Gregg - Weeks 7 & 8 Fieldnotes

Note Index | Erinn Gregg

Erinn Gregg Weeks 7 & 8 Field Notes excerpts - Interviews on the Body

THURSDAY, October 21, 1999, (written October 23, morning)
SUMMARY

We leave Nadi to head back to Rakiraki at approximately 10:00 a.m. All seven students pile into Rup's van and after a three-hour drive we arrive back in Vaileka. We check our mail and while we are at the Post Office, Steve arrives telling us that he has received information for Winter Course Registration but he has left it back at the house and will be back with it in a few minutes. We wait at Rup's store while we look over two articles from back home. One on Fiji from my mother and another on kava which Michelle has received in the mail. [These were quite interesting to read and funny seeing that we are here in Fiji and one of the authors has written about kava with such uncertainty. Here we are where it is the first drink of choice for some people!] When Steve returns we sit around and talk about classes before heading back to our villages around 4:00 p.m. I arrive back in Drana and after talking to Savu for a few minutes we decide to go for a walk. We walk for approximately an hour and when we return I shower and help Savu prepare tea. Savu tells me about a church service that evening at 7:00 but I politely decline telling her that I will do some typing until they return. Makareta tells me that she is going to the church service but she will return. I type in my room for about an hour and a half and around 9:15 I hear Savu in the kitchen. When I go outside her and Makareta are just finishing their dinner. I sit and talk with them until 10:30. I go to my room and do some reading before going to sleep at 11:30.
Abortion and Adoption

While talking with Makareta and Savu they tell me about one girl at Penang who has recently had an abortion because she became pregnant by one of their teacher's boyfriend. I inquire about abortions and am told, "They do not happen very often but sure there are women in Fiji who have abortions".

Abortions are not performed in hospitals, as they will not allow it. If a woman wishes to abort the fetus she must go to a private doctor. The fees are then $100/one month, $200/two months and so forth.

Adoptions also take place in Fiji and according to Savu, "There is one home where the children all go who do not have any parents. Then if you want a child but cannot have any of your own you can go there".
Field Notes Week 8

Tuesday, October 26, 1999, (written October 26, evening)
SUMMARY

After doing work for the last three four days on my computer I am ready to go out into the field. I spend the day on Friday doing my wash and doing some typing. On Friday night I take a taxi to Michelle's village with Makareta and her cousin Soveana. We pick up Michelle and Stephanie and then head to Wananavu. In the course of the evening Makareta tells me that she will be leaving for two weeks to take a class in Nadi. [I am happy for her because I know she really wanted to take the class but she is one of my good friends in the village and now will not return until my last week in the village!] We come back to our villages at 12:00 and go to sleep. On Saturday morning I get up and eat breakfast with Savu. We sit talking until about 11:00 when Makareta comes down to tell us that they are leaving. Savu and I go up to her house to say good-bye and when we return I decide to go for walk. I return around 12:30 and after showering I do some work. I then head to Michelle's house to accompany her to another resort for interviewing. When we arrive at the wharf we are told to come back the following day. We get a ride back to our villages with Amber's host mother from the Fiji Term in 1997. On Sunday I go back to go with Michelle in the morning and when we arrive at the wharf they tell us this time that she cannot speak to anyone at the resort. We do work for the rest of the afternoon. On Monday morning we continue with our work until Steve and Karen come over. While Michelle goes into town with them I stay behind to do some more typing. I return back to Drana around 2:30 after stopping first in town to check my mail. I talk with Savu for a little while and then do work in my room for the rest of the evening.

I wake up this morning and do some reading for class tomorrow. I then take a shower and get my things together to go to Penang. I start walking at 12:45 but a taxi comes along and I decide to get in. [not that it is a far walk...it is just getting quite hot here in Fiji!] The taxi takes me town and when I arrive I head to the Post Office to mail some letters. I go to Penang and head to the library where I am told by one of the teachers that the librarian has gone to lunch but will return shortly. I wait for her while reading the Fiji Times and she arrives back around 12:30. She asks me how many students I would like to speak with and returns with five girls. I explain to them that I would like to talk with them one at a time and while I go to a table with one student the others sit patiently at another table in the library. As I conduct the interview I keep at eye for Michelle's sister, Rose, who has told me that she would meet me in the Library. I finish the interviews around 1:45 and when Rose has still not shown up I decide to leave the school. I walk to the hospital where I plan to speak to the doctor who the Social Welfare Office has suggested. However when I arrive I do not see any doctors and I sit waiting for a half-hour. I decide to go back into town and try again later in the day. I go back to Vaileka and take a taxi to Steve and Karen's where the taxi waits while I ask them a question. I then head to Vitawa where I meet Apryle, Megan and Tila. I sit talking with Apryle and Megan while Tila eats her lunch. I then interview her for my independent study. The interview lasts approximately forty-five minutes and when we are finished I thank Tila and ask her if I can return next week and talk to her a little more. She says that is okay. The taxi returns to take me back to Drana at 4:30. When I arrive back in Drana I sit and talk with Savu. I ask her questions about sevusevus as well as some information on the village of Drana. Around 5:30 I go my room to do some work. I type until 6:45 when I make soup for dinner. Savu tells me that she is going to peel cassava with the minister and will be back later tonight. I type I my room until 9:45 and then fall asleep while reading on my bed.

