Thursday, August 25, 2011
Culture Shock
At the end of our trip, we spent a few hours in Tongatapu before our plane left for New Zealand. We spent some time with a friend of a friend, who's relatives from Australia were visiting at the time. We hung out with them for a while and then had dinner together. As usual, we used our hands to serve and eat and the food was so good we were probably eating really fast and at one point I bit off a piece of something and gave the rest to Allyson. The girls from Australia saw us and said "wow you guys really are Tongan!" because of how we were eating. I used a spoon I had in front of me to scoop out the coconut meat, and they said "use a knife!" and I looked down at my spoon, and I didn't even realize that I had the option of the knife, I just used what was there! I had been so used to eating this way in Tonga, but to the girls who grew up in Australia, they were totally grossed out and I realized I had forgotten my "proper table manners." I tried to eat more "civilized" as to not gross out our new friends, however I couldn't help but think about how I experienced some sort of reverse culture shock, and new eating habits I had picked up in Tonga weren't necessarily acceptable to these Australian girls and wouldn't be acceptable to our American friends/family as well.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Tonga!
It's been a crazy month here in Tonga. I've been learning how to weave and learning a lot about the culture. Here are some pictures of me weaving!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
June 1
Over the past few days it's been raining really hard and there were funerals. After a death in the city, you can't work for 3 days, so we couldn't weave and with the rain we couldnít do much of anything else. I've been thinking about my project and trying to come up with a hypothesis. It seems as if there are so many different types of influences going on in Tonga, (Australia, New Zealand and American) and it seems like people keep cultural aspects that they have sort of a testimony of. It's like in the church; people have a testimony of certain things after they have experiences regarding that thing. For example, Uini made breakfast for the missionaries, and said it was better to make them traditional Tongan food (not an American dish that we suggested) so they had energy for the day. It was kind of ironic because we had gotten sick from the Tongan food the night before. However, she feels like from personal experience that Tongan food is healthy and makes you strong and gives you energy for the day, so for herself and her family, Tongan food/culture is the best.
Monday, April 11, 2011
April 11
We had a safety and security briefing that, to be honest, scared me a little! We went over some scenarios that we might encounter, and I found that I didn't really have any idea what I would do. Maybe its just because I'm not to great at planning ahead, and I act better when I'm just in the moment. However, when it comes to safety and security, it's better to have a plan!
Here's my plan:
I'm keeping emergency contact information on me at all times, just maybe on a little business card with numbers/addresses for hospitals, Ashley, Dallin, BYU and anybody else that I might need contact with, maybe a way to contact my other group members.
I'm going to have a supply of food and water, probably about a week's worth somewhere in my host home in case of an emergency.
Additionally, I'm not going to keep a lot of expensive things on me, like I won't bring my camera everywhere I go every day, just sometimes, and then keep my money in a couple different spots just in case I get mugged or something.
I'm also bringing some first aid kit type things, like medicine for pain and diarrhea, bandaids, anti-bacterial etc.
Hopefully I can be prepared in case something happens, but moreso I hope that nothing bad happens! I'm planning on it just in case so that I can have a safe and good trip and be able to do all my coursework and research.
Here's my plan:
I'm keeping emergency contact information on me at all times, just maybe on a little business card with numbers/addresses for hospitals, Ashley, Dallin, BYU and anybody else that I might need contact with, maybe a way to contact my other group members.
I'm going to have a supply of food and water, probably about a week's worth somewhere in my host home in case of an emergency.
Additionally, I'm not going to keep a lot of expensive things on me, like I won't bring my camera everywhere I go every day, just sometimes, and then keep my money in a couple different spots just in case I get mugged or something.
I'm also bringing some first aid kit type things, like medicine for pain and diarrhea, bandaids, anti-bacterial etc.
Hopefully I can be prepared in case something happens, but moreso I hope that nothing bad happens! I'm planning on it just in case so that I can have a safe and good trip and be able to do all my coursework and research.
Friday, April 8, 2011
April 8
I've been reading Black Like Me. The author, Griffin, relays his stories about when he changed his appearance to look Black and lived in the south. His methods include interviews and participant observation in order to gather data and share what it would be like to be Black. Many questions arise as to how legitimate and objective his methods are and how reliable his data is. How much of his writings can we pass off as actual data that we can use as information on what it was really like to be Black? How much of his methods were actually ethical?
His novel begins with how he made himself appear to be black, and I hesitate to say that he actually turned Black; many might say that this novel is about when Mr. Griffin “turned’ black. However, I disagree with that terminology and will argue that while he only changed his appearance to appear to be Black, he did not actually become Black. While he experienced what it was like to be treated as a Black man, he could never actually know what it was really like to BE a Black man. His visage of a Black man was one that he could take off, and especially during the last part of the experience, when he changed from Black to White whenever it was convenient for him.
As for ethics, he did admit that he was actually a white professor whenever someone was suspicious, however he only does this once or twice throughout his 6 weeks. Most people he talked to were being deceived into sharing things with this white man that they probably wouldn't have shared otherwise. In reality, his project would definitely not be IRB approved. But, that's not to say that what he did wasn't helpful for the humanities, in that his story gives people a tiny glimpse of what it was like to be black in the 50s. As for his data, I would say that although its a good story but maybe not scientifically or academically rigorous.
As for my research, I'll be living among these women who might look a little like me, but I will always be a foreigner in the way that I look at them and research about them. I will try to fit in and immerse myself in the culture and customs, however I think that from an objective point of view, like the outsider, but still on the inside (through participating and observing) is a good perspective to have for research, in that you can be objective and you're not too involved to the point that you can't interpret and bring back scientific data.
His novel begins with how he made himself appear to be black, and I hesitate to say that he actually turned Black; many might say that this novel is about when Mr. Griffin “turned’ black. However, I disagree with that terminology and will argue that while he only changed his appearance to appear to be Black, he did not actually become Black. While he experienced what it was like to be treated as a Black man, he could never actually know what it was really like to BE a Black man. His visage of a Black man was one that he could take off, and especially during the last part of the experience, when he changed from Black to White whenever it was convenient for him.
As for ethics, he did admit that he was actually a white professor whenever someone was suspicious, however he only does this once or twice throughout his 6 weeks. Most people he talked to were being deceived into sharing things with this white man that they probably wouldn't have shared otherwise. In reality, his project would definitely not be IRB approved. But, that's not to say that what he did wasn't helpful for the humanities, in that his story gives people a tiny glimpse of what it was like to be black in the 50s. As for his data, I would say that although its a good story but maybe not scientifically or academically rigorous.
As for my research, I'll be living among these women who might look a little like me, but I will always be a foreigner in the way that I look at them and research about them. I will try to fit in and immerse myself in the culture and customs, however I think that from an objective point of view, like the outsider, but still on the inside (through participating and observing) is a good perspective to have for research, in that you can be objective and you're not too involved to the point that you can't interpret and bring back scientific data.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
April 6
Because the semester is coming to a close, and our departure date is drawing near, anxiety and fear have been creeping over my mind. Even after the prep class and tons of research, I still feel pretty unprepared and therefore apprehensive about going. At first I was really excited, and it just didn't hit me what this whole field study experience would actually entail. At first I didn't think it would be that big of a deal. I've lived abroad before, I've moved to places where I didn't know anybody, but it all doesn't seem to matter. I'm getting thrown into an island in the middle of the ocean where I don't know the language and it's pretty frightening!
After a few discussions on culture shock I didn't pay much attention because I felt like I wouldn't experience that or that I knew how to handle my stress. Now that I'm freaking out a little bit, I realize that I will most likely experience culture shock, and I know I'll experience a lot of stress and frustration due to culture shock, and a lot of it will come from not being able to control things like I do here. Things I'm going to need: patience, understanding, optimism and positive thinking.
I'm going to need patience to be able to let things go that bother me, and be able to move on and just learn to love what I've got. Understanding, because the better I understand and want to know the culture, the less stressed out it will be living in a foreign place. Optimism and positive thinking are things that I need because having your attitude is about 95% of your experience, and about 5% what actually happens to you.
Hopefully by being prepared for culture shock, I will be able to have a better experience abroad and not have a total meltdown while I'm there!
After a few discussions on culture shock I didn't pay much attention because I felt like I wouldn't experience that or that I knew how to handle my stress. Now that I'm freaking out a little bit, I realize that I will most likely experience culture shock, and I know I'll experience a lot of stress and frustration due to culture shock, and a lot of it will come from not being able to control things like I do here. Things I'm going to need: patience, understanding, optimism and positive thinking.
I'm going to need patience to be able to let things go that bother me, and be able to move on and just learn to love what I've got. Understanding, because the better I understand and want to know the culture, the less stressed out it will be living in a foreign place. Optimism and positive thinking are things that I need because having your attitude is about 95% of your experience, and about 5% what actually happens to you.
Hopefully by being prepared for culture shock, I will be able to have a better experience abroad and not have a total meltdown while I'm there!
Monday, April 4, 2011
April 4
Friday we got the chance to practice observations in the wilk. I watched a table and drew a picture of the body language and tried to be objective. It was kind of fun, but I realize that a lot of the time I want to interpret things and assume something, and it can be a little valid here since it's my own culture, but if I'm in Tonga, I can't make value statements based on my culture because it could be completely wrong! Then Dallin had us go "enter" into the community, and we had to talk and meet with a group. I tried to find some people that looked friendly but I realize that everybody here is so private about their lives and the things they do! I caught myself thinking, well they don't want to be bothered, or they wouldn't want to talk to me. Let's just say I'm grateful that the people in Tonga are so friendly and nice and hopefully it will make entering into the community a lot easier! Basically the biggest lesson I learned for my project is that I have to make sure I don't interpret things based on my own culture and understandings of things. Once I get to know the culture better and see patterns and ask people about it, I can start making interpretations for my research and write all about it!
Friday, April 1, 2011
April 1
Today was a great day because we had a cultural project for my language class. We got to help make and prepare Tongan food yesterday and today we got to eat it! Some of it was delicious, some of it was totally gross. Ufi and manioke is totally gross to me. So is breadfruit. However, the mango pinapple drink was DELICIOUS and so was the curry. The sipi was weird but I could eat it. Even though the food wasn't my favorite I know I'll get used to it and I have to eat so maybe it won't taste as bad if I'm STARVING!
Even though I wasn't a huge fan of all the roots, I am not dejected and I am still excited to go to Tonga. The trip is in about a month for me, and I can't even describe how excited I am. Even if I don't like the food I know the experience will be amazing and I just can't wait to get to know the people and experience a new culture.
