundry load number one for the day, make phone calls, and write out bills

9:30 am: Head out door to go to Grandma’s house

10 am: Arrive at Grandmas; help her finish dressing or whatever she needs help with

10:45 am: Leave to take Grandma to the doctor appointment at 11:15 am

12:15 pm: Leave doctors office and run any errands that Grandma needs, grab lunch

2:30 pm: Leave Grandmas to return home to meet Molly’s school bus at 3pm

3 pm: Greet Molly at bus, check mail

3:30 pm: Wash Molly up from school, read communication journal sent home with Molly each day

4pm: Get Molly settled in watching Veggie Tales, playing a computer game, or reading to her. Clean lunch box out

4:30 pm: Make a cup of tea, relax for a few minutes. Fold laundry put on 2^nd or 3^rd load on for the day

5pm: Begin dinner preparation or start thinking about what to do for dinner. If older brother Max is home he can watch Molly

6-6:30 pm: Have dinner prepared, feed Molly

7 pm: Wash dishes, tidy up in kitchen

7:30-7:45 pm: Get Molly ready for bed, bathe, brush teeth, read bedtime story etc

8:30 pm: Say goodnight to Molly, head to do more laundry and make phone calls. Maybe some free time with Dad.

10 pm: Watch news

10:30 pm: Do daily exercises

11:15pm: Set out things for tomorrow morning, finish up laundry, tidy up house

12-12:30 am: Get ready for bed, in bed by 1 am

Write Up:

In conclusion, I discovered housewives really do as much, if not more, than someone with an outside of the home job. I think that it would be interesting to do more research on this topic of full time housewives. I think if it were studied more, it would be discovered that those women who do have an 8-5 job really cannot do all of these things that my mother does each day. A study about sense of fulfillment might be an interesting future research experiment for sociologists.

Blog 8

There were many responses to Belkins article "Opt Out," most of which were in strong opposition to Belkin's theory that many women, at some point after they start their career realize that they would rather stay at home and take care of the kids so they "opt out" of their careers, possibly trying to go back after the kids grow up. Some of the most heard responses are criticisms that Belkin's data is simply not statistically sound. She uses phrases like "many," and "dozens" and basically just interviewed close friends and acquaintances to get most of her data. All of her interviewees were wealthy, highly educated women which made opting out a reasonable choice for them. Many women out there in the workforce today simply do not have that option. They must continue working to make ends meet throughout their children's adolescence and teenage years. Another criticism of her article is that women who read it will be tricked into thinking that it's relatively plausible to take a break from the workforce simply to return five or ten years down the road. This proves to not be the case most of the time. Although mostly negative, there were a few positive responses to her article. Some have applauded her for standing up and reporting a recent trend that she saw, which they feel could indeed be a legitimate phenomena. Another argument that has been made is that yes, Belkin does focus primarily on upper class white women but that it is an area that needs to be studied and perhaps the opt out trend is only present in that certain group.
My own experiences with this type of situation are limited because my mother quit her job shortly after my oldest sibling was born and never went back to work. She was never on track towards a wildly successful career or anything like that, and I get the impression that as soon as my mother and father got married they made the decision together that she would stay at home and raise the children if possible. Although our family is by no means wealthy, our family was able to make ends meet without any additional money brought in by my mother.

Blog 7

Movie Review:

He's Just Not That Into You is one of the most recent movies I have seen in theaters. Like the title implies, it is advertised as a movie that teaches women how to discern when a man isn't interested in her. I think that this theme is a little sad in and of itself although I did enjoy the movie. The advertisements make it seem like women are absolutely clueless when it comes to dating and men in general. There is a "helpful guy" in the movie who, out of the goodness of his heart, tells his friend whenever she should move on to the next guy because this one obviously thinks shes useless. This movie has many stereotypical characters in it, such as "i can sleep with whoever I want, even if I'm married guy" and "dependent, constantly trying to please men, I need someone else to make me happy, clingy girl" There was however a few non stereotypical roles too which I found refreshing. This movie definitely backed up many of the stereotypical gender roles in America today but it looked at them in a different way and made some of them seem ridiculous.

Response to Reading:

Chapter 7 in the F-Word was mainly about marriage and relationships. The author shared that nearly half of all marriages end in divorce and I think this is such a shame. People don't get married for the right reasons now and now that there is no stigma attached to divorce, there is nothing holding marriages together anymore. Marriage is not respected. It is treated as something that can be easily tossed aside, like an old pair of shoes. Many women seem to not get married simply to show the world that they are independent and don't need a man to make them happy. There is nothing wrong with that I suppose but I personally think that one doesn't have to remain single to maintain their independence. Marriage should enhance both partners lives, not hinder or degrade either one.

I enjoyed reading the Feminist Parenting article in FIFE, I felt like it brought up some very good points from the other side. It's nice for women to own up to their own contributions in spreading sexist thinking and even abusing children. I think one of the things that bothers me about feminist thinking is that it seems extremely one-sided sometimes and men seem to be scapegoats a lot.

Blog 6 #2

Response to the Readings:

Chapter 5 of FIFE really frustrated me. I don't understand and really don't like it when people, especially women become adamant about their "reproductive rights." It seems to me that when people say reproductive rights, what they actually mean is that they want the right to have sex as much as they want and not have to face the responsibility of being pregnant. Maybe if one doesn't want to be stuck in "the misery of forced marriage" they should close their legs more often? Everyone has to pay for the consequences of their actions in life, whether it be not studying for a test, speeding, or robbing a bank. Why should the issue of getting pregnant be any different? I believe that abortion is murder and you shouldn't be given a get-out-of-jail-free card for that. When Hooks speaks of the "olden days" before legal abortions and the pill she acts like it was the absolute end of the world and I just don't get that. I try to always keep an open mind when doing these readings but I often find myself struggling arguing with much of what is written, not just bell hooks but many of the other articles.

Blog 6

This ad is appalling to me. Yamaha is comparing women to a boat or a motorcycle. Insinuating that a women is interchangeable with these things is not only insulting but ridiculous. Some people say that women aren't REALLY aren't objectified, it's just advertising companies being clever and women are too sensitive. This is clearly not the case in this ad. This woman has been stripped of everything she is (intelligence and self-worth), leaving her as just an object of lust. Yamaha is trying to say that men need excitement and if they don't always have a busty blond to entertain them, why not try a boat?