Monthly Archives: April 2020

“Sweating Like A Hooker in Church”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Unemployed
Residence: Jacksonville, FL
Performance Date: April 13, 2020
Primary Language: English

MAIN PIECE

“Sweating like a hooker in church”

“I believe that the saying is more of a way to describe sweating or nerves.  We probably say that down here cause we always like to make things a bit more illustrative then y’all do and we always love a church reference.  It’s not sweaty like a person whose been working all day, but more like when somebody is nervous about something that they are holding back from others like a secret or something of the sort”

BACKGROUND

This informant, HA, was born in Pensacola, FL but has lived in a few different parts of the American South for awhile, specifically the Floribama coastal area.  His family has stayed in the south for as far back as he can remember.

CONTEXT

I talked to HA by inviting them onto a zoom call with a few other friends we both knew from summer vacations where I used to live in Panama City, Florida.  After the call I asked if he could stay and chat and we shared stories about our lives while I asked him questions about sayings and activities he remembered from his childhood.

THOUGHTS

The American South has a fascinating way of coining certain terms that sound quintessentially Southern.  It seems upon further research that there are a lot more metaphors and similes used in Southern vernacular than in the rest of the United States.  HA’s relation of the quote to the church was very interesting as it made me think of Mary Magdalene as a possible referential point in how this statement came to be.  As well, variations of it are seen in other parts of the  world, but they still have enough variation where the meaning is shifted and holds itself as a different piece of folklore.  Ie. Midwesterners saying  “Praying like a sinner in church”

JAP Stereotype

Nationality: American
Age: 56
Occupation: Health Care Administrator
Residence: Long Beach, California
Performance Date: 4/20/2020
Primary Language: English

Background: The informant is a woman in her late fifties who grew up in downstate New York in Queens and on Long Island before moving to upstate New York for college. In her mid 20s, she moved out to Southern California and she had lived there ever since. She comes from a large family of Catholic Irish-Americans.

Context: TR went to high school in the late 70s/early 80s on the north shore of Long Island, where a substantial percentage of the public high school’s student body was either wealthy, Jewish, or both. TR does not consider JAP to be an antiemetic phrase and mentions that it describes women that aren’t Jewish too. Later, when she went to college in upstate New York, she says there were a lot of JAPs at her school there too.

Main Text:

(In the following interview the informant is identified as TR and the interviewer is identified as JS.)

TR: Especially coming from Long Island, the JAP—the Jewish American Princess…

JS: Did you use the phrase JAP?

TR: Oh god, yeah, cuz I was from Long Island!

JS: And did you know anyone who you considered a JAP?

TR: Oh, yeah!

JS: Do you want to explain exactly what a JAP is?

TR: Well, usually a Jewish American Princess knew it and was proud of it and self-identified, so it was never like, it never seemed like a really negative thing. Actually, I had a friend, she was a senior when I was a freshman—or, she was a junior when I was a freshman and yeah, she, uh, she self-identified as a JAP [laughs].

JS: Wanna explain anything else besides the abbreviation?

TR: Well, usually they’re Jewish…but they don’t have to be. Yknow, they dress very kind of, like, Long Island, downstate New York.

JS: What does “Long Island” mean?

TR: In the eighties…big hair, dark hair, lots of curls, fancy clothes, tons of makeup, very expensive clothes, lots of jewelry. And defitniely a thick New York accent, like “OH MY GAWD.” [laughs]

JS: So their families are wealthy?

TR: Definitely. Yes.

JS: Is there a specific…field Jewish American Princesses go into, studying-wise?

TR: Well, yeah they would get husbands. [laughs] Typically they would get..yknow attorneys, doctors, the hotel industry, ILR…I don’t think I knew any engineering JAPS.

JS: What do their parents do?

TR: Doctors, attorneys, wives…oh, oh, accountants!

JS: Anything else you wanna share about the culture?

TR: No, you know, it was a look and it was consumption—consumption.

Thoughts: The phrase JAP is something I know, but not really something me or people I grew up around ever used. Perhaps it’s still frequently used in downstate New York, but I suspect part of the affiliation had to do with the style and “consumption” (as TR calls it) of the 80s. It’s funny that she says it’s not exclusive to young Jewish women, despite what the acronym stands for, and that people would proudly self-identify as JAPS, despite it seeming like a stereotype. I suppose it’s not the worst stereotype to be identified with.

Further Citations:

For a humorous take on the Jewish American Princess, see Rachel Bloom’s “JAP Battle” from the television show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-2019).

“JAP Battle (EXPLICIT) – “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”.” Youtube, uploaded by racheldoesstuff, 29 Feb 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TQmo5TvZQY.

Breaking Plates in Greek Culture

Nationality: Greek American
Age: 19
Occupation: Unemployed
Residence: Anaheim, CA and Thessaloniki, Greece
Performance Date: April 21, 2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Greek

MAIN PIECE

“Breaking plates is not some silly thing we only see about Greeks in the media.  We don’t do it every day, but at big occasions, we break some plates!  Like spitting, it is more popular among Greeks in Greece than ones who are in the American world of Greek Orthodoxy.  Also like spitting, it is meant to ward off the evil spirits.  It is believed that the loud sounds the plates make are meant to scare off evil spirits, but also to symbolize when the party can really begin.  It is common for very civil, professional parties  to turn wild after the breaking of a plate.