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I. Interviews at Penang

These interviews are "mini-interviews" with each student asked only a few specific questions in regards to weight and body image. The participants are chosen randomly by the school librarian and each interview is conducted one-on-one in the Penang School Library.
a) [name deleted] - Female

Age 15

Indian

Concerns about weight: YES. She tells me she does not want to gain weight but also tells me that if she loses too much she will gain more because she does not want to become sick.

Change appearance: YES. She tells me that when she looks in the mirror she wants to be, "nice and beautiful". She elaborates saying that she wants her figure to be the right shape and she always longs for a better hairstyle because her hair is very thin.

Diet: She tells me that she has never dieted but when I ask her if she restricts herself from eating certain foods she replies, "Yes I do that when I am gaining weight. I restrict myself from fatty foods". She explains that she eats a lot of vegetables and some meat but not a lot.

Exercise: YES. The informant states that she exercises to a program on the television because, "I like to exercise and I want to know the right way to do it".

Attractiveness: She states that people are attractive by the way the act and the way they dress. It is also attractive when people can dance.

Unattractiveness: According to this girl when people are slow moving or too talkative they are boring and this makes them unattractive.

b) [name deleted] - Female

Age 16

Indian

Concerns about weight: YES.

Change appearance: YES. "I want to be slim and nice. I also want to change my hairstyle".

Diet: YES. The informant tells me that when she diets she restricts herself from certain foods. These include fatty foods, "especially beef and cheese. I don't eat them". The foods she eats most are vegetables, a lot of cabbage, and fruits. "They are my favorite".

Exercise: YES. At home she rides her bike for about an hour every afternoon. She also plays volleyball and netball.

Weight: She responds that she is 47 kg and her approximate height is 147 cm. She would like to weigh between 35-37 kg. [I figure this out to be approximately 77-82 pounds].

Comments on weight: She tells me, "At school the boys will make fun of the girls if they are fat. They might say, 'She's a good eater', because she is bigger than the other girls are". She also tells me that at home her parents say when she is growing fat.

c) [name deleted] - Female

Age 15

Indian

Concerns about weight: YES. She tells me that she would like to be heavier. "My doctor said that for my age I am too thin and I am much weaker than I should be. I try to gain weight and nothing happens".

Change appearance: YES. She would like to change the shape of her nose because, "It is too pointy".

Diet: NO. She is trying to gain weight. The respondent tells me that she generally eats bread for breakfast and then roti and curry for lunch and dinner.

Exercise: YES. She goes jogging before school every morning. "I wake up at 5:00 a.m. and am usually back by 6:00 or 6:15. It is usually about 1000 meters". When I ask her why she exercises she replies, "When I exercise in the morning I feel fresh for the rest of the day".

Comments on weight: Her parents tell her that they would like her to gain more weight.

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d) Asana - Female

Age 15

Fijian

Concerns about weight: YES. She is not happy with her weight.

Change appearance: NO. Happy with appearance [although this contradicts her feelings about her weight].

Diet: YES. The respondent tells me that she is on a diet right now. She is avoiding fatty foods such as mutton, corned beef, fish and snacks. She eats a lot of vegetables and root crops and drinks whatever she wants.

Exercise: YES. She used to run with her cousin brother and then after running do press-ups and sit ups. Now she still runs from FSC (Fiji Sugar Corporation) and into town. "I wake up at 5:30 in the morning and return back to my house by 6:45 to get ready for school".

Comments on weight: YES. "My mother tells me I am too fat. She told me once o do fasting and I practiced it for only a short time but then I wanted to eat so I avoided it". She tells me that her mother does not diet but she would like it if her daughter did.

e) [name deleted] - Female

Age 15

Indian

Concerns about weight: YES. "I weigh myself once a week at the scale in our house because I want to see if I am the right weight or not".

Change appearance: YES. The informant wants to lose weight. "I weigh 43 kg. Right now and I want to be 40 kg".

Diet: NO. Although she tells me that she tries to restrict herself from fatty foods because, "When I eat them I sometimes feel like vomiting. I don't actually vomit but I go and eat something sweet and then it gets better". She also tells me that she eats less food now in an effort to lose weight and does not consume any fried fish or butter.

