Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Getting “Pinned”

Informant: Oh my God, she got pinned?

Collector: What is that?

Informant: So, when someone gets pinned in a sorority basically what happens is— well, first of all, nobody knows who’s being pinned except for probably the girl’s close friends. So, all we get told, as like the laymen if you will, is that there’s a pinning. “Please wear red if you’re in a relationship and if you’re not in a relationship, wear black.” It’ll be different for every sorority, I’m sure, but the general principle I’m sure stands true. For my specific sorority we sing one of our sorority songs and all of us girls grab hands.

Collector: In a circle?

Informant: Yeah so the pinning ceremony is just the girls in the sorority and everyone’s standing in a circle…Or, as close to a circle as we can get. (laughs) Everyone is holding hands like do in, like, church you know? And there’s a candle being passed around as everyone’s holding hands. So, as it comes to you, you let go, and pass it right. And as we’re singing this song, we’re passing this candle and if the candle stops on you, you’re the one being pinned.

Collector: Oh, so someone next to her would have to know.

Informant: Yeah. So that’s why I’m assuming the close friends know because the guy plans it with the close friends.

Collector: And then the guy’s just there?

Informant: So, then when it lands on you, you’re like, “Ah!” and everyone freaks out. And then those friends have coordinated something with the guy so then they’ll take the girl outside, and like we’ll go to the doorway. Depending on what the guy has planned for his end, like the second part of the ceremony, he could come in and get her. Typically though, for all the ones I’ve been to, is the girl freaks out and the friends walk her to the doorway and we all like get to stand and watch like, in the doorway as the guy comes up. It depends. The ceremony really does change. But the other thing that does hold true is that every guy in the fraternity of the guy who’s pinning the girl gives one red rose.

Collector: To that girl?

Informant: To that girl. They’ll walk up in a line and by the end of it she’s holding like sixty or seventy red roses.

Collector: Oh my God.

Informant: And then the main guy walks up the line too, and his best friend does a speech for him. It’s kind of a pre-engagement.

Collector: Yeah it seems very matrimonial.

Informant: Yeah they do this and it’s great. And then the girl’s best friend will come up and do a speech and it’s very, like…

Collector: Does he actually pin anything on her?

Informant: Oh, forgive me. There’s the actual pinning part of the ceremony. So, basically after the guy gives a speech and he’s like, “I wanna be with you” and the girl’s like “Oh my God!” And then the guy takes off his fraternity pin from his shirt—all the guys are dressed up in, like, sports coats—and typically a guy in the house will come out with a guitar. After the guy’s best friend does a speech and the guy does a speech, he takes off his pin and puts it on the girl’s red dress and he says that she means more to him than his fraternity.

Collector: Awh! So, it’s something that everyone, like, wants?

Informant: It’s something that every girl in a sorority who has a boyfriend in a fraternity would want.

Collector: So they have to be, like, “dating dating” beforehand, right?

Informant: It’s typically people who have been dating for like two years, three years. So, like, college sweethearts, you know? It’s like seniors usually.

Collector: So, I guess it’s kind of acceptable to have her be more important than the fraternity at that point.

Informant: That’s the whole point of it, is that like, at the end of the day he’s had his time with the boys and now he’s saying, like “Here, babe. It’s your turn.” Like the few that I’ve been to, the girl seemed genuinely surprised.

Collector: Oh, really? I would think you would at least have a clue.

Informant: Yeah! But I think that’s the important part, the concealment. They do a really good job of that. Like, the surprise of being pinned is the most important part. And as I’m growing older I’m realizing that it’s cool because it’s the fact that your boyfriend pretty much wants to marry you.

