Flower Power
Source: Poster.net
http://www.poster.net/britto/britto-flower-power-i-2803741.jpg (accessed on 22 February 2009)
Group members and distribution of roles:
Teja - leader
Tjaša - reporter
Ana - secretary
Tina - time-keeper
Title: RELIGION AND POPULAR CULTURE: Religion and weight loss
Definition:
"Religion appears not only in churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples; it also appears in popular culture. The role that popular culture plays in religious experience is often undervalued. Popular culture not only presents and portrays religious ideas and norms, it also operates as both a vehicle and medium through which religious meaning is communicated and understood" (Forbes 2000: 1).
Today more and more women are obsessed with their weight and how they look. Media are imposing on us images of an ideal woman who is thin, beautiful, smart and strong. A lot of young girls are faithfully following these contemporary trends, and so losing weight is like »a popular-cultural ritual and a new religion« to them. Some commands are transfered from religion to the relation of the woman to her body. »Physical perfectibility« is becoming »moral obligation« and »a new faith« for a lot of women (Forbes 2000: 184).
Creating a slender body is acquiring some religious characteristics. As Lelwica says: "for many girls and women, creating a slender body has become a matter of all-pervading significance, an end whose achievement feels tantamount to ulitmate salvation" (Lelwica 2005: 181). We see this phenomenon as problematic, because the importance of achieving a slender body for women that gets the extensiveness of importance that ultimate salvation has for religious people, frequently leads to unhealthy ways of loosing weight and also to diseases like anorexia and bulimia.
Research questions:
- We would like to know how slenderness became the prevailing ideal in western culture. (Tjaša)
- Is the history of dieting in the West anyhow related to Christianity and its practices. (Tjaša)
- In today's society creating a slender body has become the most important goal that can be understood as the ultimate salvation. We would like to find out why and what are the reasons for that. (Ana)
- Which are the social conditions and elements of religion in popular culture that affect the conceptions of "perfect", "healthy", "slim", "normal" body? (Ana)
- What are the main similarities between religion and new religious practices? (Tina)
- We would like to know if the so-called "new religion" is present in Slovenia. (Teja)
- Can we find any religious characteristics (moral codes and routinization) in women's narratives about their dieting? (Teja)
- We would like to know if there is evidence of any traditional religious discourse in the Slovenian magazines (about losing weight, thinness...). (Tina)
List of literature:
- Forbes, Bruce David. 2005. Introduction: Finding religion in unexpected places. In Religion and popular culture in America, ed. Bruce David Forbes and Jeffery H. Mahan, 1-20. Barkley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press.
- Graybeal, Jean. 2001. Cathy on slenderness, suffering and soul. In God in the details : American religion in popular culture, ed. Eric Michael Mazur and Kate McCarthy, 181-198. New York: Routledge.
- Lelwica, Michelle M. 2005. Losing their way to salvation. In Religion and popular culture in America, ed. Bruce David Forbes and Jeffery H. Mahan, 180-200. Barkley, Los Angeles, London: University of Californa Press.
Glossary
- (Ascetic) fasting - (vzdržen, asketski) post
- Gluttony - požrešnost
- Gospel - evangelij
- Trope - izraz ali stih, ki je kot okras uveden v mašo
- Salubrious effect - zdravilen učinek
- Mitigate - ublažiti
- Omnipotent - vsemogočen
- Physical abundance - telesena obilnost
- Repentance - kesanje, obžalovanje
- Salvation - rešitev, odrešenje; zveličanje, blaženost
Minutes of our 1st group meeting
(held on 26 February, 2009 at FDV)
Present: Teja, Tjaša, Tina
Absent: Ana
Agenda
1. Discussing the topic
2. Distribution of tasks
3. Any other business
Item 1:
Discussion: We talked about combining our PBL project with the project we have at Smrke's lesson, thus our topic must be associated with the subject of Sociology of religion.
Decision: We decided that our topic will be based on religion and popular culture but we did not select our title yet as Marjan Smrke is absent and we do not have his permission to proceed with the project.
Item 2:
Discussion: We talked about the assigments of each group member.
Decision: Tina and Teja will contact Smrke. Tjaša will write a draft definition. Tina will write the minutes of our first meeting.
Item 3:
Decision: We discussed the literature and decided that we will try to find it at our next gorup meeting if Smrke confirms our project. Our next group meeting will be held on Tuesday, 3 March, 2009 at FDV.
