People get into relationships all the time based on personal interest, different levels of affection, and other important factors. Typical relationships are one’s between a man and a woman of the same race. But now it’s very common to see mixed couples, people of different ethnics coming together, and same sex couples. My ethnography investigates couples on the train. Note that some of the time periods are cut short due to the length of time each couple spent on the train. Public transportation provides millions of people with a way to get from one place to another. Almost all types of people take the MTA; single mothers, students, the elderly, rich white men, homeless, and many others. Doesn’t matter what you are we all seem to come together underground. I spent two weekends, starting with Friday and ending with Sunday, and I investigated couples that I thought I saw on the train. |
The first couple I noticed was a man and woman, both African American. They looked young and had matching sneakers. That little observation made me think they were together. They were not really affectionate, but they did sit close to each other. You could say that they personified a typical high school love, with his school bag and her school uniform. The next time I took the train I immediately noticed a mixed couple. The girl looked mixed with long hairs. The man with her was of Asian descent and he looked like he was around his late 30’s. She had fresh look and looked young maybe in between her 20’s. They wore plain clothes nothing sparkly or extravagant. The rest of the train ride was spent talking and laughing. She held on to his arm the rest of the ride and periodically leaned into him. As I continued my observations I began to compare each couple I wrote about to the previous one or to the next. It was hard not to be bias and I believe there might be some compromising field notes, but these observations in especially a close and common setting helped me investigate on what’s important. More to say I was interested in the levels of interaction each couple had based on race, age, attire, and whether they were homosexual or heterosexual.
The couples that interested the most were the travellers with all their luggage and looks of either confusion or anticipation. They usually are very talkative and speak in their native language. But the ones I observed were really quiet. I couldn’t say much about them because they spent a short time on the train. I expected to have a map in their hand or to get off at 42nd street but my presumptions were all wrong. This realization made my other observation more open. Different factors began to be highlighted more in my observations as I dissected each couple. The Caucasian couples especially the one I observed in the afternoon, we’re extremely comfortable in the subway setting. The girls liked to either place their legs on top of their male counterparts. They made know to anyone actually paying attention that this was their man, so to say. A lot of the Caucasian liked to have loud conversations. They had no problem with the public displays of affection (PDA). Occasionally kissing each other while on the train. They did not pay any attention to their surroundings or cared if they were making everyone else uncomfortable with their affectionate gestures.
While taking the train home after work I noticed a homosexual couple. They were both male and were of African American dissent. Their interaction showed that you could easily categorize who played the male and female role in the relationship. One of the guys was a little shorter and proceeded to speak very quickly and with heated interest. The other guy just sat down and listened. It looked more like a one sided conversation. I could not tell you what they spoke about but from how the quiet guy left when their stop came without looking back for his partner told me it was not anything good. There was one couple that spent the whole train ride on their phones. The girl paid no mind to her male counterpart and proceeded to apply makeup or fix her hair. It was until their stop came that some form of interaction was displayed. This interaction involved him taking her hand as they exited.
Most of what I observed I was not able to predict prior to. It was interesting to just write about what I saw and not from what I knew. It would have been better if I could have seen each couple more than once to get a better grasp on what I was observing. Each observation served a purpose by providing different aspects of what relationships consist of in terms of the different factors present. Couples are influenced by their own moralities and circumstances. The ones’ that showed a lot of affection seemed to be the ones that were younger and had nothing to flaunt in terms of expensive clothing or bags. The older couples should more reserve.