Box #15

I am taken back to a small shack of a house in the Dominican Republic.  I walk in, led by a woman looking much older than her years.  She spoke only Spanish and I struggled to remember the last four years of my schooling in the language.  She led me back to a room, one of the only rooms in the house, where I saw an old man of ninety years laying on a dirty bed wheezing with every breath.  As I continued to strain to understand her quickly spoken Spanish, I heard her tell me that this man was her father, and he had been sick for many years with chronic bronchitis and was paralyzed on the right side of his body.  My job was to help her bathe him.  We donned rubber gloves and uncovered his frail body from the sheet that lay over him, which unveiled the many open sores that plagued his body.  He stench of the room become stronger and my head began to feel light.  We bathed him gently with wet cloths and when we finished, dressed his wounds as best we could.  The sights, sounds, and smells of that house and that room will stay with me forever.  

Box #12

Some of the privileges I enjoy are because of my own personal effort. One such privilege is the academic scholarship I was awarded during my first year of college. I worked hard in high school to earn a good GPA, and it paid off extremely well and helped keep me out of debt my first year in college. Another privilege that I have earned is the trust of my parents. Because I kept to their rules in high school, they now trust me very much and give me more freedom when I am at home. A third privilege that I enjoy is being able to buy anything I need. I work hard each summer to earn money so that I can live comfortably during my time here at school, and since my parents do not pay my college tuition or general expenses, I truly have to earn every bit of money I receive.

Being a child of a middle class family, there are some privileges that I did not have to earn. These include having a nice country home to live in, having things such as TV that are not essential for living, and having religious freedom in this country. I did nothing to personally gain any of these things. I was simply born into a situation that allowed me to live as I do.

I do not feel that these privileges will do much to affect my fieldwork because of the subculture that I have chosen. The only way I can think of would be how the people I will approach to interview will see me. If they have any stereotypes of “people like me,” a Caucasian, teenage, female, they may respond differently to my questions or simply my being there in the gym.

Week # 4 Blog

As of now, from the research I have found, I have come to several conclusions.  First of all, that a great number of people that workout at a gym several times a week use supplements to improve the effects of their workout.  Of the twenty-three people I have polled so far, over half have said that they use creatine, protein, or another type of supplement with their workout.  I expect to find many others that are the same way as I continue my research.

Second of all, I have concluded that gyms can be found in any type of neighborhood.  I have been in gyms that are in the middle of a poor area and those that sit in the middle of some of the more affluent areas of a city.  I do not yet know the socioeconomic status of the people who actually use the gyms though, so it is possible that even gyms in poorer areas are still occupied by the middle class.  I believe that the price of being a gym member can make those who use a gym selective.  Most gyms are too expensive for someone living on a low hourly wage to afford a membership.

In Class Writing..."So What"

My culture is important because within the last decade, America has become a very obese country and people are now looking for ways to fix what they have eaten themselves into. The logical choice seems to be hitting up the gym now and then, which some do. However, many are looking for a much quicker fix to their weight problems and are using supplementation to get it. People see ads of men and women with flat abs and firm bodies claiming to use a product while they exercise which has allowed them to lose pounds almost instantly. I want outsiders to know the dangers and benefits associated with certain types of exercise and supplementation. I feel that many people have been mislead and are now facing the long term consequences of their actions.

Week #3 Blog

So far, I have visited one field site and interviewed one informant.  I have also started an internet poll to help fuel my research.  In my poll I ask basic questions to find out the number of people that use supplements, how they found out about them, and how my informants view themselves.  When I did my first interview, the man I talked to seemed very confident.  He works out at a private gym six times a week and uses a protein supplement after his workouts.  I chose him because he fits what my stereotypical view of a “gym rat” is: tall, muscular, and attractive.  Of course I will interview others that do not fit my stereotype, but for my first interview, he seemed a good candidate.  When I walked into the gym I took some detailed notes on the structure of the gym, the things I sensed when I first walked in, and some other general things I noticed as I was there interviewing, such as the mirrors that surrounded the entire lifting area.  I have already begun some research on supplements such as creatine and how the bodybuilding websites portray them versus how health care professionals do. 

 I think that there is a difference between academic and non-academic research.  I feel that academic research leaves out certain sources that would be considered unreliable, such as websites like wikipedia, which can be edited by anyone.  Non-academic research could include any source despite its validity.  

In Class box #11

I chose the gym for several reasons. First of all, I am an outsider, so I will be more likely not to overlook things. Secondly, my boyfriend is most definitely a religious gym-addict and part of me does not understand his obsession. The third reason is that, being a nursing major, I am very interested in the medical aspect of lifting and working out in gyms. There are health risks, hygiene issues, and also many benefits that I would like to explore. My fixed positions could be the fact that my boyfriend is one of the subjects that I will be studying, but also my experiences in the past with people who fit the "gym rat" stereotype.

Some ethical issues I may run into are finding out things about my subjects that may be illegal, such as steroid use, especially if those subjects are involved in competitions outside of their personal gym, as many are. I will also have to deal with the fact that I may disagree with the personal choices of many of my subjects as far as supplement use and their dangers versus their benefits.

Some problems I may encounter are getting people to answer my questions honestly, and getting people to take this study seriously. People tell me all the time that I don't look like I could be in college, but I need them to take me seriously as I do my study.

My Subculture

For my subculture project, I have chosen to study people who work out at gyms religiously.  I plan on doing interviews at three types of places:  college campus gyms, gym chains (such as YMCA’s), and privately owned gyms.  It has been quite a while since I personally stepped foot inside a gym, but I am expecting to get the same types of stares that I have received in the past when I worked out often.  Part of my interview questions will include the interviewee’s perception of me when they saw me enter the gym.  Since I am a fairly small individual, I expect there to be some pre-conceived ideas about why I would come to a gym.

 Some things I hope to learn through visiting these sites and doing interviews are how many of the people use supplements such as protein shakes and creatine to boost the results of their workout.  I would also like to get the perspective of gym employees and what they see at work.  Does sexual harassment occur?  Do they nickname or tease any of the members?  What kind of methods do they use to win over the competition among other gyms?

 I am open to learn anything I can about this culture of fitness, but there are those few targets that I would like to hit, as discussed before.