Abstract
Studies of prostitution, personal space, social interactions, and athletic inclusion regarding gender and religion come together to create an umbrella theme of Social Borders in Berlin. These social borders, exhibited through very different studies, which use very different methods, are generally lines that Berliners encounter and interact with in their lives. Studying them will attempt to further understand why they exist, how they compare with their American counterparts (do they even have American counterparts), how those who see and experience them feel about the existence of the borders, and whether or not these walls should remain standing.
Questions ask, more precisely: what cultural differences cause the border to exist? How do citizens react to the border? What are the “rules” that dictate the border? How many people does this border affect or influence? (Further, what is this border’s effect on cultural identity?) What are the implications of this border? Are insiders aware of this border? How do outsiders view the border? Focusing on and personalizing these questions will drive the research.
Each of these topics is very site-specific. An important part of the research will be attempting to experience these borders on-site and interacting with the people that the border directly includes (speaking with prostitutes, bumping into people, sitting in market places, and playing soccer, respectively). The concept here is that experiencing (directly and indirectly) the border itself and interjecting oneself into the social division being researched will promote more insight, understanding, and, frankly, more questions. Specifically, as each research topic in this “Social Borders” group deals overtly with society and social interactions, projects will all become clearer once that social (on-site) wall is confronted.
Background
When we realize that social borders are best learned by living them, we also realize one of the biggest challenges to our project: conveying our research. The technicalities of the prostitute system, and the written rules of Islam can easily be transposed to essay form. But the awkward glances, wild-goose hunt information searches and physical settings of these borders will be difficult to convey to those who can not experience them directly. The problem is even more compounded with the study of personal space and social interactions. How can you write effectively about a personal space bubble? It is possible this is what prompted Tamiko Thiel’s virtual wall experience piece. Her piece successfully conveys the experience of a wall in a way that is completely different from traditional wall art such as poems or novels. Our project, however, has far more tight financial and schedule constraints, not to mention that it would be easier to fly people there than attempt to recreate the complex intricacies of modern day Berlin. Therefore we shall attempt to put our experience into a transportable form- deep, yet accessible. We may use some visual images, especially with our blog format. We may include video of soccer scrimmages, people bouncing like pinballs, the marketplace or the clothed transactions of prostitution. Ultimately though, we will write.
It is ironic that traveling often prompts writing. Tourist books, novels, and memoirs do not satiate, and so we chose to travel to truly experience something new by traveling. And then we almost immediately attempt to write about it. Still, although they do little but whet the appetite of a real travel junkie, these writings are valuable. When I see something new and different I immediately want to share it with people. I want them to experience it too. When that is impossible, I want to bring them there with language. I think, “I wish I could write about this.” What we write about Berlin, if we meet our challenge with success, will be important to give those who have never been or can never go a perspective on life there.
It will also resonate sharply with those in our travel seminar. The fundamental question in our research is “how are Berlin’s social borders different from those found in America?” This is a question we all developed individually from our immersion into literature, movies and news from Berlin, or in one case, our experience there. It stems from the fundamental question of travel: “how is this different from home?” After all, no one would travel if it were the same. Therefore, we will attempt to answer this question for people through our writing. Those in our travel seminar will more readily understand what we describe. Perhaps it will prompt them to note other subtleties of their Berlin experience that they were not aware of, and add a deeper level of critical thinking to their travel. It will also advance our own understanding, as these are questions deep to our own hearts that come from our own personal curiosity.
Individual Research Questions
Kelsi’s Question:
Research performed in marketplaces will be mainly ethnographic with some interactions, as they come from naturally being in an environment, accounted for. This ethnographic work will help to answer the question of what borders characterize social interactions between people in Berlin. It will exhibit the act and experience of people watching with purpose of experiencing the initial border of viewing a foreign scene as an outsider and how that border is broken when one becomes more familiar with, and educated about, the given environment.
Exhibiting social borders (especially from the eyes of a traveler, which causes the standpoint to be more naïve, vulnerable, and honest) is important because it helps both researchers and readers to understand and influence their own communities. By recognizing walls and thus bringing them down, communities can become more honest, less oppressed (however maybe only on a personal level), and better functioning.
Noticing details and ridding myself of prejudices is the current project at hand. My travel writing (ethnographic writing) is currently being developed as well.