Minutes of our 2nd meeting
(held on 6 March, 2009, at FDV)
Present: Ana, Tina, Teja, Tjaša
Absent: /
Agenda:
1. Research questions
2. Research methods
3. List of literature
4. Title and subtitle
5. Distribution of work
6. Any other business
Item 1:
Discussion: Firstly, we focused on our research questions. We had previously decided to read our primary text and (respectively) decide upon some questions. We all suggested some questions and then we discussed their content, adjusted them and decided upon their order.
Decision: We decided to include all of the research questions and we also created one additionally. We decided to move from the basic, common, theoretical questions to more precise and empirical ones. We tried to arrange all of the questions in a cohesive unit.
Item 2:
Discussion: We talked about research methods and tried to link them with our research questions. We were discussing the pros and cons of different methods such as analyzing magazines (which we had already decided to use) and surveys.
Decision: We decided to keep the method of analyzing different magazines as our primary method which we will combine with literature and some (already done) surveys. For now, we decided not to do our own survey. We will wait until we have the basis of our work done and, depending on our progress, maybe reconsider that option.
Item 3:
Discussion: We discussed our options regarding literature. We talked about the contents of the previously mentioned text that we decided to read. We searched for some more useful resources via the Internet.
Decision: We decided to use a chapter »Losing our way to salvation« by Michelle M. Lelwica, which has been published in the book Religion and Popular Culture in America by Forbes, as our primary source of literature. We decided to search the Internet for academic articles and our faculty's library for some more literature which was mentioned in our primary text.
Item 4:
Discussion: We discussed our title and subtitle. We thought that it would be the best for now to keep the title and subtitle simple and clean because we do not want to suggest any relations that may turn out as false during our research.
Decision: We decided upon our title and subtitle. For now, we kept »Religion and popular culture« as our main title and added »Religion and weight loss« as our subtitle.
Item 5:
Discussion: Finally, we agreed upon some of the work that needs to be done and distributed it amongst ourselves. We agreed that we need to improve our definition, arrange and publish the research questions and to seek some literature.
Decision: We all agreed that Tjaša would improve our definition, Tina would arrange and publish our questions and Teja would seek for some more literature. Ana would write the minutes and make sure everything would be published.
Item 6:
Discussion: We talked about some other relevant matters of technical nature.
Decision: We decided upon our next meeting which will be held on Tuesday, 10 March, 2009 at 12:00 at FDV, and agreed that we talk to each other via the MSN or e-mail if there are any problems.
Minutes taker: Ana
Chair: Teja
Minutes of our 3rd meeting
(held on 12 March, 2009, at the FDV's library)
Present: Ana, Tina, Teja, Tjaša
Absent: /
Agenda:
1. Literature
2. Research questions
3. Distribution of tasks
4. Any other business
Item 1:
Discussion: Firstly, we discussed our literature. We had previously decided to read all of our sources until our meeting so we would have an easier job improving our list. The most important matter for us was that we create a list of literature that is relevant to our research and our research questions. We stressed that it is important to avoid literature that only has a similar title, yet contains nothing important regarding our topic.
Decision: We decided to keep all of our sources because we all found something relevant to our research questions in each of them.
Item 2:
Discussion: We talked about our research questions. We focused especially on correspondence between the literature and the questions. We discussed the content and suitability of our research questions.
Decision: We decided not to change any of our research questions. The main reason for that was that we agreed upon the fact that the content of the questions was suitable, especially the relation between empirical and theoretical questions. Also, when we discussed the literature, we agreed that the sources and questions are well matched.
Item 3:
Discussion: We discussed the distribution of tasks. Since we already read our literature, we focused mainly on the distribution of the research questions amongst ourselves.
Decision: We came to a conclusion that Tina would find answers to questions 1 and 8, Teja would answer questions 6 and 7, Tjaša would answer questions 2 and 3 and Ana would answer questions 4 and 5. We also decided that in case of unexpected trouble we would all help each other answering questions. By unexpected trouble, we mostly had in mind the complexity of empirical questions, especially question number 8.
Item 4:
Discussion: We discussed our next meeting time and some other matters of technical nature.
Decision: We decided that we would keep in touch via the MSN and e-mail and that we would agree upon our next meeting later.
Minutes taker: Ana
Chair: Teja
Minutes of our 4th meeting
(held on 22 March, 2009, via MSN)
Present: Ana, Tina, Teja
Absent: Tjaša
Agenda:
1. Selection of the magazines
2. Glossary
3. Distribution of tasks
Item 1:
Discussion: Firstly, we discussed the selection of Slovenian magazines that we would like to use for our research. We talked about different types of magazines and which ones we want to use, how many of them and the main factors that will help us make a selection. We also mentioned the option of using different advertisements, short movies or Internet pages for our analysis. Tjaša previously suggested that she could provide us some of the magazines with religious content and we discussed that option.
