I took one of our beautiful Eugene days to sit in the courtyard and watch people pass by. I find people watching to be very entertaining because you can make judgements and assumptions off people simply by looking at their clothing or observing their body language. I was very excited to partake in this activity.
Someone who first caught my attention was a guy on a skate board who came by me pretty fast and grabbed a spot on the lawn. He had tattoos up and down his arm, some were names and one was a lady holding a baby. To me this suggests that maybe he has brothers or sisters and the lady in the picture may have been his mother. This is of course just an assumption because he looked like he could be my age, around 19 and I would not expect someone my age to have a family of their own yet. His skate board may symbolize that he does not walk to class or drive and he is fairly athletic. He came to the courtyard alone and began reading on the grass, maybe for a class or maybe for personal enjoyment. Overall, I got a feeling that he was happy based on his facial expression and his open body movements.
Next, I saw a girl who appeared to be my age with what looked like blonde hair that may have been dyed a few different times. I can relate to dying my hair many times and I did it to fit it, perhaps she felt the same way. She was walking a girl and holding her hand, which implies a possible relationship with another girl. This shows that she is proud of her sexuality and that she is confident in her differences from the typical college girl on our University of Oregon campus.
Finally, the next person who caught my eye was a man. He was older, maybe around the age of 55-55. He had grey hair and was riding his bike wearing faded jeans and a white short sleeve shirt. I see older people around campus rarely, but to me I see an individual that is coming back to finish their education and accomplish goals they have set for themselves. This man was cleanly shaven and was wearing a backpack with a smile on his face. He seemed happy and full of life, which was very inspiring. We often associate college with kids ages 18-22 and it is nice seeing there is no age limit on your education. I also admire adults who come back to college because they usually are working and going to school at the same time, which is not easy.
Your first person is very similar to my third person. They all have a tattoo which is a woman on their arm, and your assumption is same to me. I think the tattoo might be his mother or girlfriend. In my perspective, it might not his sister. For your first person, I think his tattoo might signs that the woman is his mother, and baby might be himself. I’m really interested in your people watching. By the way, I think you should analysis more about values and beliefs. Thank you.
Kirsten,
Like you I was very excited about this assignment. People watching is very entertaining, and it’s interesting how much we stereotype and assume about a person just based on their appearance. Its cool you were able to relate to the second person you visually dissected. I was also able to find a person that I could relate with as far as appearances go. This assignment was intriguing and eye opening. I think we both took away the same feeling and its nice to know a peer in this class is experiencing the same thing I am.
I agree, and I appreciate this project because it opened my eyes to how much we do stereotype people. Just based off appearance we like to assume what background they come from and what kind of life they live. It would be interesting to me to do a people watching assignment but also interviewing the people after. It would be interesting to see if our judgments are proved wrong and in what ways. I found myself after this project keeping a close eye on people and watching them do the smallest actions. It is also interesting to me because I can relate this project to one we did a few weeks ago talking about how history has influenced art. I wonder if we get stereotypes for people because of events in history, and if not, where do these stereotypes come from?
I thought it was really interesting that you made a point about not seeing very many older people on campus and when you saw this older gentleman you assumed he was a student. I don’t think that your assumption is wrong at all, although he could have been a GTF, Professor or someone who works on campus. I think that this assumption says more about our culture and how we associate college with “college aged” people 18-25ish. Non-traditional students are more and more common and I think this is a trend that we will start seeing on more and more campuses in the future.