Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Folk belief

Nationality: American - Salvadorian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Pedro, CA
Performance Date: April 2011
Primary Language: English

If you cross your eyes while you are outside and a gust of wind blows your face with get stuck that way.

Jessica learned this folk belief from her grandmother. The saying is said to prevent children from crossing their eyes. Many folk beliefs of the sort are developed and used to scare children from doing something undesirable to adults. The belief is not taken especially seriously but her grandmother still says it. Jessica does not believe the saying although whenever she crosses her eyes or sees someone else doing so, the phrase pops into her mind.

Jessica’s family is from El Salvador and her grandmother mostly speaks Spanish and does not speak English well. The exact origins of the folk belief are unknown but people across the world are familiar with it or have heard it, definitely in the United States and El Salvador.

Unconventional Pregnancy- Folk Belief

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Oakland, CA
Performance Date: March 14, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

A girl can get pregnant from swimming in water that has been ejaculated into.

 A woman can become pregnant from sitting on a toilet seat with ejaculate on it.

You can get an STD from a public restroom’s toilet.

My informant heard all of these unconventional pregnancy/sexs methods when she was in high school. She recalls being a bit skeptical about them back then when she was a 14 year old high school freshmen, but now she finds them absurd and laughable. She thinks that people continue to tell these folk beliefs is because the world is seen as a dirty place. As girls grow from children into young women they feel particularly vulernable to the world they can no longer be shielded from by their parents. Even in places that should be harmless, like a hotel swimming pool or your neighbor’s toilet can be dangerous because you never know who using it before you and what they were doing there. A thought like that can be scary and yet there is little that can be done about it, besides making sure to cover the toilet seat and to never go swimming.

I agree with what my informant said, but I also think there might another reason that these folk beliefs are spread, especially among young teenagers. I think these beliefs can act as a scapegoat for people’s sexual exploits. If a young woman who is believed to be a virgin by her family and friends becomes pregnant, the story goes from being condemning to tragic if she was impregnated by some force outside of her control. If she was engaging in a harmless and innocent activity, such as using the bathroom or going for a swim, when she became pregnant she can’t really be blamed for what has happened. Similarly to those who contract STDs from public restrooms again it alleviates blame of any frowned upon sexual activity.

Annotation: The folk belief that swimming in a pool of water that has been ejaculated into was used as a basis for a lawsuit in 2009. A woman sued a hotel in Egypt after claiming that her 13 year old daughter become pregnant from swimming in their swimming pool.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Doyle, H. (2009, July 09). Teen pregnant after ‘swimming in pool’. The Sun, Retrieved from http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2525921/Teen-pregnant-after-swimming-in-pool.html

Folk Medicine – Portuguese

Nationality: Mexican/American/Portuguese
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 24, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“So, um, whenever you have a cold like on my dad’s side it’s like a Portuguese remedy where you cut carrots up into little pieces and then you add sugar to it. And then you let it sit and it gets soupy because you add a lot of sugar to it and then you’re supposed to like drink it or eat it. They call it carrot soup and its supposed to help. It’s gross though.

“I learned it from my father growing up. He’s Portuguese.

“I don’t think there’s any real reasoning behind it.

“When I was little my dad would always do that. He was like, ‘before we go see the doctor we’ll try the carrot soup.'”

The informant is a 20-year-old female of Mexican-American-Portuguese descent. Her father is of Portuguese heritage, while her mother is of Mexican descent. This item was learned from the paternal side of her family. The informant is currently a student in the Los Angeles area.

This folk remedy presents the use of carrots, which are typically regarded as healthy because they are vegetables. However, the informant did not have any strong belief in the validity of the cure. She regarded it as merely something her family did whether it was truly effective or not.

Potentially this can be seen as the value people place on health and vegetables, as well as an emphasis on attempts to solve one’s own illness without the aid of authorities like doctors. It shows the family’s desire to be a self-sufficient unit in curing its members’ illnesses through home-made remedies.

Blason Populaire – Jewish-American

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2011
Primary Language: English

J.A.P. (also refered to as “jap” or “japs”)

Jewish American Princess

“It’s a stereotype that Jewish girls have rich daddies to pay for all their needs and wants. Stereotypical profession for Jews are high-paying—doctors, lawyers—like money, medical backgrounds. With parents, with these kind of jobs the kids are spoiled rotten. I think there’s some truth to it. And now it’s come to be like an identity for Jewish kids living the pampered lifestyle. I don’t think it has as negative connotation any more. People now identify themselves as JAPs. They are proud of this identity not for what it does for Judaism but because it means they are people with money. It fits into the whole sweet sixteen faucet of culture. I learned it like around junior high or high school. I’m like a Nor Cal Jew; I’m pretty sure someone around me got called it. Non-Jews don’t really call each other JAPs unless it’s an insult. But Jews can call each other JAPs.”

The informant is a 19-year-old Caucasian student in the Los Angeles area, originally from Northern California. She follows the Jewish faith. She also comes from a very large family with 8 other siblings.

The acceptance of the stereo-type of J.A.P. by the current generation shows how people use blason-populaire in forging their own identities. The current definition of JAP is a byproduct of the Jewish stereotype–as mentioned by the informant of professional careers–as it moves into the next generation. It presents a modernized version of the Jewish doctor/lawyer family stereotype; that is, that the father figure of the family brings in a large paycheck to his devoutly Jewish family.

Also, the response of those accused of being “JAPs” ties in to the theory that it is at times easier to embrace a stereotype than to discount it as they have a tendency to accept the stereotype, even mocking it slightly. Further, it also defines a group of whom is Jewish and whom is not by stating that from within the circle it is okay to call one another a JAP, but it is not acceptable for outsiders to do the same.

Folk Belief – Serbian

Nationality: Serbian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA (Currently), Serbia
Performance Date: April 25, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Serbian

“When you’re talking and if you or your friend drops something accidentally that means the thing you’re talking about is true. In my case, it was true, but I think that also some people can fake it.”

“I learned it just among my friends. I can’t remember the first time I heard that, but it’s like the thing that everybody said among the people.”

The informant is from Serbia, but currently attending school in Los Angeles, CA. She has been in the US for less than a year.

The folk belief that when someone drops something in conversation they are telling the truth could have some validity in it as it may stem from the idea that the person is so focused on what they are saying that he or she drops something. There is a similar folk belief in Poland that if you sneeze while talking, you are telling the truth.