further thoughts

After reading your comments Dr. Campeanu, I have definitely been thinking over my ethnography topic and trying to figure out how exactly I should approach this project. I have reserved several books/documentaries on roller derby at the Austin library - I'm hoping those will give me some more information and history to go on. I agree with the point that this sport is already largely defined and labeled - my challenge will certainly be delving deeper into the stories that shape those interpretations.

This entry is still a little jumbled but these are just some ideas that I'm kicking around and formulating:

• Maybe more discussion on the debate over how roller derby is feminist and how it isn't - discussions of female sexuality and strength...The somewhat unique thing about roller derby is that we have a wide variety of body types and athletes from all kinds of backgrounds and there are advantages to each.
  

• Another thought that hit me recently: when Drew Barrymore's roller derby movie, "Whip It," recently came out, there was a good deal of internal discussion among TXRG skaters. Some people were disgruntled - they thought it would cheapen or overly stereotype/"mainstreamify" roller derby as a more theatrical "sport," one that requires more showmanship than athleticism. Conversely, others were excited and hopeful that seeing the sport portrayed on the big screen would constructively promote TXRG, roller derby, and its message of empowerment and athleticism.

• From looking at their core values and mission statement on their website - http://txrollergirls.com - I'm also really interested in how TXRG is organized and run as smoothly as it does. They're a non-profit public charity with a mission to play and promote Women's Flat Track Derby and I find their history pretty interesting. They are made up of all-female teams, all-female management, they host and run boot-camps, have practices roughly four times a week, travel all around for games, go to speed classes, coach the rec league, as well as hold administrative jobs within the league. "It takes over your life, but you get to travel the whole country and stay with all these new friends. That's something we only dreamed of in the beginning." - Cat Tastrophe

So I still feel a little all over the place but I'm working to decide on a focus and piece these ideas together a bit more with help from some of the assigned readings as well.
Thanks!

Some ideas..

So I have been having alot of ideas running through my head about what to do for this project. I find gender as something that is really interesting, but have already done a small ethnography on gender. But, I figured I could use gender in some way. I was thinking about doing the effect of SU on pattern of sexuality within the student's lives. I have noticed a major shift, breaking of boundaries within homo/hetero/gender relations prior to to student's arrival and thereafter. Along with this investigation I would also analyze/ compare how these patters and relations differ with different schools. I have a lot of friends at a lot of different school, yet SU seems more groundbreaking with this subject. There are still many details I need to figure out/ focus..but that is the general idea.What do you guys think??

or

I find it fascinating that magazines such as Us weekly ,STar, People, exist. I wanted to investigate first of all why these magazines exist. Wy do we have magazines telling us about the lives of people who are not really in the least bit influential to our lives, such as maybe a magazine about a political or historical figure would be. Then I would focus on the obessesion that there is with these kind of media products....

Tell me what you guys think!

Society and Team Sports

I think I’m going to do my project on the greater unifying quality of team sports by interviewing both participators and observers. Looking at example such as the Ivorian football team in the last world cup, the 1995 South African rugby team, and Jackie Robinson’s assimilation into professional baseball amongst other historically relevant events, I’ve decided that the social landscape of team sports is often indicative of what is to come in a given society. I’d like to figure out why that is. Why is it that as a country we cheered for African American athletes before we accepted an entire race into our population?

Local feminism

I am hoping to do my project on local feminism. The focus of the project will be how feminists see themselves and how non-feminists view feminism. I want people to define feminism and what a person has to do to be one. Evaluating the actions of feminists and comparing them to the ideal will also enter into the study.

Research topic :D

I'm still really considering doing the "Go Greek or Go Home" mentality that large schools have in their sororities and fraternities and if it really is how the media portrays it. I feel like it would be interesting to look into at larger schools such as Texas State and UT because it is so different from Southwestern's greek systems. I would look into the exclusivity and consequences of the actions taken by greeks and non-greeks. What does everyone think? Is it a little too cliche to do something on greek systems?

Topic idea and such

I've actually been thinking about what I'd like to research for a while now, and have a pretty good idea of what it'll be (though I'll definitely have to fine-tune it a lot as the semester goes on).

I was raised in the Church of Christ, and over the past few years I've noticed (both first hand and through the conversations of older generations) that the church has recently been under a lot of stress and we're coming to a breaking point of sorts. Modern movements in religion and ways of thinking have influenced my generation so much that the church is under quite a bit of pressure to maintain the "loyalty" of the up-and-coming members of the church that are needed to keep it alive. There are a lot of dynamics that go into why this is an issue, mainly due to the extremely conservative practices and doctrines of the church. But more on that later.

I'm interested in two main topics: both how the elders of the church (pretty much our parents and older) are handling this, because they're in a pretty crucial position right now, and also where the church of Christ as we know it is headed. For the sake of this project, I'll probably focus more on the former, but both are topics I'd love to explore in depth later, if given the opportunity.

Hope all of that made sense, feel free to ask for clarification. I'm still figuring it out myself :)

derby

For my project, I was thinking of doing an ethnograph on women's flat-track roller derby. I have been skating with the recreational division of the Texas Rollergirls for almost two years now and during this time I have become really interested in the dynamics of this particular team sport. When I think back on these past few years, I can definitely see how being a part of this league has shaped and influenced my personal character. Therefore, I was thinking about focusing my topic on questions of female identity - such as what drew the skater to roller derby in the first place, how joining the sport changes the way she sees herself, and how it affects her day-to-day persona/character. In this ethnograph, I would like to incorporate issues of gender and discussion of what it means to be a real "woman" in roller derby culture.

I luckily have a pretty wide array of contacts from my league and multiple interviews should be relatively simple to schedule. I have practice twice a week at Playland Skate Center in North Austin as well as various other derby events from time to time. Quick question - I will be interviewing adults but my site is off campus - do I need any sort of approval from the university?

Thanks for reading and I would love to hear any feedback/suggestions!