Even though I wasn't a huge fan of all the roots, I am not dejected and I am still excited to go to Tonga. The trip is in about a month for me, and I can't even describe how excited I am. Even if I don't like the food I know the experience will be amazing and I just can't wait to get to know the people and experience a new culture.
Monday, March 28, 2011
March 26
Today we talked about concerns that we had about going into the field.
I'm not a huge worrysome person, and I just go with the flow, and I'm just flexible like that! All this planning before-hand for I'm supposed to be doing for the next 5 months is way hard because I have no idea what I'm doing in the next 5 days!
So, whenever they ask a question about "what would you do if..." I just roll my eyes and think "I'll figure it out when I get there!" Additionally, all these "what ifs" are completely situation and dependent on the circumstances.
But then Ashley asked us a question about how would we notice the needs of others and be able to respond to them. How will we know when we see a need that needs fufilling? Do you ever notice the needs of others? Do you ever notice what kinds of things you never notice?
After she asked us that the whole group kind of went silent and I knew I didn't have an answer and I don't think anyone else did. I guess I never notice what I don't try to notice.
So, for the next week I want to try to notice the things that I never notice. I want to see if I can pick up on other people's needs and anything else I would never pick up on. I know that if I am keeping a watchful eye out for specific things I would normally ignore, then I can get a good feel and practice what it's like and be able to do it in the field.
This will be good for my field study, in that I will be able to better see the needs of others, be able to serve more, and be able to reciprocate appropriately for my host family and that way I don't look like a total jerk in Tonga! I will report how I improve/notice more things next week!
I'm not a huge worrysome person, and I just go with the flow, and I'm just flexible like that! All this planning before-hand for I'm supposed to be doing for the next 5 months is way hard because I have no idea what I'm doing in the next 5 days!
So, whenever they ask a question about "what would you do if..." I just roll my eyes and think "I'll figure it out when I get there!" Additionally, all these "what ifs" are completely situation and dependent on the circumstances.
But then Ashley asked us a question about how would we notice the needs of others and be able to respond to them. How will we know when we see a need that needs fufilling? Do you ever notice the needs of others? Do you ever notice what kinds of things you never notice?
After she asked us that the whole group kind of went silent and I knew I didn't have an answer and I don't think anyone else did. I guess I never notice what I don't try to notice.
So, for the next week I want to try to notice the things that I never notice. I want to see if I can pick up on other people's needs and anything else I would never pick up on. I know that if I am keeping a watchful eye out for specific things I would normally ignore, then I can get a good feel and practice what it's like and be able to do it in the field.
This will be good for my field study, in that I will be able to better see the needs of others, be able to serve more, and be able to reciprocate appropriately for my host family and that way I don't look like a total jerk in Tonga! I will report how I improve/notice more things next week!
Friday, March 25, 2011
March 25
Wednesday was a fantastic day for my experience with Tongan culture! In our language class we had planned on going to Salt Lake to the Tongan store but didn't end up going because we didn't have enough money to get all the stuff for the 'umu on Saturday, so instead we went to a little Tongan/Polynesian restaurant and had food and a really delicious tropical drink. Although I'm pretty sure the food was a little Americanized, also the soda fountain machine gave it away a little too, it was still a fun experience to be able to talk to Sione and he could just tell us stories and we asked questions about the culture and tried to understand better.
Then we got the opportunity to go to the BYU luau and it was such a great experience. I think a lot of people kind of lump all of Polynesia together as the same but in watching all the different performances from all the different countries, it was clear to see that they were all unique and special in their own way! I really enjoyed the Tongan dancing and I was surprised that during the show I could pick up words that I recognized and I was able to understand a word here and there. It was an extremely beautiful show and hopefully I'll be able to learn some Tongan dances while I'm down there. It would be a great cultural experience and it will help me to build relationships with the wonderful people of Tonga.
I'm really grateful for our language and cultural prep classes before Tonga, because I feel like we will be able to go to Tonga wanting to learn about the culture and not just have an extended vacation there. It seems like a lot of tourists just skim the surface of the lifestyle in Tonga and other Polynesian cultures, and I think that can be the case for international internships and study abroads(obviously not all). There's so much more than just dancing and food, but there are ways of life, ways of thinking, family norms and unique cultural aspects to other countries that are so much more meaningful if we can experience them in contrast to our own and what we're used to. Hopefully that makes some sense. I'm just excited to be able to actually experience and live the culture, and not just see it.
Then we got the opportunity to go to the BYU luau and it was such a great experience. I think a lot of people kind of lump all of Polynesia together as the same but in watching all the different performances from all the different countries, it was clear to see that they were all unique and special in their own way! I really enjoyed the Tongan dancing and I was surprised that during the show I could pick up words that I recognized and I was able to understand a word here and there. It was an extremely beautiful show and hopefully I'll be able to learn some Tongan dances while I'm down there. It would be a great cultural experience and it will help me to build relationships with the wonderful people of Tonga.
I'm really grateful for our language and cultural prep classes before Tonga, because I feel like we will be able to go to Tonga wanting to learn about the culture and not just have an extended vacation there. It seems like a lot of tourists just skim the surface of the lifestyle in Tonga and other Polynesian cultures, and I think that can be the case for international internships and study abroads(obviously not all). There's so much more than just dancing and food, but there are ways of life, ways of thinking, family norms and unique cultural aspects to other countries that are so much more meaningful if we can experience them in contrast to our own and what we're used to. Hopefully that makes some sense. I'm just excited to be able to actually experience and live the culture, and not just see it.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
March 23
I was asked how I thought I would be able to overcome the cultural problem of being western and asking for opinions on western culture. The problem that I foresee is that people might not want to offend me and not give me their true opinions on western culture and how it's affecting Tonga. In my proposal I talked about how I want to re assure them that I will not be offended and that I'm only interested in their honest opinions. I'm also going to maintain really good relationships with people so that they are more comfortable in being honest with me. I also plan on telling them that I am Hispanic so that maybe they will be willing to share more information with me since I'm not 100% white. I think the best way to overcome this problem is just to maintain really good relationships and I'm hoping that I'm enough of a people person to do that.
Monday, March 21, 2011
March 21
Today it was supposed to be spring (yesterday was the first official day). However, It was freezing and windy this morning when I walked to campus I didn't have a coat so I was so cold! I spent the whole walk up to campus complaining about the weather in my head and having a negative thoughts.
Tonight, while reflecting on what to write about, I realized what a terrible attitude I had today when things just weren't perfect. I realize that I can be this way a lot about many different things.
I heard Dallin say a couple times that there would be times in Tonga where we would just want to go home.
I can imagine this happening to me a lot if I have to walk a lot and I'm in pain and my knee hurts and the weather is bad and things aren't going right with my project or I'm hating the food or I'm homesick! If I don't have an attitude adjustment SOON, I'm probably going to have a bad time in Tonga.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I'm always a pessimist and that I can't get over things. I just realized that most of the time, it's my thoughts that are negative even when I try to be positive on the outside, so it doesn't always work out just right.
So, in preparation for good times and bad in Tonga, I want to start eradicating the negative thoughts I have. Throughout this week especially, I'm going to make sure to stop myself when I have a bad attitude and try to change my perspective and be happier when things aren't going my way! I just want to make sure that even when things get hard in Tonga I don't have to weigh myself down with negativity.
next time: domain analysis
Tonight, while reflecting on what to write about, I realized what a terrible attitude I had today when things just weren't perfect. I realize that I can be this way a lot about many different things.
I heard Dallin say a couple times that there would be times in Tonga where we would just want to go home.
I can imagine this happening to me a lot if I have to walk a lot and I'm in pain and my knee hurts and the weather is bad and things aren't going right with my project or I'm hating the food or I'm homesick! If I don't have an attitude adjustment SOON, I'm probably going to have a bad time in Tonga.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I'm always a pessimist and that I can't get over things. I just realized that most of the time, it's my thoughts that are negative even when I try to be positive on the outside, so it doesn't always work out just right.
So, in preparation for good times and bad in Tonga, I want to start eradicating the negative thoughts I have. Throughout this week especially, I'm going to make sure to stop myself when I have a bad attitude and try to change my perspective and be happier when things aren't going my way! I just want to make sure that even when things get hard in Tonga I don't have to weigh myself down with negativity.
next time: domain analysis
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
March 16
In doing my new literature review I finally found a lot of good information not just about Tonga but about other studies similar to the one that I want to do. The effects of westernization on traditional cultures and people and attitudes toward westernization is a broad and widely researched topic. Vakalahi studied Pacific Islander students in America and how their culture affected their education. He discussed how Pacific Islander youth living in the US had to deal with modern culture and traditional culture pulling them either way. Western culture that is developing in Tonga presents an alternative to traditional ways that youth and young adults have to deal with on a day to day basis. Gewertz and Errington (2009) studied the Chambri of New Guinea and the effects of a modern television program geared towards New Guineans and a modern Christian youth group on the traditional society. They find that the youth involved in both traditional and modern aspects of New Guinea rejected both lifestyles as valued ways of living. However, attitudes toward modernization of their society, such as a video of their traditional dances with lights and cameras and people watching in western clothing made some people sad and they believed it discounted the richness of their culture. Lukere and Jolly (2002) studied women and modern medicine in Tonga. It was found that mā’uli, or traditional midwives, were more willing to incorporate modern medicine into their practices while the hospital staff acted antagonistic towards them. They found that women prefer the care of the mā’uli, while some consider the hospital to be more clean and safe. The Ministry of Health in Tonga is trying to convince mā’uli to encourage women to attend clinics and pre-natal training courses sporadically offered in Tonga. Such is an example of the struggle between traditional ways of life and western practices in the medical field due to different attitudes women have towards western practices versus traditional ones.
My studies differ from these in context, in that it will be a case study of the young women who are involved in traditional, gender-specific work while experiencing western culture influencing Tonga and their attitudes toward this influence.
My studies differ from these in context, in that it will be a case study of the young women who are involved in traditional, gender-specific work while experiencing western culture influencing Tonga and their attitudes toward this influence.
