Karlee Noe

Cole Stanton
HON 272
April 16, 2015
Field Experiment #2
1. Describe the physical setting. Map it out. Include a picture or diagram. Look at
flows of space, people, resources, etc.
Smaller room
Mirror walls
Glass wall and door
Only 1 way in and out
Mostly cardio machines filling the space
Weight machine and free weights
White roof and everything else is black
White pillar in middle
TVs, trash bin, fans
10:57 AM
Wide hallway just outside the gym
Study lounge across the hall

2. Describe the demographics of people in setting. Demographics are age, perceived race
and/or ethnicity, gender, and any other visible social statuses. Count people if you can.
1 white female about 19 years old
1 white male 19-20 years old (trouble deciding his ethnicity because it was hard to
see face from location we were sitting)

Both wearing seemingly appropriate workout gear

Female wearing a tank top, shorts and athletic shoes and male wearing t-shirt,
shorts and athletic shoes
1 white male wearing a backwards hat walked by the gym, looked inside, kept
walking
At the end the girl left seemingly dramatically (violently pushed open the door)
while drinking water
A few people walked out front of the gym but did not even look at it

3. Describe your own personal standpoint given your surrounding setting. Who are you?
What are you doing? Do you stand out?
We were sitting outside the door/glass wall of the gym
About 20 feet away up against the opposite wall
We assumed the role and looked like students collaborating and doing homework
It does not seem like we were out of place but the people inside the gym definitely
noticed our existence, in particular the male looked over at us once or twice
We clearly were assuming the role of students working on homework and not
students about to go to the gym
4. What is going on that you are observing?
People are exercising on machines and resources provided
People watched themselves in the mirror, probably to make sure they are using
the correct form or to watch which part and muscle is being worked
The male was using dumbbells, the female was on an elliptical
Female was listening to music through headphones and looking at the T.V.
Both had headphones in and the male was on his phone at one point
Male seemed to be verbally counting reps/noticeable breathing
Male was switching between the dumbbells and a weight machine after a certain
number of repetitions
5. Given the theories of Panopticons and cultural superegos, RCG intersectionality,
and/or the theory of knowledge behind Black Feminist Intellectuals, tell me about the
social phenomena that you are observing?
The social phenomenon we are observing is how people do an activity differently
than they would do it privately while in a public place full of visibility. The gym has a
wall mostly of glass and lacks any real dividers inside so people know how easily others
inside and outside the gym could observe them. Just like in the Panopticon, people in the
gym realize that there is an ever-present possibility that other people are watching them.
Even though most of the time nobody is paying any attention to them, people will still be
in the mindset that they are being observed to be sure to avoid a worst-case scenario. For
example, others could laugh someone at if they are seen doing an exercise incorrectly or
very awkwardly.
Along with that, the mirrors allow a person to physically see what they are doing
and what they look like, which lets people judge themselves in a physical sense not
possible in most environments. The self-reflective focus that can come with focusing on

oneself in a mirror is akin to that of how people focus on themselves, when there is
nothing else to focus on, inside a cell of the Panopticon.
Another question that arises is why are people working out? It could be just to be
fit, training for an event, self image, competition, friends influences, or a host of other
motives. This relates back to Freud's theory of a cultural super-ego, which works as an
individual's conscience, because many possible motivations to work out may come from
an internal sense of guilt. People's reasons for feeling guilty come from what the world
around them teaches them. Many people may feel that society expects their demographic
to have a certain physique. If they do not have this, they may feel they are failing to fit in
or that they lack the discipline of their peers.
One could argue that people project their own philosophies about working out
unto others. To give an extreme example, if a guy believes that real men need to be
ripped, by being seen working out this person will feel that his onlookers would be
impressed by his manliness. For the Panopticon, this means that they will assume that
other people will judge them as they would judge somebody else in the gym. People,
without being able to verify their observers, have to make assumptions about their
observers supposed beliefs so that they can quell their fears of uncertainty. In terms of
the super ego, people give their internalized beliefs to the external world and the newly
shaped external world becomes another tool for people to guilt themselves into action.
The consciences of every single person now weigh down on the individual. This is a
powerful authority that people, having created themselves, will respect.