Rachel Leite English 1102 Elizabeth Hinnant 5 March 2014 UNCC Students in Uniform Ethnography My ethnographic study focuses

primarily on if social interactions change for UNC Charlotte students in uniform. This topic caught my attention since I pass UNCC students in uniform every single day while walking around campus. I began to think of many questions pertaining to these students in uniform. Are these students treated differently simply because of their attire? Do they enjoy wearing their uniforms because they are treated with more respect from everyone else? Do they wear their uniforms properly and for the right reasons? Does their uniform affect their own attitude, such as making them feel more confident as well as sexually attractive? I also wondered how these students in uniform were perceived through the eyes of onlookers. If onlookers treated students in uniform differently than the average bystander, were they aware that they were doing so? Do the majority of onlookers find students wearing uniforms more sexually appealing? These were all questions that flooded my thoughts so I decided to go and figure out the answers to these questions myself. I sat in the heart of campus for many hours just watching and observing how the students in uniform acted as well as were treated, and how bystanders treated these students and their general attitudes towards them. I also interviewed a student in uniform and gave out fifteen surveys to both students in uniform and onlookers. A good amount of data was collected and connections and conclusions were able to be drawn between different observations. After witnessing students in uniform interacting with others, in every instance they were

treated more respectfully. In one particular instance there a young man in uniform waiting in the Wendys line at UNC Charlotte. When he was called up by the cashier saying Ill take the next customer, he was greeted nicely with a smile and was asked how he was doing. He replied with I am doing great and then ordered his food. Once he received it, he began to walk away and looked into his bag. He then stopped and turned back around to ask the cashier if they had any honey mustard sauce. As the young man started to hand his card to her to pay for the sauce, the cashier replied with oh dont you worry about it hun. He gave her his thanks and they said their goodbyes. However, once the cashier took the next customer, not in uniform, she did not bother to ask how he was doing. She simply took his order and no more words were exchanged. It was very apparent in this case that the young man in uniform received both more respect and the benefit of not paying for his sauce. According to the article The Uniform: A Sociological Perspective, uniforms do indeed have an impact on social interactions because when an individual is seen in a certain uniform, their legitimacy is not generally questioned, thus it is expected that they be trusted and well behaved. Doing my own observations, it was more than clear that the public had a tendency to be nicer and treat the students in uniform with more respect. Due to the legitimacy of their uniforms, bystanders can trust their power and appreciate what those students are doing for our country. Being treated with free food was not the only instance in which students in uniform were treated with more respect than the average person. After watching who was polite enough to hold the door open for others behind them, almost every single person that walked out of the student union was kind enough to push the door open enough for the person behind them to catch it. There were only a few exceptions out of the hundreds of people leaving the building that did not push the door open at all; they just let it fall shut in front of another persons face. This may have been because they were distracted by

looking down at their phones or were not aware of their surroundings. However, in many instances in which a student in uniform was a few glides away from a door, those already at the door were kind enough to wait and hold it open until the student in uniform reached it. Not once did anyone let a door fall shut in front of a student in uniforms face. This is clearly another example of students in uniform getting treated better than the typical college student. It can be seen that students are more conscientious and aware of these students in uniform and do their best to treat them with a greater amount of respect. Students in uniform also received a significant amount of more smiles and hellos sent their way. It seems like people instinctively did this because they wanted to show their thanks and appreciation towards these individuals. All of the smiles and happiness seemed sincere and not just because the students felt like they should be that way. Based off of my survey, about ninety-three percent of people are more friendly because they want to be. They want to make it apparent that they are thankful the students in uniform are fighting for our country. As for the one person who did not feel this way, I felt as if I should ask him his reasoning for why. He claimed Its overrated. They probably just walk around in their uniforms to get attention. Although a portion of students in the military could possibly walk around just for more attention, the majority of the students I talked to were wearing it because they were on duty. This led in to my next question of whether students enjoyed wearing their uniforms simply because they enjoyed getting treated with more respect. After asking a few individuals in uniform if they have ever worn their uniforms to get more attention or use it to their advantage, their answers were mostly no. However one young man named James said he previously used to uniform when he had to pick up his friend from a party. This young man claimed that he thought girls would find it impressive. I asked him if it was because he was wearing his uniform that he would be more confident when talking to girls.

