Fieldworking Chapter 1

At the beginning of Fieldworking, there is a quote that gives the reader a good idea of what is going to be talked about in the reading. The quote is from Hortense Powdermaker, "Long before I ever heard of anthropology, I was being conditioned for the role of stepping in and out of society. It was part of my growing up process to question the traditional values and norms of the family and to experiment with behavior patterns and ideologies. This is not an uncommon process of finding oneself.... Why should a contented and satisfied person think of standing outside his or any other society and studying it?" After reading the quote, I began to wonder how I had been raised. Was I trained to look outside my own norms? To look at traditions and wonder why that or this is done? Or was I just raised to follow them unthinkingly? I wouldn't say I was trained or raised to look outside norms or to be critical of traditions, nonetheless I do have some interest in the differences of cultures. I've thought about how american culutre compares to others and how christianity compares to other religions. I look at my own culture and compare it to others and, to say the least, it's different from the larger group. Its significantly different from those groups that dominate Indiana and the region. I believe in abortion, and according to a survey taken in my english class last semester, I am in the significant minority. I have liberal views, while most seem to be more conservative. I'm not religious. I dress differently most friends and I like different things than those friends, so even in the sub-cultures that they inhabit I have a uniquely different culture from them. To answer Mr. Powdermaker's question, I suppose I'm not really content, nor am I satisfied. So, then I guess my best choice is to study another society or culture. Might as well, I have nothing better to do.