Apodaca 1

Raymundo Apodaca
Professor Gina Lawrence
English 1311
July 18, 2014
Ethnography
In the second part of my project I attempt to probe the way that gender acts in this
confined space known as Buffalo Wild Wings. I staying in my car for about five minutes
observing who would go in and out of the premise. The majority were families of all sizes
followed by couples.
I am standing and standing in the waiting area of the restaurant. Families are anxiously
pouring in, with the hopes of finding a spot to catch the second half of the FIFA match, Mexico
vs Brazil. After being greeted by the hostess the crowd goes wild and begins to aggressively
chant Culero, culero, culero!(1) every time Brazil attempts to score against Mexico. As soon
as the Mexican goal keeper Guillermo Ochoa blocked every single powerful shot from the
Brazilian offensive, the fans yell Portero, portero, portero!(2) The chants were male
dominated and I was barely able to hear any female voices harmonizing along with the male
chants.
As I observe beyond the males deep interest in the match, I begin to notice that the
majority of the females do not share that same interest. I see some women tediously eating their
food, while others take care of their children and some are having side conversations as the game
goes on. The staff is made up of mostly females and a few males. The greeters were
Apodaca 2

overwhelmed by the influx of FIFA fanatics and were trying to accommodate everyone as best as
possible. The servers seemed a little bit more relaxed. I noticed that the females were more
focused on their jobs than their male counterparts. This space seems male dominated whenever
there is a major sporting event being aired on national TV.

(1) Culero is a highly offensive term for somebody viewed with dislike or contempt. It is
basically calling someone an asshole
(2) Portero is a slang word for guardameta which translates to goalkeeper.