James said yes, my uniform definitely gives be a confidence boost. I feel like girls will want to talk to me more and will be more drawn to me. I heard girls like men in uniform (haha). I was curious if he thought it was appropriate to use his uniform for any purpose besides being on duty. He replied no I dont think it is appropriate to misuse the uniform but I respect my uniform a lot and always wear it properly when I am on duty. I do not think of it as misusing it when I wear it off duty. I do this because I am proud to wear it and it helps my self-esteem. This shows that students enjoy wearing their uniform because they have more positive social interactions. Men in uniform also acquire their identities and learn how they should behave and act in public. They know how their uniforms should be properly worn, and they should respectfully follow those rules. There are however technical ways to misuse/disrespect a uniform. It is considered disrespectful to hold hands with someone else or walk with your hands in your pockets if you are in uniform. While taking observations, I only noticed a single instance in which an individual was holding hands with another individual. After hearing that James gained confidence from wearing his uniform, I wondered if other students in uniform felt this same way. More information on this topic was needed to back up that it was a true statement. After asking another individual the same question, it was found the statement could definitely be true. Another young man named Kyle said I do feel more confident in my uniform. I love people knowing that I am fighting for our country. I am proud to represent our country and I know people appreciate it. Everyone is always nice and I love being treated that way. His statement was able to back up that students are treated more respectfully when wearing uniform, that the students enjoy the respect they receive, and that the uniforms give the students more confidence/make them feel more sexually attractive. Determining whether the uniforms affected the individuals overall attitudes/personality

was more difficult to determine since it was uncertain how they acted outside of their uniform. This is why I decided to observe how the attitudes of some of my friends changed when they wearing their uniforms. My friends definitely appeared more confident when walking around in public with their uniforms on. They walked with their heads held a little bit higher and their backs a little bit straighter. This however is what was expected since the students in uniform should be proud that they are representing our country. As mentioned by Nathan Joseph in his novel Uniforms and Nonuniforms, uniforms have a significant meaning when they are worn. This means that no matter what type of uniform, whether it be a police officer, bar-tender, or military outfit, each outfit presents a different image to the public. This means that people are judged based off of how they present themselves and are also expected to behave in the manner in which they do so. So since students in uniform are clad in a military uniform, they need to look and act appropriately due to the fact they are indeed representing our country and acting as role models to many individuals. Out of my group of friends that I subtly took note of, each of them acted much more mature and professional when their uniforms were on. They did not act childish or goof off (which was typical for them). It was very apparent that the uniforms change how the individuals present themselves, not only physically but mentally. When their uniform is on, they are more serious and mature. After getting inside information from students that wear uniforms, I wanted to get a look from the other side, from the bystanders, to know what runs through their minds when they see someone in uniform. Although it was very obvious bystanders were friendlier and more respectful to students in uniform, it was difficult to observe whether or not they were aware that they were doing so. Going back to my observations previously mentioned above about the people that help the door open for the students in uniform, I ended up going outside to ask them

if they purposely waited to hold the door open simply because they noticed that a person in uniform was going to go through it or because they would have done that for any person. Most of the people were honest and said they simply held it because they did not want to be rude or disrespectful to someone who is representing our country. While others said they would have held the door for anyone that was walking behind them, this may not necessarily be true. Eighty percent of the people surveyed claimed that they are aware of students in uniform and try to act more mature and respectful around them. They do their best to treat them well, such as by holding the door open, smiling, and giving them head-nods. However, a majority of the bystanders that were surveyed feel like students in uniform are always serious and will get annoyed by people acting immature or crazy around them. One girl, Haley, even said that she does not want to act crazy around them because she is intimidated. She feels as if they are more powerful and judgmental. As Ruth Rubinstein discussed in her novel Dress Codes, wearing particular uniforms lets other know of the power you hold and where you stand socially. This means that when a man in uniform is seen, it is automatically known that that individual has mastered the skills needed for that specific role. It appears as if students in uniform hold a higher social status which is why they can be intimidating to certain people. This is a reason why some of the bystanders feel like students in uniform look down upon them because they have a large amount of self-confidence and are aware that they get treated with more respect from others. To determine if bystanders find students in uniform more sexually attractive, surveying seemed like the best bet for this question. Although, it was hard to observe since exchanging smiles or other subtle gestures could either be out of politeness or because they are actually flirting. According to Ruth Barnes in his book titled Dress and Gender, most individuals are concerned with their appearances and constantly make physical changes in an attempt to better