Collector’s Notes: Every time I interviewed someone who was involved in Greek Life, something that represented a marriage ceremony came up.  I think it’s because that is the next big liminal point in these adults’ lives.  In a way they’re preparing themselves for it.  I also think that the color scheme of dresses is interesting.  In class, we talked about how red symbolized the post-romantic woman and black was like the crone, or older, no longer sexualized woman.  I think that, at first, this seems out of place, but then I remember that these girls had already donned their white dresses when they were initiated into the sorority.  So, those “married” and sexualized (with a relationship) wear red and those who are “married” and not sexual (not in a relationship) wear black.  It makes more sense that way.  Also, history lends itself to a lot of examples of guys giving some sort of romantic symbol to their girlfriends, whether it be a class ring, a letterman jacket, a promise ring or even an engagement ring.  These symbols represent “ownership” to a certain degree, and a longer commitment in mind.  It represents the future.  Something else that can represent the future is the circle the girls get into beforehand.  The circle symbolizes the never-ending cycle of life and time, and it makes sense that as one girl moves from one stage of life (maidenhood) to another (married life) that the girls would symbolize this with a circle.  The singing is another unifying thing that I’ve noticed from every Greek interview.  Song seems to be an ancient and timeless way for people to bond in an easy way.  The candle I’m taking to symbolize love, like I’ve seen in past interviews.  The burning flame represents “triumph over the darkness” or in this case, the blackness that is representing single life.  Because we’re a reproductive centered culture, this makes a lot of sense.  All in all, with the love-representative roses and songs, this seems like a really beautiful ceremony.

Lucky Number 8

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA/Chicago, IL
Performance Date: 4/29/15
Primary Language: English

Collector: Do you have any lucky numbers?

Informant: 8.

Collector: Why 8?

Informant: Because it’s a lucky number in China. That’s where I grew up. So, like, 88 is a really, really lucky number there.

Collector: That’s interesting!

Collector’s Notes: In class we talked about unlucky numbers in China, but I don’t think we mentioned any lucky numbers.  Here, in the United States, we have 3 and 7.  It weird how we learned that 4 is an unlucky number in Chinese culture, but they find 8, 4’s double, lucky!  I personally find 8 lucky because I like both the number 4 and 8 inherently.  Maybe because there are 4 people in my family, and possibly because I started dating and got engaged to my fiancé on August 8th, or 8/8.  I like how the Informant is still very in touch with the culture that they were exposed to in China.  Because that was such a fundamental time of their life (childhood) it makes sense that those beliefs stayed with them and they carried them with them here.

“Pin Me Chief!”

Nationality: United States
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 27APR2015
Primary Language: English

Kropp was a secret geek in high school. He thoroughly enjoyed sports, rap, and women but had a soft spot for cartoons. He says he would secretly want to be a superhero if he had the chance – “a dope superhero” at that. He is currently a USC student studying environmental science, is enrolled in the NROTC program and loves to skateboard. He has very close ties with his extended family. He hopes to one day commission into the navy as an officer.

One of the roughest part of being in the military are the old traditions. One of them is the “Pinning Ceremony”. In the military there is a rank system. You start at the bottom and slowly start making your way up the ladder. A rank is worn on the collar of the uniform shirt. The rank is a small metal insignia about an inch in length and width. It is pinned to the collar by two prongs that are closed at the back of the collar with frogs (the way an earring is pierced to an ear). One of the oldest traditions in the military is what you do with this pin. Kropp was invited to an advancement ceremony of one of his fellow sailors down in Camp Pendleton a few months ago. The commanding officer speaks and lots of pictures are taking; sailors are dressed up in their uniform. Sailors invite family and friends to these so that they may place the rank on the sailor, give them a kiss and that concludes the ceremony. Kropp said that after the ceremony was when the tradition took part.

Sailors were taking back to their individual commands and then spit up by rank. All of the third classes (4th rank) went with their department heads – their chiefs. And the seconds and first classes with theirs. In order to truly earn your rank, you had to bleed for it. Chiefs would tell sailors to remove the frogs from the back of the rank (the rank still easily remains on the collar). Then all of his department, mostly those that ranked above him would “beat the living hell out of ’em” Kropp says. They punch the rank into your collar bone until you bleed. When Kropps friend came out, he asked him how it went. His shoulder bled and there was a smile on his face. Weird, huh? He just got a beating and he was content.

