Belk Library Ethnography

I chose Belk Library of Appalachian State University for my ethnography project. The reason that I pick library for this project was that I knew everyday men, women, children, elder, and people of different nation came to this place for studying, relaxing, or for some other reasons. Therefore, I thought by choosing library, I would have an opportunity to observe the behaviors of people of different genders, ages, and nation of this culture.
It was a great experience working as a cultural anthropologist. I mostly paid attention to the people’s behavior and how they were dressed. In addition, I also focused on the environment and objects surrounding by it. After observing people in the library for one hour and seeing many patterns I thought it was acceptable to make some conclusions about this culture. Today there were not many children or elders in the library. The library had many computers for students and community members to use. Almost everyone in the library were either using library computers or their own laptops that they brought with them for studying, entertaining, networking, or …show more content…
Their legs were showing off. I saw a woman who was wearing a crop top that showed off her stomach. Women seemed comfortable in their shorts. But what surprised me the most was that no man was shocked to see women bare legs and stomach. They were treating the women in shorts the same way they were treating a women in long pants. In many Middle East Asian countries, it is not acceptable for women to wear shorts, and women who shows of their body are not treated well. Hence, I concluded that in this culture it was admissible for women to wear shorts. It is tolerated well by their community. I also heard a woman laughing loud. And no one looked at her rudely or stared at her because she was laughing loud in the presence of men. Therefore, for this culture it is not consider unacceptable for a woman to laugh loud in