Essay on The Cocktail Waitress Analysis

Words: 3290
Pages: 14

1. Spradley and Mann chose to do their research at Brady’s bar because it is an ordinary setting where they could study interactions between male and female. First, Brady’s Bar provided a setting to define the female role. Secondly, it is a place where both male and female interactions are important and reflect traditional aspects of larger society. Lastly, the traditional aspects of Brady’s signified the traditional view of how women should present themselves as passive sex objects whose status is of lower hierarchy than men.
There are three ethnographical principles that guided the study at Brady’s Bar. The first principle states that “Every human group creates its own reality, a shared culture” (6). This concept was put in
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With this, by studying the interactions of people within Brady’s the authors were also able to show how these stereotypes of male and female roles are presented in the aspects of verbal and non-verbal communication.

3. I would define bar culture as an experience for males and females to interact in a community of people who are all present for similar reasons. Bar culture is adaptive and is expressed by patterns of learned behaviors and shared behaviors. There are many types of customers that go to bars and each one has the ability to experience bar life. Weather the person is new to the bar; he/she can easily learn how to act appropriately in many different situations by simply observing the behaviors of others around them. Although, bar culture is a place to provide such experiences, it also establishes hierarchies and presents symbolism between male and female roles that are also present in everyday culture. Bar culture follows the philosophical views of idealism and materialism through its social structure. Lastly, bar culture provides a place where people can express their human agency. This is because at the bar, people are able to take control of their life in ways they may not be able to in their everyday lives.

4. I have chosen Sharon and Denise to compare and contrast. First, Sharon is the only waitress at Brady’s who has experience in working in a bar and has