Monday, March 14, 2011
March 14
So my project has taken a slight turn. My focus instead of families will be westernization in Tonga. As young women in Tonga, they experience the cultural traditions of weaving, but at the same time are experiencing westernization in Tonga. Tonga is still a monarchy, but theres been a push for democracy, a very western idea. Additionally, other western aspects of culture are taking over, and a lot of the people think that the Palangi (white) way is better. I really want to look at what kinds of perspectives that these women have who experience traditional aspects of the culture and what they think about western influences in Tonga.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
March 9
Today and monday's class were all about different symbols that different cultures have. We have many symbols that are the same but represent different things (a t as a cross and a letter), as well as different symbols to represent the same thing (peace sign, dove, two fingers raised up). It's extremely important to recognize that symbols mean different things in other places, and things that we normally wouldn't have meaning on might be significant. An example is a cow here, which is just a farm animal we use to produce milk and meat, but in India the cow is extremely sacred and they wouldn't even think of eating one.
I don't know of any Tongan symbols that are different, but going along with that when we study another culture we have to realize that the way that they think is even different than our own. For example, Tongans are very connected with the nature around them, and have close ties with their families. In our culture, we don't think that way about nature and our society is becoming less and less family oriented. For my project I want to be able to learn about the way that Tongans think so I can better understand them and their culture. This is important because if you don't know about their symbols or what's sacred to them, you could really offend someone or even the entire community. I sure as heck don't want to do that when I'm trying to talk to people and research them!
I don't know of any Tongan symbols that are different, but going along with that when we study another culture we have to realize that the way that they think is even different than our own. For example, Tongans are very connected with the nature around them, and have close ties with their families. In our culture, we don't think that way about nature and our society is becoming less and less family oriented. For my project I want to be able to learn about the way that Tongans think so I can better understand them and their culture. This is important because if you don't know about their symbols or what's sacred to them, you could really offend someone or even the entire community. I sure as heck don't want to do that when I'm trying to talk to people and research them!
Monday, March 7, 2011
March 7
In class we talked more about the article "Helping, Fixing, or Serving?" When I first read it, to be honest I didn't like it but I didn't want to say so because it sounded like a nice article that would have been a great church talk, however as an academic article I think it was pretty ridiculous. Then in class I found out that people in my group also didn't like the article. I disagreed about the definition of helping, and how you see people as weaker when you help them. I would disagree, because my definition of helping is just to offer assistance to those in need. When we serve people, it's pretty much the same thing. We offer of ourselves, whether it's our talents or our time or both!
In class Ashley erased the words helping, fixing and serving next to our definitions, and then I liked the article better. Without the semantics and definitions, there were concepts. The concepts were the attitudes behind when you are assisting somebody. If you do it because you want to appear better or stronger, then you are doing it for the wrong reasons. If you are doing it because you have love and want to express that, then you are serving in the way that Christ would have you.
When I go do research, I don't want people to think I'm here to fix their ways or help them because I'm a "rich American" and my way of life is better. I also don't want them to think that I'm trying to change them. When I do research with people, I am going to tell them that this information is going back to the US in order to broaden people's cultural understandings, and is in no way to put them down or show that all other ways other than our own are dumb. The way they are is beautiful because it's different, and that alone is a good enough reason to research and study the culture in Tonga. Knowledge of a different culture shouldn't be intended for criticism of that culture, but perhaps criticism of your own, and realizing that there's another way of life other than your own.
In class Ashley erased the words helping, fixing and serving next to our definitions, and then I liked the article better. Without the semantics and definitions, there were concepts. The concepts were the attitudes behind when you are assisting somebody. If you do it because you want to appear better or stronger, then you are doing it for the wrong reasons. If you are doing it because you have love and want to express that, then you are serving in the way that Christ would have you.
When I go do research, I don't want people to think I'm here to fix their ways or help them because I'm a "rich American" and my way of life is better. I also don't want them to think that I'm trying to change them. When I do research with people, I am going to tell them that this information is going back to the US in order to broaden people's cultural understandings, and is in no way to put them down or show that all other ways other than our own are dumb. The way they are is beautiful because it's different, and that alone is a good enough reason to research and study the culture in Tonga. Knowledge of a different culture shouldn't be intended for criticism of that culture, but perhaps criticism of your own, and realizing that there's another way of life other than your own.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Make-up Journal #2
Ah yes, another make up journal for the ones I missed before I was in the class.
Yesterday, I got the opportunity to talk to professor Ostraff from the art department. He spoke to me about how in Tonga, they don't even have a word specifically for "art." This makes sense, in that pretty much everything that people do is art. The way we walk or talk, the clothes we wear, how we style our hair... even things like cars, shoes, pillows, architecture etc they are all some sort of art, and it's such a broad and generally term that the word doesn't even mean anything! The things that people do that are creative can also have a utility, and at the same time things we use for utility can have aesthetics to which we can ascribe artistic qualities.
I like that Tonga doesn't have a word for art, in that, everything they do is art so there just isn't a word for "everything you can do." It makes a lot of sense.
As I go to Tonga, I am studying the weaving houses, and the women create art, but it's also their "job" or source of income, at the same time it's a social space where she can spend time with her family and/or friends, and at the same time, it's traditional and cultural, and the cloths will be used for important ceremonies or for gift giving. When you look at it this way, it's clear to see why there isn't a word for "art," because everything is sort of woven together (pun definitely intended). In Tonga, the womens relationships to the cloth is so much more than just a way to make money, or a form of art. It's multi-dimensional and it's super beautiful. I am excited to be able to take a closer look at what all that is like in the weaving houses!
Yesterday, I got the opportunity to talk to professor Ostraff from the art department. He spoke to me about how in Tonga, they don't even have a word specifically for "art." This makes sense, in that pretty much everything that people do is art. The way we walk or talk, the clothes we wear, how we style our hair... even things like cars, shoes, pillows, architecture etc they are all some sort of art, and it's such a broad and generally term that the word doesn't even mean anything! The things that people do that are creative can also have a utility, and at the same time things we use for utility can have aesthetics to which we can ascribe artistic qualities.
I like that Tonga doesn't have a word for art, in that, everything they do is art so there just isn't a word for "everything you can do." It makes a lot of sense.
As I go to Tonga, I am studying the weaving houses, and the women create art, but it's also their "job" or source of income, at the same time it's a social space where she can spend time with her family and/or friends, and at the same time, it's traditional and cultural, and the cloths will be used for important ceremonies or for gift giving. When you look at it this way, it's clear to see why there isn't a word for "art," because everything is sort of woven together (pun definitely intended). In Tonga, the womens relationships to the cloth is so much more than just a way to make money, or a form of art. It's multi-dimensional and it's super beautiful. I am excited to be able to take a closer look at what all that is like in the weaving houses!
March 4
In class, Sione talked about how western culture is views by the Tongans. Many Tongans believe that the palangi (white) way is better than the Tongan way. It made me really sad actually. While there are good things about our culture, there are probably more bad things that I can think of right now. If Tongans made a significant effort to become more western, I can imagine them adopting materialistic attributes that would make them extremely unhappy. Kaylee talked about how a girl refused to eat in front of her, and when asked the girl said that she didn't want to eat in front of her because Americans think Tongans are fat, so she didn't want Kaylee to see her eat and re-enforce the stereotype that all Tongans are fat. I was extremely saddened by this. If there are some western things that I wouldn't want Tongans (or anyone) to adopt, they are body image ideals, materialism, and acceptance of extreme inequality between people. By that I mean, the capitalistic mindset of poor people are poor because they are lazy and dumb. This is completely untrue, and I would argue that poverty and inequality is a result of the way society is set up in America.
So, as this relates to my project, I just hope that Tongans don't have the view that I think I'm better than them, or that I want to teach them my ways because I think they are better. I want to understand their ways, not impose mine on them. No one's beliefs or lifestyles are better than another's. We are all different, but in reality, everyone has a common goal of finding happiness, so we should be accepting and decide for ourselves what kind of lifestyle that we want to lead in order to create that happiness.
So, as this relates to my project, I just hope that Tongans don't have the view that I think I'm better than them, or that I want to teach them my ways because I think they are better. I want to understand their ways, not impose mine on them. No one's beliefs or lifestyles are better than another's. We are all different, but in reality, everyone has a common goal of finding happiness, so we should be accepting and decide for ourselves what kind of lifestyle that we want to lead in order to create that happiness.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Make-up Journal (woot)
We read an article about Stephanie Sinclair who worked for months to gain access into various polygamous towns in order to photograph their lives. A lot of her photos look like she was just a fly on the wall taking pictures, while others (the group shot) was posed.
Her role as a researcher was more observationalist (considering she was not participating). She had to get permission from Warren Jeffs himself and from various leaders in the communities in order to get in, and then it took even longer for her to actually be able to photograph what went on inside.
It took her months to gain access, and her hard work paid off, she was able to take and share pictures that no one else has been able to get before. Doing so was a lot of work, especially due to the fact that she went in right after the raid at Yearning for Zion. She had to make sure that the people knew that her intentions were not to incriminate or investigate, but simply share their lives with others so they can better understand too.
This makes me think of my research in Tonga, because I have to gain trust in the people before they will share their lives with me. This may take a while, but hopefully not months because I only have 3 in the field!
Her role as a researcher was more observationalist (considering she was not participating). She had to get permission from Warren Jeffs himself and from various leaders in the communities in order to get in, and then it took even longer for her to actually be able to photograph what went on inside.
It took her months to gain access, and her hard work paid off, she was able to take and share pictures that no one else has been able to get before. Doing so was a lot of work, especially due to the fact that she went in right after the raid at Yearning for Zion. She had to make sure that the people knew that her intentions were not to incriminate or investigate, but simply share their lives with others so they can better understand too.
This makes me think of my research in Tonga, because I have to gain trust in the people before they will share their lives with me. This may take a while, but hopefully not months because I only have 3 in the field!
Monday, February 28, 2011
February 28
Today's reading included an article about helping, fixing and serving.
The difference between them is that helping someone implies that they are superior and the one being helped is weaker. Fixing implies that the one who is being fixed is "broken." Then serving, is seeing life as whole and being equals.
While trying to think of why we were required to read this article, I came up with this: While abroad, we can't have the mentality that we are helping or fixing the people or a person. My intentions are not at all to try to change anyone while I'm there, if anyone is changing, it's going to be me. I'm not trying to fix anyone or tell them what's right and wrong about their culture, because who am I to say that? It reminds me of the movie we watched called Barbecue Area which is about going into a city of white people and commenting on their culture and trying to fix their problems. It's a parody on how developed countries feel like it's their need to go into indigenous people and tell them what they need and want because their lifestyle is wrong and barbaric. This kind of attitude is extremely ego centric, and one that we should not have. I should be going in with the attitude of serving, and just loving the people in Tonga like Christ would!
