Historically, anthropologists have focused their research on foreign cultures, often considered exotic to westerners. Yet, globalization has created a continuously shrinking world and is increasingly providing sovereignty for developing nations, which may impede research opportunities for modern anthropologists. In their book, “The Cocktail Waitress,” James Spradley and Brenda Mann explain how this recent issue threatens trust and acceptance in these foreign communities and obstructs research funding. Luckily, there are countless subcultures in America’s back yard, in which most are eternally evolving, providing a multitude of research opportunities for anthropologists. Alcohol establishments are home to a plethora of subcultures that display …show more content…
The social hierarchy of Brady’s bar, diagramed in Spradley and Mann’s book (70), displayed female waitresses as one of the lowest tiers other than female customers and people off the street, adding to the legitimacy of male dominance. Countless examples support this unbalanced social structure. For example, bartenders often enjoy an alcoholic beverage before or on the job, yet waitresses needed special permission to do the same. Usually waitresses were allowed soda or water until Brady’s closed. Rarely, a bartender decided it was momentarily acceptable for a specific waitress to enjoy a cocktail before or during employment, but she was expected to flood the gracious bartender with praise and gratitude for this rare opportunity. Likewise, requested to tend the bar, waitresses were flattered and ecstatic to work within this prestigious position. However, a male would never lower himself to do a waitress’s duties, and female employees would not dare ask a man to stoop to their peasant level of work. During a particular event, Denise attempted to make light of this inequality and unwittingly treaded onto forbidden territory. Tending the bar temporarily, Denise was playfully asked by the bartender, Ted, for a drink. Reversing the roles on Ted, Denise told him no because he was working and he could have a soda instead. Ironically, this agitated Ted, although this was a typical …show more content…
Considered commonplace for male customers to touch or grab at them, waitresses smiled and cordially served the men who were degrading them to the level of an object, not unlike a toy or a trophy. Unfortunately, the waitresses were also harassed and assaulted by their coworkers and managers. When someone with authority over another person makes sexual comments or advancements in any way, it is an abuse of power. Obviously, the waitresses were unable to address this issue without risking losing their job. Spradley and Mann explain how one of the bartenders, Tom, incessantly attempted to unhook the waitresses’ bras. Although the waitresses noted they were not insulted by this, it is still another example of unbalanced reciprocity within the social structure and diminished the female employees to objectification. Female employees were required to comply with this banter or else risked losing respect, dignity, or honor of themselves or their superiors. Additionally, this joking was also asymmetrical, which limited the female participants. An instance was with Stephanie, John, and a customer bantering and unfortunately ended badly when Stephanie replied, teasingly, to a question regarding the legitimacy of John’s marriage. Although the customer was kidding, and Stephanie was reciprocating the banter, her reply, or lack there of, resulted in
Sir Raymond Firth famously said that ethnography “makes the exotic familiar and the familiar exotic.” You mainly hear stories of ethnographers and anthropologist going to other countries to study societies that are fascinating and unknown so that we can become familiar with their culture and understand. This is how we make the exotic familiar. Within our own country we are under the impression that because we live around these people we know them and there is nothing to learn, but when we step in and begin to observe what’s in our own backyard we realize there are things that we don’t know. This is what Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg have done in Righteous Dopefiend.
This article describes the sexism that the author, Sam Polk, witnessed while working on Wall Street and how he believes it affects the women working there. The article comments that there was, and is, a great deal of sexism in the workplace, specifically on Wall Street. Polk describes that sexist comments about female coworkers are how he would bond with his male coworkers when women were not present. Polk discusses how he feels that this way of speaking about women contributes to the fact that women on Wall Street do not hold high-level positions. This article suggests that the general attitude men on Wall Street about women, as described by Polk, might contribute to the overt sexism that is reported by women working on Wall Street. This
When Alex Guarnaschelli was in a restaurant in Paris, one male co-worker even said to her,” You suck, you’re a girl, I hate you.” (pg 431, para 2). This could have been a perfectly reasonable opinion, had it not been for the sole fact that she was a woman. All she wanted to do was cook bass, which she inevitably burned, but the co-worker wanted nothing to do with her in the kitchen. This view is furthered when Rebecca Charles tells of how even though she is the chef of the kitchen, delivery men will ignore her and ask her male sous chef for a signature when making a delivery. Some people go as far as to completely ignore the fact that women are great cooks, even ignoring them in their own kitchens. If a female chef happens to be over-enthusiastic she is seen as an immature school girl. The reporter makes sure to structure the questions in order to get the women to tell of the worst situations they had been forced to endure due to their
In an article by Lisa Mooney about tension in the workplace, Mooney explains that there are many signs of sexual harassment in a place of business such as, the language men use towards their female co-workers, by referring to them as “ladies, babes or gals”, refers to there being a gender bias in the environment. Also if a man makes lots of physical contact with a co-worker of the opposite sex, there is an underlying assumption that he wants to have sexual contact with that person. All of these things and more make for tension for everyone around and also start cases of sexual harassment. Another form of tension is the power struggle between a female with a higher position than another male co-worker. If that woman is a no nonsense type of boss, then she is labeled as an evil boss rather than her just doing her job. These are some of the reasons it’s hard for a women to have and keep a job in the corporate world and why women everyday are fighting for better rights not only in the everyday real world but also just in the