Exercise: YES. This girl exercises in her home regularly for about 20 minutes each time.

Attractiveness: She tells me that someone is considered attractive, "If they have hair that is shiny and straight. If their face is clear and they have a good figure".

Comments about weight: The informant states, "You are criticized if you are too fat. People sometimes laugh after I tell them I weigh a certain amount and I feel about my weight".

II. Independent Study Interview - Tila

Tila and I begin the interview by talking about female attractiveness. She tells me that it is very important the way a woman has her hair cut. Her build is also important. "In Fijian we don't like thin we like being built but not that thin and not that at just a nice build in the middle". ... "In Fijian we use our hair style. Like our grandmothers when they look at us and they see us with makeup they don't like it. Fijian we usually cut our hair short and at the back we have it cut and straight".

Male attractiveness: Tila says that if they shave every day they are attractive but some that stay in the village all the time they don't shave and this is not attractive". It is also good if they have a nice build.

Describing attractiveness: Uro, Rere Vinaka - used for both males and females these are terms that can describe if you think someone is attractive

Female unattractiveness: The way a woman cuts her hair can make her unattractive. "The way hey cut their hair, if it is not suitable for their body. Some that look dirty - they just don't know how to dress themselves. Some don't know how to wear sulus and what goes with them. Some they dress like boys and they go around like boys. But mostly their hair. Any style of hair cut is good as long as it goes with their body. The shapes of their hair and their body".

Male unattractiveness: "Their beard and if they don't want to cut their hair. Some because of the grog - kanekane- their skin is like dirty". The way they look - grooming that is ugly and if they are lazy. Also a drinker. Tila tells me that you can tell a non-drinker. "Going to AOG churches you can see that. Oh this is a non-drinker or this is a drinker - you can tell by the way they look".

Describing unattractive: Rere va - would be used to describe ugly looking.

Discussions of weight: Tila tells me that people do discuss their weight. They say, "Oh you are getting weight, you should eat less". Some who have been gaining weigh before and then are slim they don't look nice. "Oh look at this one before she was nice and now she is not". If people lose weight Tila tells me that you can tell because they must be sick. Other people will say, "Oh look at this one she must be worrying about something she is losing weight. You can tell this way". Tila tells me that this is especially the case if women lose weight. She tells me that if she is getting married and she loses her weight the women in Vitawa are going to say, "Oh she must be jealous, she must be jealous about her husband. They are going to talk about me. Oh she is scared now - look at her weight- look at her body".

Comments about weight: Tila tells me that people mostly comment on women's weight. They will say that something must have happened if a woman loses weight. Tila tells me that she personally does not comment on people's weight.

Treatment based on weight: According to Tila people are all treated the same no matter what they weigh.

Losing weight: "If they want to lose weight you are going to see them running in the morning and the afternoon. Just jogging around. Some of these fat ladies they can't even wake up in the morning and then you see them running in the morning. And you say, 'Oh this lady wants to lose weight because she is huge. Yeah big. Normally only girls, unmarried woman. But women if they are running they want to lose weight".

...

Men and appearance: Tila tells me that men are concerned with how women look. "Men they look at that. 'Oh she has a nice figure - Uro'".

...

Wednesday, October 27, 1999

(written October 27, evening)
SUMMARY

Today I wake up early to get a few things done before the taxi arrives at 8:30. I wake up around 7:00 and go for a run. When I return I sit and talk with Savu while eating breakfast. She tells me that the taxi had arrived while I was gone and she told him to return at 8:30. While I am getting my things together the taxi arrives again at 8:15. I finish my tea and say good-bye to Savu. On the way to Steve and Karen's we stop in town to get something to drink. I arrive at Steve and Karen's around 8:45. Jiu has not yet arrived so I sit talking to Steve and Karen while checking e-mail. When Jiu arrives we talk a bit more and then we go to a cookhouse in the village so we can talk privately. The interview lasts approximately forty-five minutes. When we are finished we return to Steve and Karen's. Karen and I go talk to another woman in the village, Seinimere, about an interview later this afternoon. We return to their house and then prepare to leave. I get off at Michelle's house, as there is not enough room in the car for everyone. We wait for Steve who returns around noon and then head to the Rakiraki Hotel. We settle into the hotel and after calling my parents Steve returns and we all go into town to check our mail. We return to the hotel at 2:00 p.m. and eat lunch. After lunch we relax until class at 3:30. I leave class at 4:15 to go meet Seinimere for another interview. This interview lasts approximately forty minutes. I return to the hotel where the group is still having class. We finish talking around 6:15 and I return to the room to shower before dinner. Michelle, Stephanie, Andy and I go to Wananavu for dinner and return to the hotel at 10:15. I sit down at my computer to do work and stay awake until 2:00 a.m. I then head off to sleep for the evening.

