Ethnographic Issues - Essay Example

Ethnographic Research Paper Within any given major cultural group, there are numerous different sub-cultures that organize based upon common interests, hobbies, professions or other factors. Within each of these cultures, specific lifestyles tend to develop in which there is a common use of slang, shared fashion ideas and a shared means of interacting with others, both within and without the group. One such sub-culture is generally known as the beach culture and is shared to a great extent throughout the world among those who speak English and make the beach the major focus of their lives. To begin to understand a particular sub-culture, it is necessary to have an idea of what they do, how they do it and how they view the world around them. To understand the dynamics of a sub-culture, I spent some time with a group of beach-goers I found in a popular warm vacation spot, visiting with them over the course of a week and observing their way of life. This group was easily distinguishable from the other visitors to the beach through their choice of clothing and activities. The first thing that distinguished them from other beach-goers was the clothing they wore. While most girls who go to visit the beach on vacation can be found wandering around in little more than a bikini bathing suit, the girls in this group wore an almost uniform of bikini top and boys’ short-style bathing trunks that hung down to their knees. The boys, rather than sporting the more usual vacation-style ‘farmer’s tan’ of vacationers, were a uniform tan from top to bottom with the possible exception of that area of their body covered by the same short-style bathing trunks and, usually, a white shell necklace worn tight around their neck. None of these kids wore shoes and all were obviously accustomed to spending a great deal of time in the sun. They weren’t loaded down with all of the usual paraphernalia of the typical beach visitor either. Almost all of them had some kind of wave riding apparatus – a boogie board, surfboards of varying lengths and styles and skimmer boards – and often had a small carrysack that looked like a small fabric pouch with two strings attached at top and bottom in such a way as to make it work much like a backpack. Several of the girls let me in on the secrets of these small bags, which contained sunblock, usually cell phones contained in plastic ziplock bags, lip gloss, chilled water bottles and, sometimes, an emergency pair of flip flops in case they came across hot pavement or sharp rocks. For those with surfboards, there was usually a cake of Sex Wax, which is a particular type of wax used on surfboards to increase traction. Most of them had lighters, some had cigarettes and some had marijuana, but little else was found. As their equipment might suggest, these individuals spent a great deal of time playing in the surf. Although this would seem to be an individual activity to the casual observer, there was actually a great deal of interaction among the various members whether they were on the beach or in the water. Throughout the daylight hours, they cycled through riding the waves and relaxing on the beach. The waves come in natural cycles of high and low with the first good set usually arriving early in the morning and the next not arriving until later in the afternoon. The kids in the group I studied were often at the beach before the sun rose, ready to catch the best waves and greet the sun. They would surf until the waves died down every day and then come in to lie on the beach in the bare sand or on their surfboards to warm up and relax after their exercise. Once rested, they would generally go in search of food at one of the beach vendor stands or local restaurants (using emergency flip flops to gain entry). This would be followed by activities such as skim- or skate-boarding until the waves rose again and they would surf again, generally playing in the waves until the sun started going down. Evening hours were only slightly different from daytime hours in that the kids would produce hot dogs and other such foodstuff and wood for evening bonfires and cookouts. Generally, these would be joined by others (who usually brought the food) who had not been able to come out earlier. The language and social space used by this group was also distinguishable from that used by other people on the beach. Their speech is much slower and languid than the speech of other beach visitors. When they pronounce their words, they tend to drag out their vowels, making the word seem somewhat longer than usual and using the sounds to induce either relaxation with the long o and u or to indicate excitement with a long a or i. They have a tendency to speak in terms of nouns and very few verbs, using nouns to express action in more concrete terms, utilizing an economy of words that seems incongruous with their more relaxed and laid back utterance of these words. In addition, they have a unique set of words that means something obvious to them but which would have entirely different or no meaning to others. They discuss things like sets (groupings of waves), rip (referring to a particular current) and hotdoggin’ (or showing off for the girls). Of particular note, some words change meanings depending upon the context in which it is used. For example, rip can refer to a particular current, an outstanding ride or a beautiful body, male or female. It can also connote indifference or used as a signal to begin something, such as the fire, the cookout or the drugs. In terms of location, obviously this group tends to congregate on the beach and in informal eating establishments, but it was interesting to discover that they had somehow managed to stake out a particular area of the beach as ‘theirs’. Even visitors to the beach were aware that this particular area, bounded by a few relatively easy to locate beach markers, was off limits to the casual beach-goer. There was little open conflict between the surfers and the rest of the beach visitors, but their easy camaraderie seemed to cause some visitors to