Gender Identity interaction at the All Saints' Episcopal Church yard.

All Saints' Episcopal Church Yard

This is a picture of the inside of the All Saints' Episcopal Church. I wanted to start off with this because I wanted to show what kind of atmosphere people are going into and leaving out of when they cross the church yard.

There is this beautiful, serene setting where people are expected to be on their best behavior. It's just how you feel when you step into or out of the church. You feel like you have to be respectful and kind, either because you feel like you are in the presence of God, or you simply just don't want to be a horrible person in the eyes of the other people at the church.

This kind of atmosphere is somewhat reflected in the church yard and how people interact. There are similarities and between how males and females interact with the landscape the landscape affects gender identities.

When people cross the yard to get into the church, most people, male and female, are well-dressed. They start mentally preparing themselves to step into a church, which means most people aren't doing or saying anything vulgar or picking fights right before church, especially because most people are in families. Kids would get reprimanded by their parents and parents don't want to get sneered at by other adults. Most men and women have the same mindset when they walk out of the church.

In my previous blog entry, I explained how each person played a different role (ex: Father, Mother, son, daughter, student, etc.). This plays a contributing factor when observing how gender identity affects how people and I interact with the landscape and the people in it. I went to observe in jeans and a t-shirt, so I already felt undressed. I talked to another female student who had just come from talking to a few other people. She, like everyone else, was well-dressed. She was extremely polite when she talked to me, a complete stranger. It may be that she is just a very nice person, so I talked to each type of gender role I could spot and they were all extremely polite. I'm thinking the church atmosphere definitely has an influence on the people who cross the church yard.

I could be wrong about the atmosphere, but when I walk out of a church, I definitely feel obligated to be polite and nice to everyone who talks to me.In this way, I think the landscape affects my gender identity and how it makes me act and feel in the Church yard. I wasn't about to go up to someone that came out of church and start yelling at them. I think the church yard is a landscape that has the power to shape these gender identities and make them more similar. Everyone wants to act the same because everyone is exiting or entering into a holy place.