their body image. It can be implied from this that people change the way they look in order to attract the opposite sex. Therefore, since men in uniforms body change from training, they become more sexually attractive to females. Barnes also mentions that certain clothing can attract individuals. This would be one of the main reasons that there are different styles of clothing in the world; to attract different groups of people. So it is definitely a possibility that the military style suits a majority of females interest and desire. When taking my observations, I noticed many girls gave male students in uniform double takes and the typical head-to-toe look. This was still hard however to prove that it was true most of the time for bystanders to think of students in uniform as more sexually appealing. Eighty six percent of the people surveyed for this question claimed they found individuals in uniform to be more attractive. This makes sense also because according to Lawrence Langner in The Importance of Wearing Clothes, wearing clothing increases sexual desire for two reasons: it causes people to become curious of how individual looks underneath the clothing as well as increases ones erotic impulse to remove the clothing. Therefore, it would make sense why women find men in uniform to be more attractive. The uniforms cover up mostly all of the males skin thus can provide much curiosity to the female mind. Women could also find these men in uniform to be more attractive due to the legal reasons of removing some of the articles of clothing. For example, the mens belts cannot be removed by anyone else besides the person wearing it. This might tempt women because removing the clothing would appear as more of a challenge. Based strictly off of the survey, the general answer for why men in uniform appeared more attractive to females was because they felt safe and protected being around them, which is found to be an attractive trait. They also viewed the men as more manly, confident, and muscular. Therefore it can be concluded that the majority of people tend to think of students in uniform as more attractive due to their bodies after

going through military training. Women might also find the men to be attractive, maybe not necessarily physically attractive, but attractive in the way that is admired and the characteristics looked for in a significant other. All of my data was obtained through many hours of simply sitting and taking notes as well as conducting interviews and surveys. I was also able to get background information from some of my friends that I know who are in the army. I was able to see how their personalities and attitudes changed from us spending time together without them wearing their uniforms compared to being in public with them when they had their uniforms on. I noted almost everything that I observed and tried to tie it back together and see if there were any connections between certain things. According to the data that was collected, it can be seen that students are treated differently when they are in uniform. However, it appears that the students in uniform are aware of this and they enjoy the respect. It makes them feel good to be treated so kindly, which thus helps boost their confidence. Maybe it is not just the uniform that gives them their confidence boost though. Although they are proud to represent their country, maybe it is the social interactions that have an impact on their attitudes. Most of the students in uniform also view themselves as more sexually attractive, also adding to their confidence. Some of the students even feel like girls will view them as more attractive, which does seem to be the case. By having thirteen out of fifteen girls that were asked this question say yes, that is pretty accurate data that the majority of girls find men in uniform to be sexually appealing. Most bystanders are aware of their actions when students in uniform are around and they do their best to treat them with the respect they feel they deserve. However, although they are kind and respectful, it could also be because they are simply intimidated or afraid of being judged. Bystanders feel that they should act more mature and adult-like since that is what the students in uniform are doing. That

is what is expected of the students in uniform since they are representing our country and required to follow certain rules, such as not being able to put their hands in their pockets or hold hands with another individual. Overall, it is very obvious that social interactions change for UNC Charlotte students in uniform. They are treated differently by others as well as act differently themselves, both in a positive way.