Elroy’s Question:
When people think of Germany, the first things that come to their minds are genius scientists, World War II, Berlin, and Oktoberfest. However, one aspect of Germany is often overlooked and not recognized – legal prostitution. Observing people’s identity has been a hobby for me as I have spent years writing about cultural and racial identities; but, this would be a new branch of identity I will dive into. Legal prostitution in Berlin will be my main focus as I try to answer the question: what are the implications of present-day, legalized prostitution and its effects on the Berlin cultural identity; how has this changed from the wall. In 2002, the government passed a law to legalize prostitution as a measure of practical tolerance. However, the social stigmatization of prostitutes continues, forcing prostitutes and sex workers to lead double lives. It is important to recognize the controversial topics that go on in Berlin to understand both the glamorized and the underground culture. This topic was chosen because it is out of the norm for me and I wanted to learn about something new – I am willing to take risks and research what people consider a taboo. I have not learned much except for when the laws were passed and the brief history of prostitution in Germany. Along with this, I have many sources to access in Berlin to get more current information about legalized prostitution. I have contacted HYDRA, which is an organization for legal sex workers; I have yet to receive a response from them.
Sally’s Question:
After walking down American streets a countless number of times without once having my smile acknowledged, I can’t help but wonder what hardens locals against strangers. Is it the fear of the unknown, or something deeper? More specifically, are people too lazy to acknowledge others? Could it be that smiling at a stranger on the street, waving to a vagrant, or even brushing against someone else affects a person negatively because it acknolwdges the other’s existence? Are we so selfish that we prefer to exist in our tiny bubbles, believing that at least in our worlds, we’re the most important?
Clearly these, among other questions, will be difficult to answer, but exciting to explore. In Berlin, I seek to answer these questions: What cultural differences cause the issue of personal space to be different in America vs. Germany? How do citizens of each react to invasion of this space? Is the difference really that perceptible, or are people generally the same?
Katie’s Question:
Indeed, my topic is one that comes straight from the heart. I have played soccer since I was five years old. Soccer is a part of me. It provided me with a goal, a focus for my energy, and a reason to go to school each day. It was an excellent way to make friends, to meet people across the city, state, and country. Little did I realize that women playing soccer was mainly an American phenomenon. In sixth grade I remember stories of my brother traveling to Europe to play soccer. A teenage boys and girls team from my neighborhood went to play in Italy. While the boys faced humbling 13-0 defeats from younger boys, the Seattle girls had trouble finding opponents, and ended up playing other American teams or old women. This was my first glance at the gender inequalities related to sports nationwide.
It was something I noticed again last summer in my trip to Ecuador. My new friends there were shocked that I played soccer. I went one day to the local basketball court where they were playing a pick up game, and my brother and I joined in. This was a rag tag bunch of kids from the neighborhood- no Maradona or Pele here- and it included ten year olds to a sixty five year old grandfather. Yet despite the all inclusiveness, I was the only girl playing. There was a young girl lurking behind the fence post- the man’s granddaughter. I wanted to reach out and pull her in, to say, “You can play too”. Yet intimated by her tiny Mary Janes and shy eyes, I settled for smiles and letting her fetch the ball when it rolled out of bounds.
The conundrum of women and sports is even more complicated in the Turkish neighborhoods of Berlin. Social stigmas aside, I imagine it is very difficult to head a ball in a head scarf. This thought, along with the article, “The New Berlin Wall,” detailing the social restrictions for Turkish women in Kreuzberg, stimulated my curiosity about the borders regarding soccer for Turkish women in Berlin.
My questions are: what are the borders for Turkish women and soccer in Kreuzberg? Are women allowed to watch or to play? What are the clothing requirements for such activities? How do they Turkish women feel about these borders? Do they notice them at all? Do they break them? An ultimate question underneath this is: what is the value of sports in society?
The research I have done includes emailing Manuela (in German!) for help, and some cursory internet searches. I have found a lot of good ideas including:
- Football Under Cover (2008) David Assmann and Ayat Najafi's film about Kreuzberg women playing the Iranian national team
-BSV-Dersimspor- Women's Intercultural Soccer Club
- Secret soccer playing – Turkish girls in Berlin: “Mädchen am Ball”, Documentary film, director: Aysun Bademsoy, Germany 1995. 43 minute portrait of “Agrispor”, the only Turkish women’s soccer team in Europe.
-The “Agrispor” women are kicking every week at the Görlitzer Park.
