naiyar04

[naiyar04]

Ch. 13 Field Work

My immigrant chose to stay anonymous but has provided a mildly triggering story involving abuse and sex work.

My immigrant was born in Trinidad. Due to the abuse her mother was subjected to, they both moved to St. Maarten where she lived up until she was about 3 years old. (She would like her her mother to be referred to as Ms. D.) Her mother struggled to keep work in the area so they moved to a small home in Curacao. The stay was temporary just so that Ms. D could figure out her gameplan. She decided to move to the US, because there was better living, better job opportunities, and a safer environment for my immigrant to be raised. The problem was how to get there. Neither of them had the means and documentation to get there so work needed to be done.

Out of desperation, Ms. D decided to sell her body and other working services to locals. After about 5 months of this, Ms. D got connections with an English man who could help. After about a month of getting documents and health screenings, Ms. D and my immigrant were cleared to travel to the US. So, when my immigrant was almost 5 years old they moved to Richmond Virginia. She was then registered as a US citizen and was enrolled at Mary Munford Elementary. My immigrant struggled in school because of a very severe language barrier. She struggled to lose her Trinidad accent which other students ridiculed her for.

She doesn't remember a lot from these times, but she does remember the biggest differences between the US and where she once lived. Her mother was calmer less alert because she knew they were safe. There weren't men banging on their door at odd hours of the day demanding money, sex, or services. Her mother didn't cry everyday and they didn't struggle for food. Her mother was at peace, happy even. She loved her job and it paid well enough to support them comfortably. Her mother still sends money to Trinidad to aid her sister (my immigrants aunt) who could not escape their abusive area/home. My immigrant does miss her Trinidad home which, now that she's older, she visits often. She has visited her family (that is safe and not abusive) and she has taken a liking to the area they lived in.

My immigrant travels regularly and she enjoys meeting new people which she later dubs her "cousins in call" which she explained means, family whenever family is needed. So, whenever she travels back to her homeland, she always visits her family, her cousins, her cousins in call, and meets new people along the way. She thanks her mother every day for everything she has done for them. She now uses every opportunity she can to treat her mother to every bit of praise and admiration she deserves.

[naiyar04]

Ch. 10 Field Work MSU Anthropology

Karl Marx's theory of social class is an individual's position within a class hierarchy is determined by their role in the production process. In shorter terms, breaking society into classes such as lower class, middle class, upper middle class, upper class, and so on. This article talks about how people in higher classes believe that they are more capable and more skilled than those in lower classes. People who see themselves in a higher social class hold themselves in higher regard because they feel (and sometimes know) that they provide more towards society than lower classes, but that is not always the case. Lower class workers make up a large percent of the work force but get paid far less. And it has been stated that those born in middle to upper class tend to stay in those classes. Stated by Peter Belmi, PhD, of the University of Virginia "Our research suggests that social class shapes the attitudes that people hold about their abilities and that, in turn, has important implications for how class hierarchies perpetuate from one generation to the next.”

Weber introduced three independent factors that form his theory of stratification hierarchy: class, status, and power: class is person's economic position in a society; status is a person's prestige, social honor, or popularity in a society; power is a person's ability to get his way despite the resistance of others. One example of this is the unfair treatment of well know celebrities. This article covers and gives examples of how celebrities used their power, influence, and popularity to get out of criminal offenses. One example is popular pop singer Justin Bieber escaping jail time for drag racing. "Bieber has a lengthy rap sheet of offenses that were never paid for, including one in Miami in 2014. He was under the influence of multiple substances as he drag raced a Ferrari in his Lamborghini and when pulled over, Bieber was not cooperative with police officers and was arrested. Bieber plead guilty to resisting arrest and careless driving, but he was released from jail after paying a $2,500 bond." The average penalty for resisting arrest (on an average citizen) is a misdemeanor charge, an imprisonment not exceeding 3 years and/or a fine up to or exceeding $5,000. Bieber's crimes are an example of unfair justice because of influence and power.

Bourdieu believed that having similar tastes, behaviours, qualifications, etc. defines one's position in society and creates a sense of shared identity like social class does. One example of this is the equal want and understanding under a political party such as being a Democrat or a Republican. People who fall under, or choose to be apart of this party, choose to be labeled as such and are associated with the societal influence and effects of said party. Another example is religious influence such as Christianity. Religious followers decide what religion they want to follow and apply to their daily lives. It influences choices, actions, economic standing, etc.

