Ethnography reflection!

My ethnography project was on Relationships and what some of the underlying issues hidden behind fairy tale relationships. In the beginning, I felt like I would easily be able to get this project done. So many people are in unique relationships in college, it’d be no problem. But it was actually very difficult. Not many people, especially girls want to be filmed so that a whole class can watch her speak. I mean, to be honest, I really wouldn’t want my face plastered on a screen talking about my relationship status. Who’s business is it anyway other than my own?

When we tried to think of an angle for our project, it really wasn’t too hard. I just thought about some of the things in my relationship that other people really don’t get to see – pet peeves, arguments, etc. Lacy mentioned to us about homosexual relationships but a lot of people in that community are afraid or uncomfortable talking about their sexuality. I personally did not want make this project controversial just because you never know how it could turn out. I wanted it to be casual.

Working together in a group went fairly well. The only hard part was like our schedules are all different so it’s difficult to plan get-togethers outside of class.

In high school I had a few opportunities to do different projects like videos and I’ve really enjoyed them. This on the otherhand was much harder just because I don’t know very many people like I did in high school. And I didn’t want to offend anyone with any crazy questions whereas in high school, I knew everyone better which made it easier to talk to other students.

Overall, the project gave me a broader perspective on relationships and how different and unique all of them are. It was kind of like a behind the scenes look on real relationships, and it made me think about underlife within my own long-term relationship with my boyfriend.