Participant Observation In Anthropology

In anthropology, the most important method of studying a culture is known as Participant Observation. This style of observation allows the anthropologist to fully submerge themselves in the culture they are trying to understand. In class, we were to perform our own participant observation at a meal with a group of people to see the social and gender norms associated with eating. During my participant observation I realized that culture and gender has a large impact on our food choices and mannerisms. First, I observed the meal. My friends, Trish and Morgan took me out to lunch after classes. The three of us had not spent much time together since August, so this lunch acted as a ‘family reunion’. Though we were tired, the general mood of the lunch was elated.
It was around twelve in the afternoon when we went out to dine. Our friend Trish was the one who suggested that we eat at a local Chinese buffet. She was also the one to drive; I assume it was because she was excited to show off her ‘new’ car. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted by a waitress, who sat us near the back of the restaurant, across from the sushi bar. As I looked around the restaurant, I noticed that the only male worker in the customer area was the man preparing the sushi.
When we sat down at our booth, Trish took the side facing the …show more content…
Trish brought up her newest obsession, which I found fitting for this class known as Food Wars, the story of a young man training to become a master chef. Then, Morgan slammed the table remembering a videogame she wanted to show me. Trish pulled up the commercial for the new game Pokémon Go, A game where the creatures of Pokémon appear off the game screen and in the real world, on her phone. Once we were finished blabbering about videogames and anime, Morgan and Trish paid for our meal, and we went back home to watch