Thursday, September 10, 2009
9/9/09 0 interactions, Thank you and thoughts on winding down
I really appreciate everyone who's followed this and offered encouragement. Thank you. I'd originally said I'd keep this project going as long as the weather allowed, but I realized with the semester amping up, and a few new committments, I probably won't have much more time to devote to it. So I think I'll wrap it up for now. There will be more to follow; I'm just not entirely sure what.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I was totally fascinated.
ReplyDeleteOff the cuff-- there's a possible "sleeve" pun I'm too lazy to reach for-- I feel like gender was the primary underlying identity construction in a lot of these interactions, from the overtly flirty or merely exoticizing interactions ("crazy!") to those that constituted attempts to establish solidarity.
I am no kind of scientist, social or otherwise, but you did get addressed as "girl" an awful lot, as in "hey, GIRL... [question or remark about body mods]."
It may just be my own biases or attitudes shaping my interpretations, but I feel like the curiosity, as well as the verbal ADMISSION of curiosity-- the third party's direct social engagement of your attention, which is a different dynamic than people covertly or otherwise staring-- were strongly shaped in a lot of cases by the third party's perception of your gender.
Argh I have more to say (imagine that) but I have to get back to my dumb day job. Will write more later.