Before I go to Berlin I plan to fully investigate these leads and glean everything I can from internet resources, compiling it into a list or blog update. I also will watch “Football Under Cover" and familiarize myself with parts of Islam that would conflict with women playing soccer (rules about headscarves, for example).
Cultural Sensitivity
Kelsi:
In answering this question, it is important that I develop a keen eye for interpersonal interactions and for culture as a traveler and not as an American middle-class young woman. I am going to need to work on understanding interactions between people as a cultural structure and not as a social structure in the first week then move to seeing interactions as social structural as I become more acclimated and accustomed to the cultural mechanisms in Berlin. This understanding will be established by speaking with Berliners, experiencing daily life, and sending other students on rendezvous to report back about their experience.
Elroy:
I do not really have any personally biases for or against legal prostitution as I make it a personal effort to not make conclusions until I am presented with the facts. I will be interviewing and talking to both views – the conservative versus the liberal. This will be a unique observation because I do not have any prior knowledge to this topic as prostitution is not legal in the United States. With this in mind, the personal bias I will have is ignorance and that it is generally frowned upon in my own culture. However, this will not detract from my research as I will take everything into consideration and play both sides of the political scale to present both sides – balancing the bias scales.
Sally:
Katie:
Before video taping anything, I will make sure to check with those around me if it is acceptable. I will also do research before arriving in Berlin so I have a better understanding of Islam and how it relates to women’s laws. I plan to attempt to speak to people in German- so I’ll rehearse some key words related to my topic that I can use. When I emailed Manuela, she casually and suavely responded by restating my topic in more refined German. I may type up some interview questions and have her proofread them.
The Schedule
Kelsi’s Plan:
It is anticipated to make visits to various marketplaces and other social areas to observe and write about observations. This will happen for an hour or more each day the schedule permits. Photographs will be taken but most work will be mini-ethnographies derived from social interactions of Berliners and social hypotheses within the writing (from a traveler’s perspective).
Elroy’s Plan:
My research will entail mainly interviewing people and my specific focus will be not only on the general public but HYDRA representatives. At this organization, I hope to get pointed to the right direction and interview brothel owners and workers. All these interviews will be conducted in a professional manner and in a safe environment. The main place of study will be HYDRA and also far-away observations on well-known brothels and streets where prostitution is prominent. As for equipment, I will utilize a square-lens camera to conduct my interviews with an interpreter. I will keep a notebook to record any observations. My sources will include news articles, HYDRA resources, people, etc. As there is not a lot of information on legal prostitution in Berlin, I am hoping that in my preliminary research interviews, I will be pointed in the right direction to finding more sources.
Sally’s Plan:
To answer these from a scientific and objective perspective, I have conducted research here, including observing and interacting with others, which I have recorded in a research journal. Upon arrival in Berlin, I plan to compare my results in order to come upon an accurate or at least logical conclusion. Yes, I may discover that human inter-action isn’t logical, but to me, that is an extremely significant discovery. Perhaps I will find that humans are too different to be sloughed into little masses of culture, and because of their uniqueness can not be classified. More interestingly, I may find that intrinsically, we are all the same.
But in order to discover this personal conclusion, I will be conducting further research in Berlin. I plan to observe open versus fairly enclosed spaces, and observe the movements and mannerisms of others. Since we’re going to be living in Mitte, I hardly foresee any difficulty with finding subjects. Simply looking out my window could award me research subjects, so I remain confident in my topic. As something I’ve always been curious about, I am genuinely enthusiastic about reaching a conclusion.
Katie’s Plan:
The first thing I want to do in Berlin is walk around Kreuzberg. I will get a feel for the neighborhood, and I will also keep an eye out for local soccer parks/fields/courts, sports pubs and sporting good stores. The next day I will head to these local parks and observe the gender dynamics. I will also investigate the sports bars in the evening to see the fan base demographics, along with inquiring in the sporting goods stores about who they sell to. In the next couple of days I will return to the parks, and I will also seek out contact with the Women’s Intercultural Soccer Club. Hopefully this will lead to personal interviews. Also within the first week I hope to join a women’s gym in Kreuzberg, where I will make observations, work out, and possibly contact people for interviews. I will bring my video camera along for my research, although I understand that it may not be appropriate very often.
References
Hydra. Hydra e.V. 2009. 17 May 2009
Richards, Shane and Kathy Wei. Prostitution in Germany. 2008. 1 June 2009
Wikpedia. Prostitution in Germany. 20 May 2009. 20 May 2009