Upon entering the restaurant we as a group were very close together whereas the waiter was distancing himself. This can be seen as a sign of dominance so that we would be noticeable and led to a table quickly. During the conversation we would openly laugh and smile at the person talking in the group. Colby was very close to Emily and tried his best to engage her in conversation as much as he could. This is because Colby has a very large crush on Emily while he was doing this and angling himself to see her in the conversation she would
American Anthropological Association. (2009, February). Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association. Retrieved March 09, 2012, from American Anthropological Association: http://www.aaanet.org/issues/policy-advocacy/Code-of-Ethics.cfm
The interactions between Violet Newstead and Franklin Hart in Nine to Five, demonstrate some of the common stereotypes for both men and women in the workplace. Hart gave a promotion Violet
Carrithers, M. 1992. Why humans have culture: Explaining anthropology and social diversity. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Anthropologists conduct fieldwork by studying people, their behaviours, and their culture. This is done in the field by actively striving to interpret and understand the world from the perspective of those studied (Powdermaker, 1968, Keesing 1981). Anthropological participant-observation includes a “deep immersion into the life of a people” (Keesing, 1981 p.16) with an aim to produce an ethnography that accurately details the experience in a holistic and valuable style (Powdermaker, 1968, Keesing 1981). Generally, full participation in a culture is thought to reduce the interference the researcher has on the behaviour of the informants (Seymour- Smith, 1986). Participant-observation is still widely used by anthropologists as it offers deeply insightful real world accounts which are difficult to achieve using other methods (Seymour-Smith, 1986, Li,
There are more than 250 former employees of Sterling Jewelers, the corporation connected to Jared the Galleria of Jewelry and Kay Jewelers, that claim that top male managers guided a corporate culture that promoted sexual harassment and gender discrimination against female employees. Reports say that female employees were habitually criticized for their bodies, groped, demeaned and urged to sexually cater to their male managers in order to stay employed or to obtain higher positions in the company. These former employees said they dreaded going to company work meetings (which were mandatory) because they were “boozy, no-spouses-allowed, sex-fests”. Routine sexing “preying” at these company meetings were encouraged by male managers and condoned
James P. Spradley (1979) described the insider approach to understanding culture as "a quiet revolution" among the social sciences (p. iii). Cultural anthropologists, however, have long emphasized the importance of the ethnographic method, an approach to understanding a different culture through participation, observation, the use of key informants, and interviews. Cultural anthropologists have employed the ethnographic method in an attempt to surmount several formidable cultural questions: How can one understand another's culture? How can culture be qualitatively and quantitatively assessed? What aspects of a culture make it unique and which connect it to other cultures? If ethnographies can provide answers to these difficult questions, then Spradley has correctly identified this method as revolutionary.
Anthropology is concerned with studying human beings, both in the past and present. From another perspective, Anthropology is the study of the “Other” or of populations whose culture is different from one’s own. The questioning of these differences in prior centuries led to theories of inherent biological distinctions between Westerners and non-Westerners as well as divisions in evolutionary characteristics of their cultures. Michel-Rolph Trouillot, in a chapter of his book entitled “Anthropology and the Savage Slot: The Poetics and Politics of Otherness”, argues that Anthropology as an academic discipline acquired these theoretical outlooks before its emergence as an actual discipline. As a result, “Anthropology fills a pre-established compartment within a wider symbolic field, the ‘Savage’ slot” (Trouillot 2003:9). By utilizing the resource of Trouillot as well as Moberg, Perry, and Moore, I will illustrate that the Savage Slot and the “Savage” or “Other” are theoretical concepts fashioned with the creation of the West and consequently the field of Anthropology.
The men in this story obviously have strong feelings of superiority and power over the opposite sex, and expect that women will naturally give in to their demands. These feelings are illustrated as early as in the opening paragraph, when they see the woman for the first time. While working, "They made jokes about getting an egg from some woman in the flats under them, to poach it for dinner" (Lessing 856). Such a comment demonstrates the men’s beliefs about gender roles: that women will be home, not working, and eager to serve men. The comments continue; later on, when referring to the woman as ...
Sexual harassment in the workplace has been a huge problem in recent history. It can happen to anyone, and it can happen everywhere. It can affect all types of races, genders and ages. Statistics today show that more and more sexual harassment has become an issue due to the large number of cases presented. Mainstream media becomes consumed covering sexual harassment because of the high-profile cases.
Robyn seemed to be a little mad by the thing that the waiter in the restaurant thought that she was an ordinary secretary who went out to have dinner with her boss. Even if there was not that situation, she was put in the same category of women. “She was less amused by their waiter 's evident assumption that she herself was Wilcox 's secretary, being set up for seduction.” (Lodge 201)