The difference between them is that helping someone implies that they are superior and the one being helped is weaker. Fixing implies that the one who is being fixed is "broken." Then serving, is seeing life as whole and being equals.
While trying to think of why we were required to read this article, I came up with this: While abroad, we can't have the mentality that we are helping or fixing the people or a person. My intentions are not at all to try to change anyone while I'm there, if anyone is changing, it's going to be me. I'm not trying to fix anyone or tell them what's right and wrong about their culture, because who am I to say that? It reminds me of the movie we watched called Barbecue Area which is about going into a city of white people and commenting on their culture and trying to fix their problems. It's a parody on how developed countries feel like it's their need to go into indigenous people and tell them what they need and want because their lifestyle is wrong and barbaric. This kind of attitude is extremely ego centric, and one that we should not have. I should be going in with the attitude of serving, and just loving the people in Tonga like Christ would!
Friday, February 25, 2011
February 25
Today we talked about ethics in a make-up class that I went to.
We talked about unethical research that has been performed in the past. A lot of these experiments taught us a lot, like the physicians who performed experiments on people in the Nuremberg trials. But, these experiments amoung others have ethical issues in that many of these people were forced into the experiments, were uninformed of what was really going on and many people died during the process.
Although none of our projects are going to be like this, we still have to consider ethical issues. We do have to get approval from IRB but we still have to make sure that out in the field we are being ethical to other humans.
For my project, the ethical concern I thought of was that I'm researching other people, and my findings might contradict how they feel and think about themselves and I might write things that are wrong in my speculations. In order to help solve this, I am going to make sure I show my notes to people I interview and write about so that they can look over it and make sure it is actually representative of what they say and how they live their lives.
I can't really know what other ethical things I might run into in Tonga considering I have never been there, but it's important to know where I stand and remember who I represent when I go there. I have to be able to make decisions on what I think is ethical and act accordingly. Even I am faced with the choice of doing something that might be unethical, I know I don't have to take the chance and I can be safe and choose not to do it if I am unsure.
We talked about unethical research that has been performed in the past. A lot of these experiments taught us a lot, like the physicians who performed experiments on people in the Nuremberg trials. But, these experiments amoung others have ethical issues in that many of these people were forced into the experiments, were uninformed of what was really going on and many people died during the process.
Although none of our projects are going to be like this, we still have to consider ethical issues. We do have to get approval from IRB but we still have to make sure that out in the field we are being ethical to other humans.
For my project, the ethical concern I thought of was that I'm researching other people, and my findings might contradict how they feel and think about themselves and I might write things that are wrong in my speculations. In order to help solve this, I am going to make sure I show my notes to people I interview and write about so that they can look over it and make sure it is actually representative of what they say and how they live their lives.
I can't really know what other ethical things I might run into in Tonga considering I have never been there, but it's important to know where I stand and remember who I represent when I go there. I have to be able to make decisions on what I think is ethical and act accordingly. Even I am faced with the choice of doing something that might be unethical, I know I don't have to take the chance and I can be safe and choose not to do it if I am unsure.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
February 23
Today the reading was on the Ophelia syndrome. She is a character in Hamlet who doesn't know how to think for herself which eventually leads to her suicide.
After reading this, I realize I have a little bit of the Ophelia syndrome. After taking theory classes and having to apply a certain theory to my research, I constantly wish that someone would just tell me what kind of ontology and epistemology to take into account for my research project because I couldn't decide for myself. Deciding for myself was too hard for me and I figured the easy way would be to have someone tell me. This way, I didn't have to know the material very well and I didn't have to study all the theories, just the one that my mentor told me to use.
I realize this kind of attitude inhibits my learning and profits my personal growth nothing. Thinking for ourselves, listening to different points of view, and challenging what we are taught are all parts of being able to actual learn, rather than parrot what we are taught.
After reading this, I realize I have a little bit of the Ophelia syndrome. After taking theory classes and having to apply a certain theory to my research, I constantly wish that someone would just tell me what kind of ontology and epistemology to take into account for my research project because I couldn't decide for myself. Deciding for myself was too hard for me and I figured the easy way would be to have someone tell me. This way, I didn't have to know the material very well and I didn't have to study all the theories, just the one that my mentor told me to use.
I realize this kind of attitude inhibits my learning and profits my personal growth nothing. Thinking for ourselves, listening to different points of view, and challenging what we are taught are all parts of being able to actual learn, rather than parrot what we are taught.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
February 22
Today we had a reading about rapport and access to the communities in which we are going to study. A few things I learned that I need to go is be friendly and charming in order to gain people's trust in order to be able to get good data for my research. It really helps that I am a woman studying women, considering men might not be willing to open up to me, and women would feel more comfortable sharing things with me. In addition to that, I will be able to gain access to the all-women working houses. In order to gain access to my community, I am relying mostly on my relationship with my host mother and sisters. I am hoping that through my relationship with them, I can get to work in the houses and make tapa or gnatu and be able to get references to other work houses as well to get as much data as I can. Another thing I'm doing to build rapport is I'm trying to learn the language. This will help because people will know that I am truly interested in them and that I want to learn.
Due to my short time in the field, I have to be able to gain access and trust as soon as possible in order to get as much data as I can. When I went to the Tongan ward, people were so friendly and inviting. I am hoping that the Tongans will be open and willing to share their culture and lives with me for a short time so that I can bring back what I have learned and be able to share it with everybody here.
Due to my short time in the field, I have to be able to gain access and trust as soon as possible in order to get as much data as I can. When I went to the Tongan ward, people were so friendly and inviting. I am hoping that the Tongans will be open and willing to share their culture and lives with me for a short time so that I can bring back what I have learned and be able to share it with everybody here.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
February 16th
I wanted to talk a little about qualitative research as it relates to my field because I realize I haven't done a very good job with my research practices, I've just never been one to follow methods very well!
Sociology is full of quantitative research, where usually surveys are administered to a random sample of people in high numbers in order to find statistical significance that can be applied to the population.
Qualitative is different, in that data is non numerical and you can purposely select who to study and interview. Also, qualitative is aiming at discovery of a phenomena, where quantitative is more for testing a hypothesis. The methods for qualitative are a little more loose, and as long as you can justify what you're doing and why, then you're pretty much good to go. A lot of this has to do with the groundwork or theory in your research in order to give support to the way you are looking at your research.
There are many ways in which we can gather data, some of which we went through in our workshop on Friday, which include photography, interviews and group discussions, observations, observation/reflections etc. Some of the methods I will be using are group and individual interviews, mapping, and reflective observation. In my methods practice I wrote down what I observed and my reflections on it. It's extremely important to separate or somehow mark your reflections in order to separate them from what actually happened (I didn't really do a good job at this).
I also plan on doing some mapping, where I map out all the weaving houses and I want to mark family relationships within houses and between houses so that I have a good idea of who's related in order to interview them. For this type of research it's important to talk to a lot of people to make sure that your data is correct and be able to have them help you with your map.
Group interviews that I want to do include family groups that work together, and then the weaving house groups. While doing group interviews, it's a little harder to get personal data, so I plan on doing individuals as well. It's important to assure your interviewee that the interview is confidential so that they feel comfortable sharing things that they wouldn't want others to know. It's also important to take good notes, and also to let them see the notes and make sure that what you wrote down accurately reflects their attitudes and beliefs.
After collecting this kind of data, you can code and put a value to responses and then analyze them using statistics, but I will probably use more of a recursive abstraction of my data, where you summarize your findings and draw conclusions from your summaries.
Sociology is full of quantitative research, where usually surveys are administered to a random sample of people in high numbers in order to find statistical significance that can be applied to the population.
Qualitative is different, in that data is non numerical and you can purposely select who to study and interview. Also, qualitative is aiming at discovery of a phenomena, where quantitative is more for testing a hypothesis. The methods for qualitative are a little more loose, and as long as you can justify what you're doing and why, then you're pretty much good to go. A lot of this has to do with the groundwork or theory in your research in order to give support to the way you are looking at your research.
There are many ways in which we can gather data, some of which we went through in our workshop on Friday, which include photography, interviews and group discussions, observations, observation/reflections etc. Some of the methods I will be using are group and individual interviews, mapping, and reflective observation. In my methods practice I wrote down what I observed and my reflections on it. It's extremely important to separate or somehow mark your reflections in order to separate them from what actually happened (I didn't really do a good job at this).
I also plan on doing some mapping, where I map out all the weaving houses and I want to mark family relationships within houses and between houses so that I have a good idea of who's related in order to interview them. For this type of research it's important to talk to a lot of people to make sure that your data is correct and be able to have them help you with your map.
Group interviews that I want to do include family groups that work together, and then the weaving house groups. While doing group interviews, it's a little harder to get personal data, so I plan on doing individuals as well. It's important to assure your interviewee that the interview is confidential so that they feel comfortable sharing things that they wouldn't want others to know. It's also important to take good notes, and also to let them see the notes and make sure that what you wrote down accurately reflects their attitudes and beliefs.
After collecting this kind of data, you can code and put a value to responses and then analyze them using statistics, but I will probably use more of a recursive abstraction of my data, where you summarize your findings and draw conclusions from your summaries.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Methods Practice 2
After class our group spontaneously decided to go to the Tongan ward where Sione introduced us and then let us have at it! We really wanted to go because we wanted to meet Tongans and be able to use this as our methods practice two.
We arrived at what was a 15 year old boy's eagle scout project. He fundraised and got donations for clothes and books to be sent to Tonga. As we arrived, they were just finishing packing the enormous box, which almost took up an entire bed of a truck. As soon as we got there and they found out we were going to Tonga, they wanted to get us to take a picture with the crate to send to Tonga, even though we had nothing to do with it being assembled! Right away, they were extremely welcoming and smiling and happy.
We walked into the cultural hall to find some people playing basketball and a bunch of boys sitting and eating. They had chicken curry vegetable stuff with rice and then "keke" which are basically fried dough balls. Along with that was some hot chocolate.
I sat down with the kids and started talking to them and immediately they were opening up and talking to me. They ranged from 1-15. The first table I went to, most of the kids were 7 to 9 and a two year old kid. I had them introduce themselves, and they all went around the table saying that they were cousins. They all pretty much seemed related and got along great. One kid went and brought another boy over to me, and said "this is my brother!" and I said, "really?" and then he said, "no... he's my cousin."
