Zoe Bauer
Consumer Behavior #3
3-19-2015
Word Count: 1,066
Ethnography
During last week’s spring break I decided to veer away from my comfort zone
and participate in something that I had never done before. After reading the
assignment topic, and after receiving the invitation from my girlfriend’s mother, I
thought that attending and participating in a four-hour wine and canvas session
would be the perfect way to exercise this experience. I was able to observe a certain
group of people by interacting through their norms. The in-depth description that I
was able to grasp provided me with a better understanding of the wine and canvas
culture (Hoey). This is known as ethnographic fieldwork. According to Brian Hoey,
the research is supposed to provide one with a detailed portrayal of everyday life
and custom (Hoey).
My research taught me that it is important to actively participate to gain a full
understating of one’s culture. If I were to observe unobtrusively, I would not of had
an appreciation for what the women were doing because I would not have been
physically doing it. For me, the wine and canvas party was extremely boring.
However, for the women, it served as a way to relax and a way to put aside the
stress that they are faced with on a daily basis. It was pleasing to see the women
having such a great time doing something so simple. My research also taught me
that it is important to interact with the people that I was participating with. By
having a simple conversation with one of the lady’s at the gathering, I was able to
discover why she enjoyed attending the wine and canvas meetings. She claimed that
she attended them regularly because her group of friends enjoyed the company that
the sessions provided.
First of all, the only reason that I had agreed to do this activity was to please
my girlfriend. Going into the wine and canvas session, I had absolutely no
motivation to go and quite frankly, I was dreading it. I knew that I could potentially
be the only male in the room (which I was) and I didn’t particularly care to attend
such an event. However, I can conclude that a room full of middle-aged women
tends to get pretty loud after a few glasses of wine. This type of social gathering
wasn’t focused on painting; it was focused on wine and friendly feminine
conversation. My participation in this event also taught me that being the only male
in the room brought more of a focus upon myself. Many women would often joke
and ask me questions of why I wanted to attend a wine and canvas gathering.
The wine and canvas gathering that I attended was held in a local coffee shop.
When my girlfriend, her mother, and I arrived we were given an apron to put over
our clothes; we were also given the option to purchase wine, which we did. I
immediately began to feel out of place once I realized that the makeup of people
attending the gathering was primarily women ages 40-70. There were
approximately 35 women present; I was the only male in attendance. After a few
minutes of meeting the others, the painting was ready to begin. The head art
instructor stood in front of the room and went through each step very carefully so
that everyone could follow along. Everyone was instructed to paint an owl that was
sitting in a tree. Being how my artistic skills lack tremendously, it was an overall bad
experience for me.
According to Hoey, the primary source of gathering ethnographic data is
participant observation (Hoey). The technique that I found most helpful during my
participant observation would be the interviewing style. Conducting interviews
could be classified as targeted data collection due to the amount of open-ended
questions that are asked (Hoey). While I was interacting with the women around
me, I found myself asking them questions about their experiences at wine and
canvas gatherings. Their feedback, along with their exuberant facial expressions
provided me with a better understanding of just how exciting it was for them.
As I participated in the activity I noticed that the general feel of the room was
very friendly. The women were loud and they all seemed to be having a great time.
Conversations about different types of wine, discussions about favorite television
shows, and cooking recipes filled the air. The space was relatively small to begin
with; therefore it was easy to hear many conversation topics. As for me, I grew
bored. If it were not for the bottle of wine that I consumed, I would have been
extremely miserable. At first, it was exciting to try something new, but as the hours
passed, I just wanted to be done. Not only was I tired of painting the owl; I was tired
of sitting in a small room with a group of gossipy women.
The women seemed to be very high-spirited. There was never a moment of
silence and conversation was continuously flowing. One way in which this
experience could have been better is if the coffee shop boasted a bigger space.
Throughout the gathering it was often hard for people to maneuver through the
room because it was so tightly crowded. Also, at times, the instructor was very
unclear and would move at rapid speeds. Her moving at such a fast pace would
make it difficult for a first time painter, such as myself, to keep up. This would cause
me to lose interest and just proceed to pour myself another glass of wine. This
crowd of people brings decent business to the coffee shop. People are constantly
purchasing the many different types of wine that the coffee shop has to offer. To
compliment the wine, I would add some appetizers to the gathering. I noticed that
there wasn’t a large selection of food for the customers to choose from. Therefore,
providing a small selection of cheese and crackers or something simple would
create an even more social atmosphere. Overall, I am glad that I attended the wine
and canvas gathering. Not only did it make my girlfriend happy, but I was also
exposed to something that I never would have attended on my own.
Works Cited
Hoey, Brian A. "What Is Ethnography?" What Is Ethnography? N.p., 2 Nov. 2013. Web. 17
Mar. 2015.