Ethnographer Story

Noor Qureshi 

Mr. Rody 

IHSS

24 August 2021

Ethnographer in the 1700's

3 years ago we had successfully cracked time travel and we, ethnographers, have been observing the cultural and social life of people back in time ever since then. 

    I landed at an English tea house in 1734. People stared at me, mouth agape, watching me stand in pants and a t-shirt. The ladies all gasped but kept their gloved hands crossed on their laps. They were all dressed in big dresses, some a shade of delicate pink, others in baby blue, or sage green. The waiters, all men, stood with perfect posture in their black tuxedos, holding silver domed dishes. One of them, so shocked, dropped a dish seeing me as if I had violated the law. I learned then that it was basically a violation of law, for a "lady" to wear anything other than a dress. I apologized immediately and made up an excuse for why I walked in like that, because they can't know I'm from the future. Nonetheless, I sat at a table alone and waited patiently for a waiter to come my way. I mentioned earlier that all the servers were men, probably because women had no jobs other than to be polite, do their housework, and get a rich husband.

    After that first experience in the 1700's, I tried not to distrupt too much of the past and draw little attention to my self, by dressing and acting accordingly. Throughout my trip, I noticed a lot of things about the social culture of European people in the 1700's, like the way they dress and what they eat. Also, the way people communicated (with letters) and how they traveled (on horse) was so unlike our modern life. It's like a Jane Austen novel; pleasant, but different in some ways that were negative, like the lack of opportunities young women had. I really enjoyed observing the life, though. It was interesting to see what life was like "back in the old days."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Marcel Mauss - blogger

  Claire Thacker  Mr. Roddy  IHSS  Date  Marcel Mauss Marcel Mauss was a sociologist and anthropologist. He was born May 10, 1972, and died February 10, 1950. One of his accomplishments is an original study of the relation between forms of exchange and social structure. Mauss’s views on the method/theory of ethnology are thought to have shaped the thoughts of many famous social scientists. His career started as a professor of primitive religion in 1902 at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He also taught at College de France and established the ethnology institute of the University of Paris. Essai Sur le don , also known as The Gift,  is thought to be his most influential work. The Gift is an essay Mauss wrote about how human relationships are formed through the exchange of objects between groups. The Gift also talked about what part of giving a gift does it mean that you have to give something back. The answer according to Mauss in his writin...
Read more

The Tipping Point Sociology Blog

Wyatt Quillin  Mr. Roddy IHSS 27 September 2021 The Tipping Point     The tipping point is the point where something becomes immensely popular and spreads across a society. This something can be anything from a pair of shoes to a dance move to a hairstyle, and there are a couple of variables that are necessary to the success of the something. According to Malcolm Gladwell, the writer of the book The Tipping Point , the three components that determine whether something will reach its tipping point are the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. The law of the few relies on the select people who are able to use their special social traits to help spread information and influence. Again according to Gladwell, the three types of people are the salesmen, mavens, and connectors. Salesmen are naturally very convincing and can easily persuade people. Connectors are very popular and connected to lots of different influential people. Connectors can easily s...
Read more

Sociology Reading Blog (The Culture of Fear)

 Ethan Zweig Mr. Roddy IHSS September 27, 2021 "The Culture of Fear"     "The Culture of Fear" was written in 1999 by Barry Glassner, who was a sociology professor at USC. The book explains who Americans are so engrossed with "fear of wrong things". Glassner examines and exposes the people who manipulate Americans perceptions profit from the often baseless anxieties they cultivate and encourage. Three out of four Americans say they feel more more fearful than they did a decade ago. Culture of fear is the concept that people incite fear in the general public to achieve political or workplace goals through emotional bias. Barry Glassner found out that no amount of debunking can wipeout fear. 
Read more