Week 9

The hardest part of my research has been covering all areas of my subculture.  I have found many sources that take on a negative tone such as the articles on “bigorexia” and even some on narcissism in weightlifters.  However, I have not had as much success in finding sources that bring out the positive side of the gym atmosphere besides the interviews that I have done.  The easiest part of the research process was knowing where I wanted to go with the mini-ethnography and being able to find a lot of sources that went in that direction.  If I could start all over again, I think I would choose a different subculture altogether.  Since the start of this project I have discovered other subcultures that are very interesting and not well known, such as bug chasing for example, and it would have been more fun for me to research something I literally knew nothing about.  Whereas with the gym subculture was one that I was somewhat familiar with, but not completely immersed in.  Keeping the blogs at first seemed like a purposeless hassle, but after seeing the bigger picture of where the project is going, I am seeing how they will be helpful especially for the research proposal and literature review paper.  The blogs have helped me organize my thoughts in a way that I can use in my mini-ethnography.