We talked about sports they liked and they asked me why I was here. I told them about my trip to Tonga and their faces lit up! They kept thinking we were going to be missionaries but I explained that we were students just going to study. Then they asked me if I was Polynesian, to which I replied no and I told them what my background is. One kid kept screaming "take me with you!!" and so I proceeded to ask all of them if they have ever been or would like to go. They pointed out the kids that had been and they all agreed that they wanted to go SO BAD. I thought it would be an interesting topic to study perceptions of their culture and Tonga of the children of immigrant parents. So after I talked to those kids, I moved to the next table.
At the next table the kids were a little older, from 8-15, including the boy who was doing the eagle scout project. All the kids agreed that they would want to go, one said he would like to go later but not right now, and he said he would like to go to Texas where the rest of his family is. The eagle scout kid told me that he never wanted to go to Tonga. Seeing that his response was a little different than the rest of the kids, I asked him why he said that. He said he liked it here just fine and he liked his school and didn't have any desire to go there.
Even though he said that, I could help but analyze what his attitude was (what he said) versus his behavior (what actually does). He seemed to try to distance himself from Tonga in saying that he didn't want to go, but at the same time, he still wanted to help the schools there by sending them books and supplies. He identified enough with Tonga or being Tongan that he wanted to help those that were there and less fortunate than him, however he had no desire to go and live there. This was interesting because one of the main source of Tongan income are actually remittances. These donations and foreign aid and remittances are what keep Tongan's head above water.
At the second table, after explaining my trip, asked me "what kind are you?" and I was't sure what he meant even though I assumed he meant what kind of Polynesian I was. So I asked him, "what kind of what?" and he said "are you Tongan?" I found it interesting that the kids assumed I was Polynesian probably because of my dark complexion, but one of the Tongans in my Tongan class said I don't look Polynesian and I could maybe pull off half. I'm guessing that after a while, kids realize there are more physical features to being Tongan than dark skin and hair, like the guy in my class who stated Tongans had flatter and wider noses and due to that and my blue eyes I don't really look Polynesian but at least I can pretend to be half!
From observing the Tongans at the Tongan ward, I can clearly see that there is a huge familial bond. Everybody is pretty much related and they all seem to band together and have close bonds. They knew each other fairly well and had a pretty strong connection to being Tongan.
We arrived at what was a 15 year old boy's eagle scout project. He fundraised and got donations for clothes and books to be sent to Tonga. As we arrived, they were just finishing packing the enormous box, which almost took up an entire bed of a truck. As soon as we got there and they found out we were going to Tonga, they wanted to get us to take a picture with the crate to send to Tonga, even though we had nothing to do with it being assembled! Right away, they were extremely welcoming and smiling and happy.
We walked into the cultural hall to find some people playing basketball and a bunch of boys sitting and eating. They had chicken curry vegetable stuff with rice and then "keke" which are basically fried dough balls. Along with that was some hot chocolate.
I sat down with the kids and started talking to them and immediately they were opening up and talking to me. They ranged from 1-15. The first table I went to, most of the kids were 7 to 9 and a two year old kid. I had them introduce themselves, and they all went around the table saying that they were cousins. They all pretty much seemed related and got along great. One kid went and brought another boy over to me, and said "this is my brother!" and I said, "really?" and then he said, "no... he's my cousin."
We talked about sports they liked and they asked me why I was here. I told them about my trip to Tonga and their faces lit up! They kept thinking we were going to be missionaries but I explained that we were students just going to study. Then they asked me if I was Polynesian, to which I replied no and I told them what my background is. One kid kept screaming "take me with you!!" and so I proceeded to ask all of them if they have ever been or would like to go. They pointed out the kids that had been and they all agreed that they wanted to go SO BAD. I thought it would be an interesting topic to study perceptions of their culture and Tonga of the children of immigrant parents. So after I talked to those kids, I moved to the next table.
At the next table the kids were a little older, from 8-15, including the boy who was doing the eagle scout project. All the kids agreed that they would want to go, one said he would like to go later but not right now, and he said he would like to go to Texas where the rest of his family is. The eagle scout kid told me that he never wanted to go to Tonga. Seeing that his response was a little different than the rest of the kids, I asked him why he said that. He said he liked it here just fine and he liked his school and didn't have any desire to go there.
Even though he said that, I could help but analyze what his attitude was (what he said) versus his behavior (what actually does). He seemed to try to distance himself from Tonga in saying that he didn't want to go, but at the same time, he still wanted to help the schools there by sending them books and supplies. He identified enough with Tonga or being Tongan that he wanted to help those that were there and less fortunate than him, however he had no desire to go and live there. This was interesting because one of the main source of Tongan income are actually remittances. These donations and foreign aid and remittances are what keep Tongan's head above water.
At the second table, after explaining my trip, asked me "what kind are you?" and I was't sure what he meant even though I assumed he meant what kind of Polynesian I was. So I asked him, "what kind of what?" and he said "are you Tongan?" I found it interesting that the kids assumed I was Polynesian probably because of my dark complexion, but one of the Tongans in my Tongan class said I don't look Polynesian and I could maybe pull off half. I'm guessing that after a while, kids realize there are more physical features to being Tongan than dark skin and hair, like the guy in my class who stated Tongans had flatter and wider noses and due to that and my blue eyes I don't really look Polynesian but at least I can pretend to be half!
From observing the Tongans at the Tongan ward, I can clearly see that there is a huge familial bond. Everybody is pretty much related and they all seem to band together and have close bonds. They knew each other fairly well and had a pretty strong connection to being Tongan.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
February 9th
I've been super excited lately because I'm finally seeing how 3 or 4 sociology theory classes I've taken are finally applying to me doing actual research. Some of the things I've learned over the years are coming together in the different ways we can look at society, or a particular society, in this case, Tonga. I want to outline a couple theories we have talked about and how they determine why people act the way they do.
First I want to start with Durkheim. He had a theory about what he calls "social facts." These are the natural or metaphysical laws that are formed completely external from us that we take and internalize and follow. These are the CAUSES of what we do. A problem with that is that Durkheim doesn't account for why or how we actually choose to follow them. Especially considering, sometimes some people don't.
Weber outlines a few reasons as to why we act the way we do according to our culture, based on the fact that we are pretty rational beings, capable of choosing and interpreting what we do.
Value Rational Action- This is when you do something based on the rationality that it follows your values and you wouldn't be compromising your beliefs by acting this certain way. These can be religious or just good old fashion morals.
Instrumental Action- This is where we do things as means to an end. We act a certain way as an "instrument" to achieve a desired end or goal.
Affectional Action- This usually imprudent action is based on our emotions and how we feel at the moment in which we act.
A lot of Rational Choice theorists would argue that people ALWAYS do things according to what's "rational." They define this as whatever would bring the most reward for you personally and lead to the least pain or punishment. These theorists believe people are egotistical and will always choose the needs of themselves over the needs of a group. They only belong to group settings whenever the group provides a common good that they value or need. If they can achieve this without being in a group, they would do so. These theorists don't account for people having any other connection other than gain, such as a common language that would allow for these people to even enter in a group. This is a kind of pessimistic view of humans, in that they are selfish and greedy and they don't account for abstract ideas such as love, friendship and trust.
I tend to believe in sort of a synthesis of a lot of these ideals; I'm not going to be one to say that it's one way and not the other. I do believe there are "social facts" that sort of guide how we act and what we do, however we do have reasons for doing them other than they are just "rational," like all the reasons for action that Weber outlined. We have reasons and we are able to think for ourselves and act, but there are cultural norms that influence our actions.
First I want to start with Durkheim. He had a theory about what he calls "social facts." These are the natural or metaphysical laws that are formed completely external from us that we take and internalize and follow. These are the CAUSES of what we do. A problem with that is that Durkheim doesn't account for why or how we actually choose to follow them. Especially considering, sometimes some people don't.
Weber outlines a few reasons as to why we act the way we do according to our culture, based on the fact that we are pretty rational beings, capable of choosing and interpreting what we do.
Value Rational Action- This is when you do something based on the rationality that it follows your values and you wouldn't be compromising your beliefs by acting this certain way. These can be religious or just good old fashion morals.
Instrumental Action- This is where we do things as means to an end. We act a certain way as an "instrument" to achieve a desired end or goal.
Affectional Action- This usually imprudent action is based on our emotions and how we feel at the moment in which we act.
A lot of Rational Choice theorists would argue that people ALWAYS do things according to what's "rational." They define this as whatever would bring the most reward for you personally and lead to the least pain or punishment. These theorists believe people are egotistical and will always choose the needs of themselves over the needs of a group. They only belong to group settings whenever the group provides a common good that they value or need. If they can achieve this without being in a group, they would do so. These theorists don't account for people having any other connection other than gain, such as a common language that would allow for these people to even enter in a group. This is a kind of pessimistic view of humans, in that they are selfish and greedy and they don't account for abstract ideas such as love, friendship and trust.
I tend to believe in sort of a synthesis of a lot of these ideals; I'm not going to be one to say that it's one way and not the other. I do believe there are "social facts" that sort of guide how we act and what we do, however we do have reasons for doing them other than they are just "rational," like all the reasons for action that Weber outlined. We have reasons and we are able to think for ourselves and act, but there are cultural norms that influence our actions.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
February 6
Okay, I want to finalize my semi-final question here. This is where I'm going for now but hopefully it's going to stick.
QUESTION: How does working together in the weaving houses affect the female family members and their relationships with each other? Is this a place for bonding with their family or primarily for social interactions with other women? How does working together affect the strength of family ties? Will it be a positive or negative affect?
Some specific questions that I have concerning my new research topic are as follows:
Do women tend to stick with their family in the weaving house? Or do they talk amongst other women primarily?
Do the women see this as a lifetime bonding experience?
Do they see it as just a job and nothing more?
What kinds of things do the women talk about while working in the houses?
Do techniques for weaving get passed on through families?
I have some concerns over my topic being too narrow. Only in the sense that I am afraid I won’t find enough family members that word together to get a good representative sample, or that they women won’t have much to say on the topic. I expect I’ll have to do a lot of observation and see how the family members interact together when working. Then, I could maybe even contrast that with how they act together in the home as sort of a control variable. I wonder if the way they act in the work-place and in the home is different. I wonder if they get sick of spending so much time together! Although, that’s a pretty big culture leap, because I know I got sick of my family when we hung out too much but I’m sure their culture is so much different, and it’s probably not a “chore” to spend time with your family. Or maybe it is, in the form of working in the weaving houses for the women. I guess most of these questions are ones that can’t be answered until I get to the field.