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I. Independent Study Interview - Jiutjia (Jiu)

...

Description of Attractive in Fijian: Rere vinaka*

Totoka vaka oti - more attractive

Unattractiveness: "The way we eat. If you eat too much - even when you are small". Jiu tells me about her daughter who eats a lot. "Because my husband and I don't care - we let her eat whatever she wants. But when he grows up she will know if I eat too much, my body won't look good. I will have a big bum".

...

If someone is too heavy, Jiu tells me people will say, "Oh where are you going no figure?" The phrase "no figure" refers to someone who is too heavy and thus considered unattractive.

Jiu says that most people will comment on others weigh when they have not seen someone for a period of time and one person has gained weight. At fundraising for example, "Oh you have gained weight - you should not eat too much".

...

Eating: "The Fijian women they are big because they eat a lot of cassava and root crops. They don't want to limit what they eat".

Losing weight: Jiu expresses that, "In the family - a problem with the husband you will see that a woman will grow thin. A lady jealous of her husband who does not want her husband to go out - they can lose their weight. That is happening in Fiji".

Dieting: Jiu tells me women in Fiji diet. She relates dieting to diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. "It stems from the hospital or otherwise the husband telling his wife to lose weight". Those women who are "churchified" can diet for a few days - a sort of fasting for their religion. Then there are women who just want to lose weight. "Not the housewives - mostly the working mothers. They are watching their figures because of the clothes they wear every day".

LOLO - dieting for church reasons. Jiu has done this kind of dieting but it is not for the purpose of losing weight.

Restricting of diet - Mostly pregnant women restrict their weight. "Not to eat the pork, not to eat the red food".

...

Television: Jiu tells me that when she watches television she admires the figure of the actresses. "They are really beautiful. But when I say I want to look that I am only joking. There are others who say that and they mean I - like Seni Mere. She would see these women on television and admire them and just want to be like that actress".
Daily food intake:

Breakfast - Bread and butter

Lunch - Roti with curry, dalo, cassava, fish (varies)

Dinner - Rice with lolo, bread and butter, tea, fish, cassava (varies)

Concerns about weight - Jiu tells me that she believes when girls are in school they are more concerned with their weight than when the are older. "Most men will look at the females who have a better figure when they are younger. They should look at the heart first but they don't".
II. Independent Study Interview - Seinimere, female, age 24

Female Attractiveness: "Most women are known for hairstyle. It is getting modern and so most women tend to be modernized. If a Fijian lady comes out with huge lips and huge thighs that is attractive. The hair is in a Fijian Buina - Fijian hairstyle. Most island women have that hairstyle because they are away from the modern areas like Suva".

...

Descriptions of attractiveness: Rere vinaka, Uro, Barewa, Aulako - used for both males and females. "Most of the time the boys come to my house to see my husband and I hear them talking about girls especially those who pass and are not from the village. I hear them say - tolo maiese meaning not that big and not that small".

Female unattractiveness: "Mostly women in Fiji if she does not have a bit longer hair. Your hairstyle gives you an image - especially your face. When a girl cuts her hair short like a boy it does not look nice. When she drinks grog a lot - it will show on her lips. And when she smokes her lips will grow dark and we can tell she is a smoker. The way she dresses up".

Male unattractiveness: "Oh for the ladies and the men, missing tooth. If they are skinny and don't look broad enough they look unattractive. If they drink grog a lot you can tell. They look groggy and kanekane [scales on skin]".

Description of unattractive: Vakasisila, Neu - slang; "They use this especially when they are young and if one boy passes and your friends say hey he was looking at you and you don't like him you say, Neu". Bese - used for "No, I don't like it", in reference to a male or female.

...

Daily food intake: "If we have bread today mostly tomorrow we have something with flour - roti or something else. That is breakfast. Then lunch can be rice and curry or cassava. Sometimes we have leftover food from dinner so we will have it for lunch. Like today we had leftover soup - it was a big pot of soup so we just heat it up again. Dinner tonight I think will be roro, lolo, and tinned fish".

Exercise: "Now my main exercise is housework but I would like to go back to netball. But now the season for netball is out. Before I used to do aerobics when I used to work at the doctor's office.

...

Television: "Yes I admire Cindy Crawford and Brooke Shields. I love the tallness and the slimness. Mostly their face...Most of the young girls who come to the house they admire the ones on t.v. We sit and watch - Oh the dress is nice, oh the hairstyle is nice, that is what we admire".

Focus on weight: "Mostly when women get married they don't care about their weight because they are married and committed to their husbands. ... Most women after they marry they gain weight and don't wear make-up and the only time you will see them dressed up is when they go to town. My pastor's wife told me that if you don't want your husband to leave you for another one you need to clean up yourself and the house should be neat all the time. ... But when they gain weight - they look lazy".

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