BACKGROUND

My informant was born in Anaheim, California, however, she spent most of her childhood on Greece’s  Mainland, particularly in Thessaloniki.  Both of her parents grew up and emigrated from Greece only twenty years ago.  SK, my informant, learned this from not understanding why parties would get wilder after the breaking of the plate and said she remembered it being like a food fight level of energy.

CONTEXT

This came from a friend of mine from my church in Southern California.  I got this folklore from a zoom call with her while she was quarantined back in Greece.  I asked her to explain some traditional Greek cultural cornerstones she knows as she ate breakfast.

THOUGHTS

This dual meaning of  both scaring away spirits through the breaking of plates  and getting the party truly started fascinates me as it seems from  much of my research that a lot of  Greek folklore  has dual meanings, tending towards one being fun and celebratory and the other based in the spiritual world.  It makes me think about how religion is so important in the country as it is one of the most Christian countries in the world.  Looking into that, it makes me ask how ghosts and spirits fit in with  that.

Open Casket Funeral Ritual

Nationality: American
Age: 54
Occupation: Off the Grid Director of Partnerships
Residence: California
Performance Date: March 13, 2021
Primary Language: English
Language: none

Main Piece: 

Informant-  I recently attended an open casket funeral for a family member. It was a graveside burial in the farmlands of North Carolina. Due to COVID, it was an odd liminal time period and therefore no one was hugging. My parents and I approached the tent which held the casket and prepared to say our goodbyes to the body. We each individually gathered close to the casket, reached down, and touched our deceived family member. I left her side and allowed time for my mother and father to say their goodbyes

Interviewer- Could everyone at the funeral approach the casket to say their goodbyes?

Informant- No the tent which held the open casket was for family members only. After the family members said their goodbye the casket was closed and brought to the burial location outside fo the tent. There, the coffin was closed and open for members of the community to observe.

Interviewer- Was touching the body an important part of the ritual? 

Informant- Touching the body is important because you receive a feeling that the soul has passed onto heaven. Each person holds is entitled to their own beliefs of touching the body or not but it is very important for me. Her body is left behind but is no longer the home for her soul. Touching the body allowed me to understand that her soul lives on in heaven and is no longer on earth. This is a moving experience. 

Background: The informant is 54 years old and returned to his home town in North Carolina to attend the funeral. The informant has strong religious views as a Christian. He has attended open casket funerals before and is familiar with the custom of touching the dead body. He learned about the moving experience of touching the dead body from his minister at church years back. Ever since his first experience completing this ritual he has continued to hold its importance. This ritual connects him closer to god and the natural cycle of life. 

Context: I collected this piece by interviewing the informant after he returned from this trip to North Carolina for the funeral. The funeral occurred outside during the day with a group of people. 

Thoughts: This ritual holds great importance for connecting participates to the cycle of life and understanding the uncertainty of death. Death and funerals represent a very liminal period where folk customs allow people to connect with uncertainty. This ritual and the importance of touching the dead body allowed the informant to grasp the idea of the body and the soul. The body and the soul are disconnected after death. The body is only the temporary home for the soul and this ritual gives the family a time to understand the movement of the soul. 

Spitting at Greek Weddings

Nationality: Greek American
Age: 19
Occupation: Unemployed
Residence: Anaheim, CA and Thessaloniki, Greece
Performance Date: April 21, 2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Greek

MAIN PIECE

“That common stereotype that Greeks spit at brides down the wedding aisle you see in [My] Big Fat Greek Wedding, although exageratted, is based in truth.  More in Greek-Greek culture than in Greek-American culture, you will see people spit on the bride, not walking down the aisle, but while she gets ready.  Also this “spitting” is not accompanied by saliva, but instead is like a mock spit. What it’s supposed to do is ward away evil spirits and the “evil eye”,  which a lot of us characterize with a redness on the face.  This can be acne or just simple irritation of the skin, but we have done it at weddings moreso to wish the bride luck and hope her husband doesn’t run away.  Yeah, it can be a little condescending at times because people could do it to say, “Just so your man doesn’t leave you at the altar”.

BACKGROUND

My informant was born in Anaheim, California, however, she spent most of her childhood on Greece’s  Mainland, particularly in Thessaloniki.  Both of her parents grew up and emigrated from Greece only twenty years ago.  SK, my informant, learned this not from her church in America, but her church back in Thessaloniki where there is more of a belief in bad spirits surrounding big occasions.

CONTEXT

This came from a friend of mine from my church in Southern California.  I got this folklore from a zoom call with her while she was quarantined back in Greece.  I asked her to explain some traditional Greek cultural cornerstones she knows as she ate breakfast.

THOUGHTS

When you watch the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, it’s easy to write off a lot of the stuff in it and other culture-specific movies as overblown stereotypes, however, in asking someone with firsthand experience, it’s very interesting to see a piece of folklore interpreted into a joke or comedic form.  As well, I find it interesting that this has such a dual meaning.  It can be seen as helpful or insulting and that really opens up a conversation about how one bigger folk group could be divided into  sub-divisions based on how they interpret the same piece of folklore.