Reading Response 3

Both the authors Katz and Anderson do a very good job in enacting what I learned in chapter ten about ethnography. They are able to look deep into the background of their studied group and firsthand view the subculture. Researching the background and a firsthand observation will help one get a better understanding of a subculture.
Katz does a great job in describing the sub culture of the geek. She lets the reader get an in-depth look on the busy working life style of the geek; “He was playing, working, networking, visiting, strategizing-all without skipping a function, getting confused, or stopping to think.” This statement about Jesse is effective about giving incite to the culture because it allows us to get in the shoes of the nerd. It gives us their perspective of their working conditions. Another way she gives the reader insight to the subculture is she writes citing the equipment that they use; “Jesse’s computer was a Pentium II 300, Asus P2B (Intel with BX chipset) motherboard; a Matrix Millenium II AGP; 160 MB SDRAM with a 15.5 GB total hard-drive space.” This equipment label defines what this subculture has to deal with. Their lingo is also embedded in the story; “My hard drive is grungy.” This is terminology that only people associated as a geek would use. This again puts the reader into the shoes of the geek. Katz also gives an in-depth look at the prior history of the subculture. She specifically takes two of the people associated with the culture and looks into their background of their early life. It is discovered that both the kids grew up with outcast like childhoods. This allows the reader cope with and understands the perception the geek has on situations.
Tammy Anderson uses her first hand experience with the company Mary Kay to discover this unique subculture. An effective way Anderson does in describing the culture is giving the background and observing an actual meeting of the subculture. Through the background, the reader can then get the understanding of why the women act the way they do. If it was not known that a Mary Kay consultant has a sales pitch of “…women to set their own hours, be their own bosses, and have better opportunities than they would find somewhere else in the work force, which seemed to be designed by men for men” then it would be unknown why the women that are Mary Kay consultants act the way they do. I false label or view of this subculture would have been present if the background information was not evident. The firsthand account of one of the meetings too was beneficial in learning about the subculture. “All of them wore nice dresses and skirts, and I would learn that this is something Mary Kay Ash insists upon, believing women should always present themselves in the most feminine, professional manner possible.” The appearance of a subculture reveals the makeup of it. All the women were at the meeting to look their best showing that all the women in this subculture had a lot of pride in it. They took it seriously and believed in the Mary Kay way. The Mary Kay way, however, was not something Anderson wanted to follow. Her research and observations of the subculture helped guided her in making an educated decision of not to join. The last sentence clearly states her conclusion of the company; “Yet this wonderful benefit package can only be obtained by selling it, one bottle at a time, to other women who need a dream.”
The kind of research that I can do to give similar research for my paper is to get a background of the terminology and lifestyle of my subculture. Research for an ethnography paper can only give the writer a feeling of what to expect before observing and almost being a part of the subculture. My topic that I am projected to study about is a University of Texas football fan. What I can do before I go and observe this group is research potential traditions the subculture might have or pregame tailgating destinations the fans will at. That way I will be able to focus more on the little things and get a better feeling for the subculture then trying to understand the subculture with no knowledge.