October blog post #3

Autoethnography

Definition:

The use of personal experience to categorize, critique, and examine cultural experiences.

Elements of Autoethnography:

1. Purposefully communicating your opinion or thoughts about a culture or culture practices.
2. Making contributions of your personal findings to existing research made about a culture.
3. Practicing vulnerability in order to have a open mind with all culture in order to expand your knowledge and understanding about a particular culture.
4. Creating and achieving a relationship with your audience in order to encourage others responses and opinions about your findings or about another culture.

Importance of Autoethnography:

Autoethnography I consider to be a good thing as long it is practiced appropriately and with caution because there is a close line to stereotyping that can arise if one doesn’t practice having a open mind with this skill. For example, someone may have had a bad experience with a certain culture and they begin to personally dislike that culture and close their mind to any other possibilities about them and begins to hate and slander that culture to others in society. However, autoethnography is beneficial to society  because a lot of facts we have about cultures is based off of people’s findings and opinions on cultures. It also allows us to have a wider understanding of a culture through a wide range of people’s attributions about cultures.

I consider this a lot like politics. People’s opinion and suggestions play a heavy impact of others in society throughout the public. That is why we must fact check everything you read and choose to believe to make sure following information is factual based or personal based. As long as you follow the elements of autoethnography and practice this skill appropriately you will succeed in developing this skill.