QUESTION: How does working together in the weaving houses affect the female family members and their relationships with each other? Is this a place for bonding with their family or primarily for social interactions with other women? How does working together affect the strength of family ties? Will it be a positive or negative affect?
Some specific questions that I have concerning my new research topic are as follows:
Do women tend to stick with their family in the weaving house? Or do they talk amongst other women primarily?
Do the women see this as a lifetime bonding experience?
Do they see it as just a job and nothing more?
What kinds of things do the women talk about while working in the houses?
Do techniques for weaving get passed on through families?
I have some concerns over my topic being too narrow. Only in the sense that I am afraid I won’t find enough family members that word together to get a good representative sample, or that they women won’t have much to say on the topic. I expect I’ll have to do a lot of observation and see how the family members interact together when working. Then, I could maybe even contrast that with how they act together in the home as sort of a control variable. I wonder if the way they act in the work-place and in the home is different. I wonder if they get sick of spending so much time together! Although, that’s a pretty big culture leap, because I know I got sick of my family when we hung out too much but I’m sure their culture is so much different, and it’s probably not a “chore” to spend time with your family. Or maybe it is, in the form of working in the weaving houses for the women. I guess most of these questions are ones that can’t be answered until I get to the field.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Interview
I didn't know about the assignment until it was way to late to find a Tongan person and interview them :( So, I used a friend who served in Tonga on his mission.
The interview conducted was an informal, semi constructed question/answer session. I will outline the things he said about the culture.
FAMILY LIFE-
Men and women have different responsibilities. Men go to the bush and work during the day. Women take care of the home and the children and go to weaving houses during the day to weave or make gnatu. They make these in large groups and sell them to people for weddings, funerals, births and even to tourists. He mentioned that the women just sit there and discuss whatever comes to mind. It's their main source of social interaction. Something interesting he said is that entire communities raise all the children together and everyone is willing to punish, discipline, feed and shelter any child. They also tend to give their children to other family members who don't have any. This sort of communal child raising technique is extremely interesting. Comparatively, in the US, parenting is extremely privatized and women especially want to be the only ones to influence and raise their child. This sort of way is very ethnocentric and I would argue that if affects the child's ability to open up to other things. The Tongan people practically live the consecration not just in family relations but in possessions as well. My interviewee told me not to be surprised when someone asks me for something of mine. And of course, I have to give it to them. I was a little concerned over this, because it's just in my culture that people own and possess their items and that's that. It's kind of like a little child playing with his sibling, and one wants a toy but the other says "it's mine!" This is interesting because when you think about it, the toys probably weren't purchased by them, and I'm sure the toy actually belongs to the parents who purchased them, and even they would argue that the toy is for both of them. It's kind of a silly and selfish way to live, if you think about it.
I asked him about food, specifically if I would lose weight on the trip.
He said we would eat a lot of roots and probably some fruit, but not a whole lot of meat which is reserved for special occasions. He said I should expect to have diarrhea a lot. He said he gained weight on his mission, but I don't really like sweet potatoes or yams so I'm banking on losing some weight! He said the fruit was so amazing, especially pineapple when they are in season. He said they would eat it til their tongues were bleeding.
I asked him about differences between LDS families and non LDS families.
He said that there wasn't that much of a difference, especially considering even those that are not LDS are still Christian. He said the biggest difference was probably alcohol consumption.
He showed me his tohi a molomona and I read a couple verses out of it while he checked my Tongan pronunciation. He said it wasn't all that bad!
He also showed me his ta'ovala, which are the traditional waist mats that Tongan's wear to special occasions. I tried it on and I have to admit I looked good.
He told me some stories about when he was there, which were wonderful. But, concerning my project I've included what's important for living there as a guest and then what's applicable to my research.
The interview conducted was an informal, semi constructed question/answer session. I will outline the things he said about the culture.
FAMILY LIFE-
Men and women have different responsibilities. Men go to the bush and work during the day. Women take care of the home and the children and go to weaving houses during the day to weave or make gnatu. They make these in large groups and sell them to people for weddings, funerals, births and even to tourists. He mentioned that the women just sit there and discuss whatever comes to mind. It's their main source of social interaction. Something interesting he said is that entire communities raise all the children together and everyone is willing to punish, discipline, feed and shelter any child. They also tend to give their children to other family members who don't have any. This sort of communal child raising technique is extremely interesting. Comparatively, in the US, parenting is extremely privatized and women especially want to be the only ones to influence and raise their child. This sort of way is very ethnocentric and I would argue that if affects the child's ability to open up to other things. The Tongan people practically live the consecration not just in family relations but in possessions as well. My interviewee told me not to be surprised when someone asks me for something of mine. And of course, I have to give it to them. I was a little concerned over this, because it's just in my culture that people own and possess their items and that's that. It's kind of like a little child playing with his sibling, and one wants a toy but the other says "it's mine!" This is interesting because when you think about it, the toys probably weren't purchased by them, and I'm sure the toy actually belongs to the parents who purchased them, and even they would argue that the toy is for both of them. It's kind of a silly and selfish way to live, if you think about it.
I asked him about food, specifically if I would lose weight on the trip.
He said we would eat a lot of roots and probably some fruit, but not a whole lot of meat which is reserved for special occasions. He said I should expect to have diarrhea a lot. He said he gained weight on his mission, but I don't really like sweet potatoes or yams so I'm banking on losing some weight! He said the fruit was so amazing, especially pineapple when they are in season. He said they would eat it til their tongues were bleeding.
I asked him about differences between LDS families and non LDS families.
He said that there wasn't that much of a difference, especially considering even those that are not LDS are still Christian. He said the biggest difference was probably alcohol consumption.
He showed me his tohi a molomona and I read a couple verses out of it while he checked my Tongan pronunciation. He said it wasn't all that bad!
He also showed me his ta'ovala, which are the traditional waist mats that Tongan's wear to special occasions. I tried it on and I have to admit I looked good.
He told me some stories about when he was there, which were wonderful. But, concerning my project I've included what's important for living there as a guest and then what's applicable to my research.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
January 28 Literature Review Worksheet
Literature Review Worksheet (Part 1, before class)
Please answer each question according to your understanding of the academic discussion/literature surrounding your research topic. Answers likely will not be definitive and may include some speculation (which you should indicate as such). Be honest about what you do not presently know and where you can improve (you will be evaluated on your thoughtful completion of the assignment, not on whether or not you know all the answers).
1. What are the key concepts you’ve dissected within your own question? List related search terms.
Key concepts include gender and power and related terms include feminism, fahu, and kinship.
2. What additional key terms and concepts have you discovered in the literature?
Mehekitanga- sister
Socialized vs natural gender.
faka 'apa 'apa- respect
fatongia- kind of like an honor or privilege
3. What discipline or disciplines are your sources based within?
Sociological and anthropological disciplins.
4. What are some of the concepts that your sources generally agree on (underlying assumptions)?
Gender is partly socialized in each culture, but also there are natural laws concerning gender that transcend time and peoples.
5. Are there particular scholars or sources that seem to be referenced frequently in what you’ve read so far?
A lot of sources from the Journal of the Polynesian Society
6. What need is there for further research in the academic discussion? In other words, where are the gaps?
The gap that I’m seeing that I want to research is the difference between perceptions of power between women in our culture and the women in Tonga.
Please answer each question according to your understanding of the academic discussion/literature surrounding your research topic. Answers likely will not be definitive and may include some speculation (which you should indicate as such). Be honest about what you do not presently know and where you can improve (you will be evaluated on your thoughtful completion of the assignment, not on whether or not you know all the answers).
1. What are the key concepts you’ve dissected within your own question? List related search terms.
Key concepts include gender and power and related terms include feminism, fahu, and kinship.
2. What additional key terms and concepts have you discovered in the literature?
Mehekitanga- sister
Socialized vs natural gender.
faka 'apa 'apa- respect
fatongia- kind of like an honor or privilege
3. What discipline or disciplines are your sources based within?
Sociological and anthropological disciplins.
4. What are some of the concepts that your sources generally agree on (underlying assumptions)?
Gender is partly socialized in each culture, but also there are natural laws concerning gender that transcend time and peoples.
5. Are there particular scholars or sources that seem to be referenced frequently in what you’ve read so far?
A lot of sources from the Journal of the Polynesian Society
6. What need is there for further research in the academic discussion? In other words, where are the gaps?
The gap that I’m seeing that I want to research is the difference between perceptions of power between women in our culture and the women in Tonga.
Monday, January 31, 2011
January 31
After our discussion last Wednesday about how we view other cultures as "weird" compared to our own, I couldn't help but think of all the times I judged the Tongan culture and thought that things were strange or dumb. I remember back in our culture class, we were learning about the fahu and we discussed how the fahu can take presents from a celebration even if they were supposed to go to the wedding couple or graduating student. We were all completely blown away and I'm pretty sure I said that it was so weird! I couldn't even grasp the idea that at a celebration for someone, where people bring them gifts, a person could come and take all those gifts no questions asked. For the Tongan culture, it's normal and people don't even think twice about it. Why would they get gifts in the first place if they knew the fahu was going to come and take them and there's a chance that the person the gift was intended for wouldn't even receive it?
But, when you've grown up in a culture, things that you do aren't strange because you're used it! I'm sure if someone who's never been to church before, and sat with a bunch of people who then proceeded to sing songs about God it would be super strange for them. And then the fact that we separate men and women into Elders Quorum and Relief society or young men and women would probably be strange and people might not like it because it's like segregation!
Anyway, it's important to watch our behavior and the words we say around or about other cultures because we all see the world differently through our culture and lifestyles.
But, when you've grown up in a culture, things that you do aren't strange because you're used it! I'm sure if someone who's never been to church before, and sat with a bunch of people who then proceeded to sing songs about God it would be super strange for them. And then the fact that we separate men and women into Elders Quorum and Relief society or young men and women would probably be strange and people might not like it because it's like segregation!
Anyway, it's important to watch our behavior and the words we say around or about other cultures because we all see the world differently through our culture and lifestyles.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
January 26
Fields and sites help us to frame our research in order to make a good proposal and research topic. I think I'm finally sticking to a subject and I want to put it all together so that I can work on my proposal this weekend.