Analysis: This is not a tradition that is validated by the Navy. All sorts of hazing are both frowned upon and illegal by mandate of the Chief of Naval Operations. This tradition still continues because of how most traditions survive. “If I had to do it, so do you.” In the military, you’re not supposed to be able to skate by. It’s one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. It’s a job meant for tough men and women. Traditions like this may not be sane in the least bit, nor are they supposed to be happening. But the sailors want it. They look forward to it. Because they know they will not belong with their fellow chiefs unless they went through what they went through. One of the fastest ways to build brotherhood in this world is to shed a little blood for each other. And who does that better than the United States Military. 3042100_34e3a666-e788-4964-b3fc-c53c0044c261_grande

Don’t Wear Silver in Water

Nationality: Bahamian
Age: 22
Occupation: USC student athlete
Residence: USC
Performance Date: April 15, 1996
Primary Language: English
Language: Broken English

The informant’s family comes from the Bahamas. She was born in the Bahamas and is a talented Bahamian woman. Her mother and she were extremely close and she learned a lot of the folklore that she shared with me from either her mother or from being with her mother. Eventually her family moved to Florida where they learned American cultures and were able to compare and contrast the two. 

Informant…

“I’m not really sure if this is considered folklore or a proverb, but one tradition, or superstition, or maybe it could be considered water etiquette in most island cultures is that you absolutely never wear your silver jewelry or anything shiny into the waters. I don’t mean like swimming pools, I mean the water with fish and other things in it. We do this because we believe that a barracuda will attack you if you do. I think its because silver or any other flashy types of jewelry or anything will confuse a barracuda and it’ll mistake you for the little critters it preys on and will attack any human wearing it.”

When she was asked why this is a superstition she said, “Well a barracuda will attack you.”

Then I asked, “Have you ever seen it happen or heard it happen to someone close to you?”

She said, “well… no, My mom just told me and here mom told her and I’m sure her dad told her as well. I don’t know where they got it from, I just know not to do it.”

Analysis…

Superstitions play an important role in the way that people may act, what they will do, what they will say, what they will wear, or when they will do things. Usually superstitions are practiced because of good luck or bad luck and doing something one way will prevent bad luck from happening, and give you good luck. In the case of the informant this is a superstition of something you don’t do or there will be bad consequences. Maybe this originated by an older sibling trying to fool his younger siblings into doing something he wanted so he made up a story about barracudas attacking, or maybe someone was actually attacked by a barracuda because of the jewelry the person was wearing. Regardless of where it came from it is a heavily practiced superstition and is not ever broken in fear of being attacked.

Dreams Mean…

Nationality: Jamaican American
Age: 19
Occupation: USC student athlete
Residence: USC
Performance Date: April 1, 2015
Primary Language: English

The informant was born and raised into the American culture and way of life. Her mother’s side of the family is in touch with their Jamaican culture and heritage and as the informant grew older she was able to become more into with the beliefs and customs of Jamaica.

Jamaican Dreams

Informant…

“In the my culture deaths and marriages are often predicted by ones close family members. It is believed that if a family member dreams about someone in their family’s wedding the person being dreamt about will die soon. I think we believe in being able to predict deaths because life and death is a big deal in our culture. Marriage is also an important aspect in my culture as well and is ritualized. When a person dreams about a family member’s death that is consider a prediction of that family member’s wedding.”

I asked the informant if she had ever had a dream like this or known someone who did and it became true. She told me that she didn’t know anyone who had ha a dream like this and she personally  has never had one. I asked where she learned this belief from snd she said that she remembers her grandma telling her about it when she was younger before she passed away.

Analysis…

Being able to predict someones death could be a blessing and a curse. Knowing that someone you love is going to die soon has to be difficult to handle. However on the other hand being able to predict a wedding is exciting. Death and Marriage are two major stepping stones in most cultures and they are ritualized because of that. Marriage you are become one with someone else and you are able to start a family, but death is the end of your life and the start of your after life whatever you believe that may be. I think that is why they are both made such such a big deal out of and ritualized with customs and rituals and why cultures have so many beliefs centered around these two major life events.