When you hear, see or read about the discipline of “anthropology,” what does it mean to you?

What do you think

anthropology is?

Watch the videos below. How have your views changed? What might an anthropologist study if observing Marie
Kondo?

Anthropology is the study of human societies and cultural development. It helps us to connect
why people in society live or behave in the manner they do through research. Anthropology is
something which is part of our daily life. Our emotions and stress that we face in work are all
part of it. Anthropology works to keep positive influence in the lives of people in areas of social,
cultural and economic factors for a healthy nation. It is anthropology that allows us to accept
diverse ethnicities and cultural people by understanding their way of life.

Watching the videos below, I don’t think my views on Anthropology has changed much.
Because I held with the idea that anthropologists have to find out the reason why the
communities are facing problems in relationships, friendships, and peaceful living. To do this,
they have to visit homes of different people, consult with their clients to understand their
problems and guide them further how to ease their burdens. Both the videos are best examples
of it.

The video, “A Cluttered Life” is based on a study done of 32 middle class families where both
parents worked at least 30 hours a week. It addresses questions about how people use space
in their homes, how they use the environment and interact with the material world. One of the
first things documented was that contemporary US households have more possessions per
household than any society in global history, as the lead author Jeanne E. Arnold said.
Hyper-consumerism was found available in many places of household like garages, bedrooms
and kitchens. This was holding a clutter effect on the mothers particularly, for they did the house
cleanings mostly and it was a burden for them to manage, which caused their cortisol levels to
rise.

People have gone looking for shortcuts that today things are found disorganized at homes.
Supplies are excessive at home which aren’t being thrown out. People have developed desires
in things they bought that they want to keep them. Busy work schedules have made parents
spend less time with children. Kitchen and bathroom have become places for family
socialization more than the living room. Material influence has brought more distress in life than
peace.

Marie Kondo is an organizing consultant and professional who trains others on the art to throw
away old stuff that is being continuously stored at home. If an anthropologist has to study
observing Kondo they will go with the psychological concept of decluttering. As she said, “It
seems as if you’re cleaning, but it’s actually a process of re-examining your inner self. ”
People want to grab on things, this process of throwing out can both spark positive and negative
as they are freeing out items. There are clothes, books and pictures at home which are
memorable for a person as it reminds them about close ones or about past times which they
don’t want to easily let go. It is true that these same items can also be the reason for a person to
stop progressing through nostalgia and depression that is affecting in their present situations.
For example, in the “Marie Kondo” video which can be seen with the case of client woman of the
consultant Dexter Thomas. She was confused which things to throw out and was guided to keep
things which are precious to her. Ultimately she cleans her home removing old stuff which had
been a great experience for her.

I am personally a person who likes to keep my things clean and remove old stuff. Although, I
agree that sometimes I cannot do it for not getting the time properly. These videos have
positively motivated me that I should organize and throw away old stuff as they keep the house
messy and later become reasons for stress.