[naiyar04]

MSU Anthropology Group 8 (extra credit)

[naiyar04]

Ch. 9 Field Work MSU Anthropology

Why did you choose the questions that you chose?

We chose these questions because they seemed to fit the theme of the chapter and I was also curious on the answers that I could receive.

2. What patters do you see from the responses (consider age, gender, marital status, religion, race, social class, etc.

To me, I noticed that the people I interviewed (at least the videos that were able to upload), I noticed that despite their age and "primal urges" my interviewed participants all agreed that monogamy is better than polygamy. They also agreed that polygamy is just too many conflicting aspects that would be too hard to keep up with.

3. is there anything that surprises you?

One thing that did surprise me was the fact that they believed that society wouldn't accept a polygamy raised child. For a generation that is so "open and accepting" the fact that they believed that it wouldn't be socially accepted is shocking, but also understandable because many people are still learning to be open about themselves while older generations do not want to accept what can be.

4. If you were doing this again, what would you do differently?

If I could do this differently I would ask older people, preferably in my family, about their input on these questions. I would also like to ask more religious based people for their input and if there's anything they think should be taught or portrayed differently. I would also like to ask a child what they know of monogamy and polygamy and where/from whom they learned it from, and if they feel like they would be judged or judge others if they were in a polygamous based family.

[naiyar04]

Ch. 9 Field work MSU Anthropology

[naiyar04]

Ch. 9 Field work MSU Anthropology

[naiyar04]

Group 8 Questions MSU Anthropology

What are your views on monogamous relationships?

Do you think you could be in a polygamous relationship? Why or why not?

Do you think polygamy is healthy on a growing child?

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What is the relationship of Ethnicity to the Nation?

The earliest information I could gather about my Mothers side of the family was my Great Grandmothers mother being German. I was not able to learn if she migrated directly from Germany, but I learned that her family was started/based in Hamburg, Germany

My Great Grandmother Elizabeth (Betty) Cobham is my oldest living relative. I could not gather much information about her father, but I did learn that he was of European decent. My Great Grandmother lived in multiple places across New York for over 30 years where she gave birth to my Grandmother. My Grandmother was born in Long Island, New York.

My Great Grandfather was born in North Carolina then moved to New York where he met my Great Grandmother. Unfortunately, I was unable to learn about his family because he decided to venture out into the world and lost connection with a bit of his family. But, I did learn that he was a mix of African America, Italian, and Native American (which, from familial sources, is from his grandfather who was of Native American decent),

My Fathers side of the family is less spread out. According to my grandparents, my Grandfathers family has not left the South in generations. They have traveled around the South before settling in South Carolina. My Grandfathers parents even built their house on the property that my grandparents built their future home years later! (you can still see my great grandparents house on the property)

From the "hush hush" energy I received when asking questions about my family, it was heavily implied that my grandfather is a direct descendant of slaves who lived in the South. Same with my grandmother. They grew up in a segregated south where they were ridiculed and talked down on for being black which is one of the reasons why they built their home in a more secluded and predominantly black area called Moncks Corner

I do not have a concrete time period of how long my family(s) lived in this country, but I know it has been quite a long time.

[naiyar04]

MSU Anthropology

(Time-space Compression) Zoom has been used more widely to make meetings and interactions easier to do. This was widely used during the pandemic, due to the fact that we all couldn't be in the building, but we still had to go to school or get work done for our professions.

(Flexible Accumulation) Sweatshops and undercover/under identifiable factories have been used to mass produce products that are shipped throughout the world. They are mostly run by higher powers, but the people working there are often immigrants trying to make a living due to their poor conditions or inability to get a more stable job.

(Uneven Development) This is am image of a smaller village near a modernized and thriving city. As you can see, they are not that far off from each other, but the under development of this area is clear.

(Migration) Immigration has increased in years due to the unsafe living areas in Mexico. It is also due to the harsher economy. Many people migrate towards America for a better living opportunity as well as jobs and potential opportunities at health care.

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Coltan in the Congo