The field is the study of gender, my topic is going to be the women specifically in Tonga. This amounts for an interesting research topic due to the family structure in Tonga. The father's oldest sister, called the "Fahu" is THE BOSS of the family. She gets whatever she wants and has the final say on everything. This is unique to their culture and it is something that many women in other countries do not enjoy. So, researching this topic in Tonga as it relates to feminism and "power" would be really interesting to look at, and then use it as a critique of how we see feminism in the US in terms of what power is. For example, in the US the biggest critique of feminism would be that feminist desire what men hold has power and what they consider to be power. I really want to argue against that, because regardless of whether men and women are socialized to be different or whether there are natural laws in place governing characteristics of males and females, you can't ignore the fact that there are differences. I guess the ontology behind that is that we have to work on the reality that we live in, not the one that exists in some other entity. Regardless of whether some other reality actually exists, doesn't change the fact that we live in one that may or may not be different.
Back to feminism, I have no problems with women getting equal pay for equal work, and I have no problems with women voting and all that other good stuff. However, I do have a problem with women trying to elevate their status HIGHER than men to make up for "lost time." Differences between men are more stratified than the differences between men and women. Regardless, there are characteristics that are different that each gender hold, and feminists look at it as a bad thing, in that they want the powers and characteristics that men enjoy.
Perhaps a better way of looking at gender relations is that each gender as its own sphere of "power" and influence and that doesn't necessarily equate to "inequality." In other words, it's not a bad thing that women and men are different. In fact, I love it!
So, women in Tonga probably have a really unique perspective on gender relations that I would like to look at. The women, especially the Fahu, hold a lot of power in the family, and I wonder if they would prefer the power that men usually hold, or if they are satisfied with their lives the way it is. I think it's largely a US ideal that's branded into our minds, that everyone is EQUAL. But, this leads us to the misunderstanding that everyone should be THE SAME, which is not only completely different but impossible to say the least.
So, given that, I'm going to lay down my question for now.
Given the higher elevated status of women in the family, especially for the Fahu in Tonga, what are the perspectives of what is considered "power" for women versus the power that men hold, and do these powers satisfy their needs to control their reality or do they feel that they are dominated by men?
The field is the study of gender, my topic is going to be the women specifically in Tonga. This amounts for an interesting research topic due to the family structure in Tonga. The father's oldest sister, called the "Fahu" is THE BOSS of the family. She gets whatever she wants and has the final say on everything. This is unique to their culture and it is something that many women in other countries do not enjoy. So, researching this topic in Tonga as it relates to feminism and "power" would be really interesting to look at, and then use it as a critique of how we see feminism in the US in terms of what power is. For example, in the US the biggest critique of feminism would be that feminist desire what men hold has power and what they consider to be power. I really want to argue against that, because regardless of whether men and women are socialized to be different or whether there are natural laws in place governing characteristics of males and females, you can't ignore the fact that there are differences. I guess the ontology behind that is that we have to work on the reality that we live in, not the one that exists in some other entity. Regardless of whether some other reality actually exists, doesn't change the fact that we live in one that may or may not be different.
Back to feminism, I have no problems with women getting equal pay for equal work, and I have no problems with women voting and all that other good stuff. However, I do have a problem with women trying to elevate their status HIGHER than men to make up for "lost time." Differences between men are more stratified than the differences between men and women. Regardless, there are characteristics that are different that each gender hold, and feminists look at it as a bad thing, in that they want the powers and characteristics that men enjoy.
Perhaps a better way of looking at gender relations is that each gender as its own sphere of "power" and influence and that doesn't necessarily equate to "inequality." In other words, it's not a bad thing that women and men are different. In fact, I love it!
So, women in Tonga probably have a really unique perspective on gender relations that I would like to look at. The women, especially the Fahu, hold a lot of power in the family, and I wonder if they would prefer the power that men usually hold, or if they are satisfied with their lives the way it is. I think it's largely a US ideal that's branded into our minds, that everyone is EQUAL. But, this leads us to the misunderstanding that everyone should be THE SAME, which is not only completely different but impossible to say the least.
So, given that, I'm going to lay down my question for now.
Given the higher elevated status of women in the family, especially for the Fahu in Tonga, what are the perspectives of what is considered "power" for women versus the power that men hold, and do these powers satisfy their needs to control their reality or do they feel that they are dominated by men?
Monday, January 24, 2011
January 24
I think I've finally chosen my topic and I really want to look at the women in Tonga. Specifically, through cultural social interactions during weaving and tapa cloth making groups. The type of study I want to do is an ethnographic/anthropological type research. I choose this because when studying culture and people, it shouldn't be a scientific approach like you would go about to study a plant or a microorganism. Doing such research only adds knowledge to the field as a paradigm*, and when I say paradigm in this context I mean that science is only a theory upon theory until an "end" of true pure knowledge is reached. An end that I would argue not only doesn't exist (how would we even know WHEN we reached it if we did?), but is unreachable when studying people. People are not objects and have the capacity to change don't exist as one entity that "are" but rather they are "being." The advantages to an anthropological study is this is that I will be able to interact with the group and the culture in order to understand them better. I really want to be able to get to know the culture and understand their way of thinking, as it is completely different then mine from values, in terms of how the they think and how they feel about their social surroundings. Also, I will be able to have more access to the people's knowledge and feelings through getting to know them, rather than just watching them or giving them a survey. I feel like this is really the best way to understand their culture.
As I am doing research, there is not a whole lot of socio-research concerning interactions between women. This is a bad thing for my literature review but a good thing for my project because I will be able to research something that hasn't really been looked at before. Some questions I have concerning my topic are as follows:
How do the women view themselves in terms of others?
Are Tongan people mostly individual or collective people?
Do women value their relationship with other women like them?
Do they ostracize women that are "different"?
How do they maintain relationships with other people or women outside of their weaving groups?
*paradigm- The word has come to refer very often now to a thought pattern in any scientific discipline or other epistemological context. The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary defines this usage as "a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which theories, laws, and generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them are formulated; broadly: a philosophical or theoretical framework of any kind."[5] -Wikipedia
I provide this definition since the definition we have been using in class is something very different than how it is used in sociology.
As I am doing research, there is not a whole lot of socio-research concerning interactions between women. This is a bad thing for my literature review but a good thing for my project because I will be able to research something that hasn't really been looked at before. Some questions I have concerning my topic are as follows:
How do the women view themselves in terms of others?
Are Tongan people mostly individual or collective people?
Do women value their relationship with other women like them?
Do they ostracize women that are "different"?
How do they maintain relationships with other people or women outside of their weaving groups?
*paradigm- The word has come to refer very often now to a thought pattern in any scientific discipline or other epistemological context. The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary defines this usage as "a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which theories, laws, and generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them are formulated; broadly: a philosophical or theoretical framework of any kind."[5] -Wikipedia
I provide this definition since the definition we have been using in class is something very different than how it is used in sociology.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
January 21
Last class we had an activity where we ranked individuals based on a story. This was an interesting analogy to research in which I would like to discuss. This relates to us because everybody had a different view on which people in the story appealed to them more. Not only that, we had to judge these people based on only a small story. While in Tonga, we're only getting a small 3 month story and we can only make assumptions on the people there based on that chapter of Tonga.
Additionally, every team had their own biases when looking at the story, and individuals in each group had their own biases as well. These include, religion, values, ethics, culture, gender, age, experience, etc. This relates to our study in Tonga, because we will all go in with our own biases.
Dallin asked me if it's possible even for a little bit, to study a culture without your own biases and how the best way to do that is. My opinion is that the reflexive approach to studying people is probably the best way to study people, yet not exactly because it eliminates biases. By that I mean, the study of people knowing that the study not only reflects these people but also reflects who is studying it. It all depends on your audience from this sort of reflexive approach. For example, if my audience are Tongan people I would have to study them in relation to how they would study themselves through their way of thinking. I probably would not be a good candidate for something like that since I am not a native Tongan and the way I think, and the way I see the world is not the same as theirs. However, because I am writing to an audience similar to myself, it gives validation to my biases in that I want my audience will probably have those some understandings of society, through which we use to understand another.
A critique of this type of study would be that we can never know what is truth, because we can't know what affects our own ontological and cultural assumptions and then how it in-turn affects how we see other people and therefore cannot separate our biases from skewing the "truth" or "reality." To that I would say that as long as we acknowledge our biases and that they have probably altered what "reality" is to the people you're studying, then your research is still valid. This is because the way I understand a people (to an audience who thinks similar to myself) would be similar. Additionally, "truth" or "reality" is entirely subjective, and I would argue that there is no scientific way to define a truth that is universal to all beliefs and people, nor does anybody have a method to do so . For example, a way that science uses to discover truth is through the "scientific method." But, you cannot use the scientific method to prove the scientific method is the best way to find truth. This is not to say that all research is ambiguous and contains no truth. But, when we acknowledge where we are coming from in our study, how we look at things, and look at people subjectively rather than objectively, then we can really look at people as they are in relation to us. And that's really as far as we can go and as close as we can get to the truth.
Ideas for next time: Advantages of anthropological approaches to studying people.
Additionally, every team had their own biases when looking at the story, and individuals in each group had their own biases as well. These include, religion, values, ethics, culture, gender, age, experience, etc. This relates to our study in Tonga, because we will all go in with our own biases.
Dallin asked me if it's possible even for a little bit, to study a culture without your own biases and how the best way to do that is. My opinion is that the reflexive approach to studying people is probably the best way to study people, yet not exactly because it eliminates biases. By that I mean, the study of people knowing that the study not only reflects these people but also reflects who is studying it. It all depends on your audience from this sort of reflexive approach. For example, if my audience are Tongan people I would have to study them in relation to how they would study themselves through their way of thinking. I probably would not be a good candidate for something like that since I am not a native Tongan and the way I think, and the way I see the world is not the same as theirs. However, because I am writing to an audience similar to myself, it gives validation to my biases in that I want my audience will probably have those some understandings of society, through which we use to understand another.
A critique of this type of study would be that we can never know what is truth, because we can't know what affects our own ontological and cultural assumptions and then how it in-turn affects how we see other people and therefore cannot separate our biases from skewing the "truth" or "reality." To that I would say that as long as we acknowledge our biases and that they have probably altered what "reality" is to the people you're studying, then your research is still valid. This is because the way I understand a people (to an audience who thinks similar to myself) would be similar. Additionally, "truth" or "reality" is entirely subjective, and I would argue that there is no scientific way to define a truth that is universal to all beliefs and people, nor does anybody have a method to do so . For example, a way that science uses to discover truth is through the "scientific method." But, you cannot use the scientific method to prove the scientific method is the best way to find truth. This is not to say that all research is ambiguous and contains no truth. But, when we acknowledge where we are coming from in our study, how we look at things, and look at people subjectively rather than objectively, then we can really look at people as they are in relation to us. And that's really as far as we can go and as close as we can get to the truth.
