#intro2anthro

Michael Kors, originally named Karl Anderson, was born in New York City in 1959. He had an early introduction to the fashion world due to his mother being a model. He dropped his first women’s fashion line in 1981 after withdrawing from college and has been dominating in the fashion world ever since. His brand has been selling in high-end department stores and local fashion stores worldwide. He has had many other successful business endeavors but one of the biggest highlights in his career was when he designed for the former First Lady, Michelle Obama for her first official portrait.  

Michael Kors uses outsourcing to maintain his brand. He is a customer to the Simone Accessories Collection, a South Korean based chain supplier of women’s fashion and handbags.

These boots were a gift I wanted for Christmas and they’re my favorite rain boots to wear. I like the style of the boots and they’re great for a rainy day.

In March of 2018, the factory workers responsible for making Michael Kors products went on an eight-day strike against their low wages. The workers were mostly women who had expressed their inability to be able to sustain the cost of living in their area unless they constantly worked overtime. Also, they did not understand how they were making high-end items but had little to no benefits. They demanded for at least $552 a month and benefits that included housing. After eight days Simone Accessories agreed to meet the workers demands while compensating them with benefits within their lawful means.

Constructing Indian Identity in the US 

An example of the Thomas Theorem is how the male, in the majority of cultures, is seen as superior to the women. The male is seen as physically stronger, intellectually smarter, and more dominant all around. Even though these things are individual human characteristics, time and time again, the consequences of this theory prove to be real in the political climate, education system, religious structure, and throughout daily life as a whole. 

A pacemaker is a biomedical engineered part that sends signals to the heart to make it beat at the correct pace. This is important because the heart is a vital organ that needs to function for survival. An irregular heartbeat can threaten the quality of life of an individual. If severe, a person can die, thus letting natural selection play out. The invention and use of the pacemaker work against natural selection by giving assistance to those with a weaker or overactive heart. 

Record how many men and women are in the class. Keep a tally of how many times men speak and how many times women speak. Who speaks more often?

There were 11 people in the class. Five men and six women.  We were all asked to speak and give our paper topics if we were present in the previous class.

Record the average of how long people speak. Record the average of the number of words they use.

The men spoke for about 3 minutes on average discussing their topics for our research paper. One man was very confident in his speech while the rest seemed to be relaxed and easily overpowered by the professor. 

The women spoke longer for about 6-7 minutes on average trying to prove and explain their topics to the professor. The majority of them were more confident in their speech and stood firm in the direction they were choosing to go in, regarding their paper, except for one. 

What is the difference in body language and style of speaking between men and women?

When the women spoke, they sat up from their relaxed state and were more assertive. When the men spoke, they took more of a relaxed stance except for the one man who was very confident in his speech and was very assertive.

 Is the instructor a man or a woman? How do they encourage or discourage communication? Consider their body language and gaze.

The professor is a man and he was very dictating. He sat up with broad shoulders and in perfect posture. He tried to push his opinion of each topic onto each student. He almost disregarded everyone's points that they made and basically told them what he would do. One boy even responded to him saying, “Are you asking me or telling me?” 

Record the number of times the instructor calls on men versus women.

Everyone was called on. 

Does the instructor’s gender seem to influence the way they interact with the class? If so, how?

Gender:  “New rugs, girl take them heels off. Said they Jimmy Choo (I said bless you). Now take off ya shoes (I ain’t askin’).”

This is a representation of his relationship to a woman he is dealing with at the moment. They are in his house and he is using his authority over the woman and disregarding her desires.  

Power: “I got five chains on them hoes go clink, clink, clink. No job, big bankroll... On God, sergeant, check my rank, rank, rank, on God.”

This represents his power in relation to money and expensive possessions. He knows he has so much that he literally is saying sergeant, check my rank and he’s putting it on God who is the highest most powerful form of being/energy. He truly believes he is top tier.  

Dialect: “Genes good, yeah she love my fabric”

I observed the first floor of the student center on Valentines day between the hours 11-12:30. There were many students coming In and out of the student center as usual. Mostly in regular winter clothing headed from one class to another. They were all bundled up in layers wearing baggy sweatpants, boots, sneakers and oversized coats. There were some who looked festive for the holiday wearing deep reds, hot pinks and even accessories like valentines day headbands and special themed makeup. There was a lot of communication amongst students because there were several organizations hosting small table events. The people hosting events were dressed up. A lot of the women wore red slacks and white blouses that were accompanied with symbols that represented their organizations.  The men wore suits or either business casual attire. There were activities and games. There also was many different love/sexual related r&b songs playing at each different station, but one table had a louder speaker that drew people in and made them sing along. The music sparked people’s interest and they gathered around to see what was going on. Not only was their music attracting people, but it also was because some of their members were greeting people who walked past while handing out heart-shaped lollipops. They were able to do this because they had a lot of their members represented at the table whereas the other tables had about 1-2 people present and some were even sitting down. All of the tables were decorated in red, pink and white and had quotes concerning love on them. Most were about the relationships between a man and a woman. One table even giving out condoms. Some boards promoted self love and care and some just promoting fun and games. Overall, that one experience was truly telling about  American culture on Valentines day and the subculture of HBCUs on valentines day through the use of various symbols, values, mental maps of reality, behaviors, attitudes and norms.

Truthfully, after doing this assignment I realized how truly abundant I am. I realized I cannot complain about any lack, not because I have it all, but because I have more than enough. I also took a step back and remembered certain people in my life, past and present, who had a lot less than me but were still able to thrive. I also thought about me and my families finances and how if we redirected our money, we would be in an even better state.