Talk:Townies

A couple concerns

The way this page is written bothers me, but I'm not sure how to fix it, honestly. I think what bothers me most is that it's an inaccurate portrayal of Galesburg residents. In my four years at Knox, I met a lot of very nice "towni es" who don't harass people or catcall as they drive down South Street. I understand that people have had bad experiences with "townies," but let's be fair - lots of Knox students don't leave campus enough to generalize about them. And it's hardly fair t o let a catcall or two influence your perception of an entire town's population.

The other problem I have here is when the page talks about observing "towny culture for projects and assignments." This makes Galesburg residents sound like animals in a zoo that are only there for our own observation and amusement. This could not be further from the truth. These are people, folks. They should be treated as such - both in person and on the WikiFire.

But as I said, I'm not sure how to rework this page to mak e it better. So I'm looking for suggestions. Do we just delete the parts about bad experiences? That was my gut reaction, but I think it's a bad idea. People HAVE been harassed and catcalled by "townies" and some people are, in fact, afraid of Galesburg's population at large. So I'm inclined to think it's an important part of the story here. But there's another side to it, as well. Here's the question: How do we get it out there?

Bill M. 13:32, 9 June 2007 (CDT)

I think the part abou t observing "towny culture for projects and assignments" could be re-written as "AnSo students are frequently recieve assignments requiring them to participant-observe in some setting and many elect to conduct this fieldwork within the Galesburg community, observing in settings including the Broadview, Galesburg Adult Bookstore, and Cornucopia." I don't think the phrase "towny culture" should be used, as it doesn't seem accurate to suggest that there is one, homogenous Galesburg culture.

As for the catcalling, I think it could be deleted. People are catcalled in Galesburg, Chicago, Kansas, etc. It is not unique to Galesburg residents. Or it could be re-written to note that "as with any other city, women are sometimes verbally harassed in Galesburg."

Emily Smith, class of 2005

I like that plan for rewriting the "observing for assignments" part. You said it better than I could have. I also agree that you're right about the catcalling. It happens everywhere and should proba b ly be deleted. Bill M. 16:44, 11 June 2007 (CDT)

Regarding the above concerns

First off, let me say that I agree that this entry needs a lot of work. Having said that, I don't think your concerns are anything to be concerned a bout. "Townie" is a deregatory term. The entry starts out by making that clear. It isn't meant to be an accurate representation of Galesburg(ians? ers?) For one thing, at least in my circle at Knox, there was a pretty clear distinction between a "t own ie" and a "person from Galesburg" the former referring to one of the many hillbilly-like people who live in Galesburg. Fellow students were generally only called "townies" as a joke.

Furthermore, The Wiki Fire is, from my understanding, meant to ref lect the views of Knox Students, and for better or worse, this entry does represent the impression that a large portion of Knox Students have of the people of Galesburg, at least the ones they would refer to as townies. Perhaps the entry could be clea rer about the fact that this term is a stereotype, but I don't think an entry titled "Townie" is the place for an accurate description of the various people of Galesburg. Actually, I don't think that the second paragraph of the article is relevant to this topic either, but I don't think saying that an AnSo project involves observing a culture makes them seem like animals. That's largely what Anso is about--observing culture.

Finally, regarding the cat-calling deletion, I don't want to get into an edit w ar, but I'm tempted to reinstate that edit. For one thing, I feel that you should have let the discussion continue for longer before you made a decision. But mainly, the fact that women may get cat-called a lot of places (but not "everywhere" as said abo ve) does not make it any less true of Galesburg. Bill, you might feel that it is unncessary, but obviously someone thought it was relevant to this topic, and I agree. It is the kind of thing that shapes people's impressions of "townies." Since it is no t libelous, it is a valid statement and should stay. GreatHeights 11:42, 12 June 2007 (CDT)

I'm cool with that. I'm not attached to that edit. I do think it's unnecessary, but I won't change it if you change it back. It's a good discussion and maybe I did jump the gun. My concern about the catcalling part is more that it makes it seem like a bigger deal in the 'burg than elsewhere, which I don't think is true. And if it is, there should be at least some explanation of WHY it is, at least in my humble opinion.

As for the AnSo project thing, I think the wording was the problem. It was worded poorly and not in a clear way, or so I thought. AnSo IS about observing culture, but I don't think it came across that way in the original wording. Side note: though I made the townie/person-from-Galesburg distinction myself, nobody else I knew did. My $.02. Feel free to fix/reinstate whatever. Such is the nature of the Wiki, right? Bill M. 12:28, 12 June 2007 (CDT) ~

Stereotypes Category

I was thinking that maybe this article belongs in the "stereotypes" category, but I'm not committed to the idea. Thoughts? --Stockholm syndrome 22:53, 20 June 2007 (CDT)

I'd back that notion. GreatHeights 08:36, 21 June 2007 (CDT)