Ideas for next time: Advantages of anthropological approaches to studying people.
January 19
This morning I got the opportunity to talk to one of my professors about my research project and it got me thinking about a lot of ideas that I had for my research. I wanted to focus my study on marriage and family specifically toward women, and he gave me an interesting topic. He talked about how I can study motherhood and then compare it to the western/modern ideas of parenting here in the US.
Coming onto this project as a sociologist wanting to do an ethnographic study, it was hard for me to justify my research into something that would be not only meaningful but interesting for people to read. If I do a study of the Tongan lifestyle, a society we would not consider especially "modern" and then use that as a commentary on our society in the US as modernists, then I could make interesting statements on society and lifestyle.
So, more about the topic, we talked about how women in the US have a very privatized style of parenting. This is where each mother is responsible for her children and no one else's, and does not necessarily want other people "raising" her children since she wants to do it her "right" way. Dallin discussed how in Tonga children are raised communally and parents take care of, shelter and even feed other people's children. I read an article about how Tongans consider themselves weaved together just the cloth they weave. Not only to people aroung them in the community but to their ancestory as well. Maybe the people in Tonga don't necessarily act as rational, individualistic beings. Maybe they look at themselves in relation to others, whether this be their parents, grandparents, or simply the people around them with whom they associate with. In the United States the modernists are primarily rational individualistic where people pursue the means to a desired end and act according to their desires.
This way of looking yourselves affects the way you look at parenting. this is interesting because in the US only biological (or adoptive) parents are allowed to teach their children, discipline them and instill values and religious beliefs on them. This goes along with the individualistic rational approach to life, and your children are simply your means to a certain end, whether to bring another person in the world just like you, or simply to fufill societal duties and expectations of raising a family.
Comparing our society to a society like Tonga might be problematic since Tonga is much more homogeneous than the United States where backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs are extremely varied. Not only that, the culture of US being over sensitive over their beliefs is part of the reason why parents are so privatized over their child rearing. It could also be why teachers and schools of the public sort cannot, in any way, discuss religion or moral beliefs for fear of "offending" a parent who wishes to instill different values in their child.
Perhaps the best way of looking at this is questioning our ideals of parenting. Perhaps the worst way of raising a child is to drill one set of beliefs and not allow them to explore other options. Such a close-minded way of raising a child probably results in closed-minded people who believe there is only one right way of doing things. It will be interesting to see what kinds of effects the Tongan lifestyle of parenting has on children.
Another interesting topic we discussed was the modernists perception of time. Dallin spoke to me about how Tongan’s have a different perception of time. Sometimes the people just didn’t follow through on appointments etc. In the US our society is so glued to our watches and have a strict schedule that follows time by the very second. This is a way of organizing life in a way that we can “maximize” our potential and get the most done. The modernist would argue that this is the best way to order society however looking at another perception of time might argue against such enslavement to a unit of measurement.
From a religious perspective, time is something man-made. In order to organize days and in an effort to control the sun rising and setting, people have a set clock and even daylight savings time in order to maximize on sunlight etc. This is interesting because God has no time. He is yesterday, today and forever. Maybe the best kind of lifestyle isn’t necessarily one that is strict on clocks and time.
Anyway, these were just some interesting topics that go along on the path which I wanted to study. Studying tonga isn’t necessarily looking at a primitive society and seeing how they are going to evolve into what we consider “modernism.” In fact, I would argue against that. Tonga has its own modernity in and of itself. So rather than looking at Tonga as a “time machine” and criticize modernism, I want to look at is as sort of an alternative modernism. Because the way that we are right now isn’t the way we have to be. We can't study people as objects that are contained in and of themselves. People are changing, and studies of them have to reflect changes and the idea of "becoming" rather than people as they "are."
Coming onto this project as a sociologist wanting to do an ethnographic study, it was hard for me to justify my research into something that would be not only meaningful but interesting for people to read. If I do a study of the Tongan lifestyle, a society we would not consider especially "modern" and then use that as a commentary on our society in the US as modernists, then I could make interesting statements on society and lifestyle.
So, more about the topic, we talked about how women in the US have a very privatized style of parenting. This is where each mother is responsible for her children and no one else's, and does not necessarily want other people "raising" her children since she wants to do it her "right" way. Dallin discussed how in Tonga children are raised communally and parents take care of, shelter and even feed other people's children. I read an article about how Tongans consider themselves weaved together just the cloth they weave. Not only to people aroung them in the community but to their ancestory as well. Maybe the people in Tonga don't necessarily act as rational, individualistic beings. Maybe they look at themselves in relation to others, whether this be their parents, grandparents, or simply the people around them with whom they associate with. In the United States the modernists are primarily rational individualistic where people pursue the means to a desired end and act according to their desires.
This way of looking yourselves affects the way you look at parenting. this is interesting because in the US only biological (or adoptive) parents are allowed to teach their children, discipline them and instill values and religious beliefs on them. This goes along with the individualistic rational approach to life, and your children are simply your means to a certain end, whether to bring another person in the world just like you, or simply to fufill societal duties and expectations of raising a family.
Comparing our society to a society like Tonga might be problematic since Tonga is much more homogeneous than the United States where backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs are extremely varied. Not only that, the culture of US being over sensitive over their beliefs is part of the reason why parents are so privatized over their child rearing. It could also be why teachers and schools of the public sort cannot, in any way, discuss religion or moral beliefs for fear of "offending" a parent who wishes to instill different values in their child.
Perhaps the best way of looking at this is questioning our ideals of parenting. Perhaps the worst way of raising a child is to drill one set of beliefs and not allow them to explore other options. Such a close-minded way of raising a child probably results in closed-minded people who believe there is only one right way of doing things. It will be interesting to see what kinds of effects the Tongan lifestyle of parenting has on children.
Another interesting topic we discussed was the modernists perception of time. Dallin spoke to me about how Tongan’s have a different perception of time. Sometimes the people just didn’t follow through on appointments etc. In the US our society is so glued to our watches and have a strict schedule that follows time by the very second. This is a way of organizing life in a way that we can “maximize” our potential and get the most done. The modernist would argue that this is the best way to order society however looking at another perception of time might argue against such enslavement to a unit of measurement.
From a religious perspective, time is something man-made. In order to organize days and in an effort to control the sun rising and setting, people have a set clock and even daylight savings time in order to maximize on sunlight etc. This is interesting because God has no time. He is yesterday, today and forever. Maybe the best kind of lifestyle isn’t necessarily one that is strict on clocks and time.
Anyway, these were just some interesting topics that go along on the path which I wanted to study. Studying tonga isn’t necessarily looking at a primitive society and seeing how they are going to evolve into what we consider “modernism.” In fact, I would argue against that. Tonga has its own modernity in and of itself. So rather than looking at Tonga as a “time machine” and criticize modernism, I want to look at is as sort of an alternative modernism. Because the way that we are right now isn’t the way we have to be. We can't study people as objects that are contained in and of themselves. People are changing, and studies of them have to reflect changes and the idea of "becoming" rather than people as they "are."
Friday, January 14, 2011
January 14
Last night I got the opportunity to interview someone who had lived in Tonga for 2 years for his LDS mission. I asked him about the lifestyle there, and about family lives. He said a lot of women spend their time taking care of the homes and then make tapa cloth and weave, which they usually sell for a profit. Then the men work out in "the bush." I told him that I am extremely interested in learning more about the social aspects of weaving that the women participate in. While weaving, the women talk about family life, stories, and even gossip. I'm looking into spending more time on researching this specific topic. I would love to do my research as an ethnography, and just write about what its like in Tonga to be in a group of women weaving all day together.
For my research, I'm definitely leaning toward a qualitative research study, but I have to give it some sort of validity. I'm not one to say that positivism and the scientific method gives us real "truth" or that there is one perfect way to give us unadulterated truth. My experiences in Tonga won't be the same as everyone else's, and it most certainly won't be the same as my friend who served his mission there. What gives validity to my research, then, is the argument against this "perfect way" of studying a people to find truth. Anyone who studies a people or culture will have their biases. As much as they try to avoid that, any person studying another culture only sees it through their perspective of "culture". There is no real way to eliminate our own perspective on our research. Therefore, as a qualitative study, my experiences aren't necessarily a scientific claim on what life is like there in Tonga or what "reality" is for the people in Tonga. I can't possibly know that, since I am not a native born Tongan. My claim is only to share what I discovered while there, in my involvement with the people and through my experiences as an outsider looking in through my empirical knowledge. I am in no way saying that my research will reflect the same research that has been done in Tonga or will be repeatable as a scientific experiment in the future. Those are just some thoughts I had on where I'm coming from in my research.
For my research, I'm definitely leaning toward a qualitative research study, but I have to give it some sort of validity. I'm not one to say that positivism and the scientific method gives us real "truth" or that there is one perfect way to give us unadulterated truth. My experiences in Tonga won't be the same as everyone else's, and it most certainly won't be the same as my friend who served his mission there. What gives validity to my research, then, is the argument against this "perfect way" of studying a people to find truth. Anyone who studies a people or culture will have their biases. As much as they try to avoid that, any person studying another culture only sees it through their perspective of "culture". There is no real way to eliminate our own perspective on our research. Therefore, as a qualitative study, my experiences aren't necessarily a scientific claim on what life is like there in Tonga or what "reality" is for the people in Tonga. I can't possibly know that, since I am not a native born Tongan. My claim is only to share what I discovered while there, in my involvement with the people and through my experiences as an outsider looking in through my empirical knowledge. I am in no way saying that my research will reflect the same research that has been done in Tonga or will be repeatable as a scientific experiment in the future. Those are just some thoughts I had on where I'm coming from in my research.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
January 12
Today in our class discussion, we talked about how to make a good research proposal. It pressured me to get on narrowing my research project so that I can start preparing for my proposal. As a general idea, I want to study families and their interactions. I want to come into the field study as what I would call a "socioethnopoligist," where I combine sociological ontological assumptions when approaching my research, and study as an anthropoligist in that I will participate in life in order to experience it and understand it more, and then to write up my research as more of an ethnography of family life in Tonga. Specifically, I'm very interested in women in society, and how their roles affect family life. In class my group discussed how I can narrow my topic by looking at one aspect of the women's life, such as tapa weaving, and then see how it affects family life or perceptions on what family is and how its structured. I'm very excited to do more research in order to really dig deep into what I want to study.
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