Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Can’t buy people shoes

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 19, 2015
Primary Language: English

Informant Data:

The informant is a 19-year old American student who was born in Corona, California in 1996. Her father is Indian and her mother is African-American. She is a freshman at the University of Southern California and thus currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

 

Contextual Data:

I was working on homework in my dorm room when my informant walked by and told me that she remembered another folk belief that she knew (since I had asked her earlier that day if she could think of any folk belief).

When asked why she believed in this superstition and/or why this folk belief appealed to her, she said that she just followed it simply because it was a good idea to not buy other people a pair of shoes because it’s hard to know if they’ll fit well. Then, after a moment of thinking, she also proposed that since this folk belief came from her father (who is Indian), this idea that buying people shoes means they’re beneath you might relate to the Indian caste system.

 

Item:

“You can’t buy people shoes because it means that they’re beneath you.”

 

Analysis:

I feel that my informant was on to something when she said that this folk belief might have to do with the Indian caste system. Perhaps the act of buying people shoes suggests that they don’t have money to buy their own shoes, which would very well suggest that whoever bought the shoes believes that the people they bought the shoes for are beneath them. Furthermore, it’s likely that the poorest members of Indian society (that are the lowest on the caste system) wouldn’t likely have the means to readily buy shoes, so the act of buying shoes perhaps even further suggests that the people receiving the shoes are somehow connected to the lowest level of society.

Mexican Hill Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 58
Occupation: Construction company owner
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2015
Primary Language: English

Informant Data:

The informant is an American who was born in Riverside, California in 1956. He owns a construction company and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

 

Contextual Data:

My informant heard four jokes from a friend of his and he wanted to share the jokes with me. The following is one of these jokes. It’s worthy of noting that my informant chuckled after telling the joke. When asked why he found the joke funny, my informant said that he didn’t know why the joke appealed to him, but said it was just “stupid humor.”

 

Item:

“What do you call a bunch of Mexicans running down a hill? Jail break.”

 

Analysis:

This seems to speak to a stigma against Mexican people prevalent in present-day American society, and particularly in California, a notion that it is assumed that disproportion number of Hispanic people engage in criminal activity. This is a good example of Blason populaire, or folklore items that play off of stereotypes.

Jewish Penny Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 58
Occupation: Construction company owner
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2015
Primary Language: English

Informant Data:

The informant is an American who was born in Riverside, California in 1956. He owns a construction company and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

 

Contextual Data:

My informant heard four jokes from a friend of his and he wanted to share the jokes with me. The following is one of these jokes. He prefaced this joke by stating that his friend is Jewish. It’s worthy of noting that my informant chuckled after telling the joke. When asked why he found the joke funny, my informant said that he didn’t know why the joke appealed to him, but said it was just “stupid humor.”

 

Item:

“What do you get when you put a penny between two Jews? Copper wire.”

 

Analysis:

This seems to speak to a stigma against Jewish people prevalent in present-day American society, a notion that it is assumed that Jewish people are greedy. This is a good example of Blason populaire, or folklore items that play off of stereotypes.

Chinese Floss Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 58
Occupation: Construction company owner
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2015
Primary Language: English

Informant Data:

The informant is an American who was born in Riverside, California in 1956. He owns a construction company and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

 

Contextual Data:

My informant heard four jokes from a friend of his and he wanted to share the jokes with me. The following is one of these jokes. It’s worthy of noting that my informant chuckled after telling the joke. When asked why he found the joke funny, my informant said that he didn’t know why the joke appealed to him, but said it was just “stupid humor.”

 

Item:

“How do you blindfold a Chinese person? Put floss over their eyes.”

 

Analysis:

This seems to speak to a stigma against Chinese people prevalent in present-day American society. The joke seems to be a negative, condescending remark on the tendency for some people in some East Asian cultures to have smaller eyes. This is a good example of Blason populaire, or folklore items that play off of stereotypes.

First Black Person Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 58
Occupation: Construction company owner
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2015
Primary Language: English

Informant Data:

The informant is an American who was born in Riverside, California in 1956. He owns a construction company and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

 

Contextual Data:

My informant heard four jokes from a friend of his and he wanted to share the jokes with me. The following is one of these jokes. It’s worthy of noting that my informant chuckled after telling the joke. When asked why he found the joke funny, my informant said that he didn’t know why the joke appealed to him, but said it was just “stupid humor.”

 

Item:

“What did God say when he first made a black guy? Dang it, I burnt one.”

 

Analysis:

This seems to speak to a stigma against black people prevalent in present-day American society. The joke seems to be a negative remark on having dark skin, for it perpetuates the idea that there is something wrong with having dark skin, that having dark skin is equivalent to having been deformed. This is a good example of Blason populaire, or folklore items that play off of stereotypes.