stay away and long, neutral stares focused on those individuals brave enough to spread a blanket on the surfer’s beach. This wasn’t the hostile action it might seem, most often expressed in terms of curiosity of strangers, but was also not welcoming as none of the surfers ever took the time to go speak to one of these people. Likewise, the group did not restrict access to ‘their’ beach to people walking along the tideline, but curious stares frequently made couples increase the speed of their steps until they lost the attention of the surfers. In the water, the surfers were a bit more territorial, quick to instruct ‘tourists’, meaning any individual who was unfamiliar with the etiquette of the beach, to get out the way and to stay down-current of where they were unless they “want your head knocked off.” In some ways, they are much like communities in the wild in that they usually had one individual, randomly selected and with rotating responsibility, who performed the task of staring visitors out of the defined territory. This was never discussed but seemed instead a natural aspect of their culture that one individual was always aware of the potential friends and dangers to be found in those ‘others’ who were visiting the beach on any given day and time. The amount of time a person spent with the group had a definite effect upon how much this culture manifested itself in the individual and shaped their concept of their place in society. There was a divide between those individuals who spent the majority of their time at the beach and those who spent time elsewhere, with only occasional mornings or evenings to participate, but not usually both. Those who seemed to almost live at the beach seemed to have very few needs in life. A bathing suit, a surfboard and a little money for food and they were good. By contrast, those who spent only part-time at the beach, while still able to integrate with the beach culture, were more rooted in the material world, concerned with apartment rents, car payments, social functions off of the beach and issues to do with work and career. Although they seemed able to blend right in with those individuals who spent most of their time on the beach, they were more open to talking with ‘outsiders’ and generally spent less time actually at the beach even during their times of leisure. While this seems to indicate that there is a clear-cut distinction between the full-time and part-time surfer, there was actually a high degree of overlap. For example, several of the part-time surfers were involved in continuing their college educations and were simply enjoying the week on the beach with spring break, enjoying for a time the full-time surfer life and purposely avoiding the typical ‘spring break’ scene in preference of a more natural appreciation of the beach. Some ‘full-time’ surfers had deliberately pursued careers or means of support that provided them with the freedom to hit the beach almost anytime they wanted and had pared down their external needs to just the essentials so as to avoid having the types of expenses that would necessitate high-powered, high-salaried careers, yet one surfer in particular outlined how, through a charter business, there were long stretches of time in which he was only able to enjoy a ‘part-time’ participation in the surfer lifestyle. The people involved in the beach culture were actually much more intelligent and well-informed than the general population would normally give them credit for. Their lengthy hours spent in the sand and sun and waves gave them a strong appreciation for nature and natural processes. One of the major topics of conversation heard during the week I spent with them was the various inventions and movements toward ‘going green.’ They were well-informed about the use of pesticides in Kansas that, through the natural process of erosion, were creating ‘dead zones’ in the ocean where no sea life could exist. They also had a good sense of internal values that had little to do with material wealth and political power but was instead focused on spiritual investigation of a personal nature, metaphysical connections and philosophies and a strong grasp of current political policy and capitalistic agendas. They did engage in drug use twice while I was visiting (I abstained), but this utilized marijuana only and was passed around the fire in a non-judgmental circle. Those warming by the fire had the option to imbibe or not and no one made any comments either way. Contrary to popular opinion, these people were not the uneducated, full-time stoners that they have been characterized as on TV and in film, but were instead usually highly educated, well-read and informed individuals who felt it their responsibility to educate the world one individual at a time, bringing it back to a strong spiritual natural connection with the world and a rejection of the consumer hype fed to us since childhood. This study was very enlightening as I discovered an entire social group that I had long misjudged based on incorrect representations on TV. They were distinct from the people I have known outside of their culture in their entire approach to life. These were not the lazy druggies I had been led to believe they were but were instead individuals who had a different definition of the ideal life and were as puzzled about the attitudes of the multitude as the multitude seems to be about them. The experience encourages me to learn more about other sub-cultures that might exist all around me. Introduction What they do Style of dress Major fashion rules Special equipment Major activities What they do during the day What they do after the sun sets How do they do it Manner of speaking Elements of lingo Manner of speech Where they socialize Physical location How this affects their group How they see their world Full-time or part-time Affects the degree to which they’re integrated into mainstream society Importance of the sub-culture to their lives Position in society How they view their position in society How this affects their attitude toward others Conclusion Read More