Decision: We decided to use four of the main women's magazines in Slovenia – Lepa in Zdrava, Vitka Anja, Anja and Eva. We agreed that we would use the last two issues of each, so we would analyze 8 magazines altogether. We decided not to use the magazines with religious content because our purpose is to find the religious content where we could not expect it – in secular magazines that are not intended for a specifically religious audience.
Item 2:
Discussion: We previously decided to read our literature once again and respectively search for different unknown words for the glossary. Each of us then suggested some and we talked about the suitability of the terms, modified some, erased some and kept some.
Decision: We made a modified list of the terms. We decided to slightly improve it if we find any more suitable words.
Item 3:
Discussion: We discussed the distribution of tasks.
Decision: We decided that Tina will publish the glossary and Ana will write the minutes. Teja will make sure everything is published correctly.
Minutes taker: Ana
Chair: Teja
Minutes of our 5th meeting
(held on 30 March, 2009, via MSN)
Present: Ana, Tina, Teja
Absent: Tjaša
Agenda:
1. Reporting on previous discussion
2. Research problem
3. Research questions
4. Research methods
5. Distribution of tasks
6. Any other business
Item 1:
Discussion: Firstly, Teja reported about all of the things we had discussed at our previous meeting. We were talking about the analysis of magazines, the writing of the report, our research problem and possible solutions, the questions we might have regarding our work, editing our Wiki page and the research methods.
Decision: Regarding the magazines, we decided that we all do the analysis until Tuesday, 31st of March. We also made a decision that it is not necessary to analyze two issues of each magazine because the same magazines are made on the same pattern. We now have the last issue of five different magazines. We all agreed that we need to start writing the report and answering our research questions. We started our own Wiki page to help us with that. We decided to publish our parts there because it will be easier for us to assembly the report and make it an integrative unit. We decided to think about our research problem and prepare some suggestions until Sunday, 29th of March. We decided that if any problems occur, we will ask for help and advice on our next English session. We also agreed that the Flower Power Wiki needs to be checked for any mistakes and improved. Regarding our research methods, we established that the SPSS analysis of the surveys we decided to use is probably not suitable for the direction we were going. We decided to leave this problem opened and think about it until our next meeting.
Item 2:
Discussion: We talked about our research problem. Teja suggested the key points we should focus on and wrote them down.
Decision: Tina and Ana both agreed with the short definition of a problem that Teja wrote. We all decided that it needs to be elongated but that it is more than suitable otherwise.
Item 3:
Discussion: We discussed our research questions. We felt that some of them do not match entirely with our newly established research problem and that they may be distracting our focus when writing a report. We than talked about them and gave suggestions about how to improve them.
Decision: We decided to replace questions number 2, 3, 6 and 7 because they were too loose (numbers 2 and 3) or did not suffice and lost their meaning when we defined the problem (numbers 6 and 7). We decided to create new questions that will fit better into our research problem. We also slightly changed the order of all questions. We decided to publish our new research questions on the Flower Power Wiki page.
Item 4:
Discussion: Since we decided that questions number 6 and 7 are not suitable for our research, we also had to talk about our research methods. We discussed the option that was mentioned on one of our first meetings, making the survey. We also pondered about making some interviews, option that Teja suggested a few days ago.
Decision: We decided to make a few short structured interviews with women in different age groups that have experience with dieting. We agreed about the number of interviews and decided to make 4, each of them with one woman from the different age group (ages from 20 to 59). We decided to make them as soon as possible, starting today.
Item 5:
Discussion: Finally, we agreed upon some of the work that needs to be done and distributed it amongst ourselves. We discussed that we need to start answering our questions, writing an analysis of the magazines and finish with the interviewing.
Decision: We all agreed that we need to step up and start working on everything. We decided that we start writing our report and publishing the text on our own Wiki page. We decided that we will present the analysis of magazines tomorrow on our next meeting, where we will also analyze our interviews.
Item 6:
Discussion: We talked about some other relevant matters of technical nature.
Decision: We decided upon our next meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, 31st of March, 2009 at 12:00 at FDV, and agreed that we talk to each other via the MSN or e-mail if there are any problems.
Minutes taker: Ana
Chair: Teja
