Category Archives: Gestures

Predicting Future Children

Nationality: Hong Kong
Age: 48
Residence: Minnesota
Performance Date: April 12, 2017
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

When I was little, somebody had told me about this thing… that you can do, uh… supposedly, it’s supposed to help you predict how many kids you’re going to have when you’re older. Um… so what you do is, you make a fist, a tight fist, with your thumb over your other fingers and your hand… like, your palm is facing up, but you’re in a fist… and then you… with your other hand, squeeze the part of your palm that’s open, under your pinkie, and then there’s supposed to be these little balls or bulges or something that appear on your wrist… uh, and that’s the number of kids you’re going to have. And I think… I think the left hand is how many boys you’re going to have, and the right hand is girls. And I… I think it worked for me. I don’t remember if it was exactly right from when I was little, but I think it was pretty close to… to what I ended up having.

 

Thoughts:

The fact that this is something taught to girls at a young age reveals that there is a societal/cultural pressure on females to have children, and to start thinking about having children and fulfilling this social role from an early age. The desire to “predict” the number and gender of children a girl will have is perhaps a way for her to start preparing to have these children, as she enters her pubescent years.

Two Kisses

Nationality: American
Age: 50
Occupation: accountant
Residence: Bothell, WA
Performance Date: 3/5/17
Primary Language: English

TM is an accountant who was born in Sunnyside, WA and now is currently living in Bothell, WA. He descends from a heavy Irish and Italian background which have influenced much of his culture growing up. His grandparents were the ones to teach him the most about his culture through their traditions and common sayings.

You haven’t commented about your Italian background as much, is there anything significant you could tell me about that?

TM: That is because the only person who actively practiced Italian culture or spoke the language was my great grandmother and my grandmother a little bit. It seemed to be heritage that has disappeared a bit since. And most of our Italian side was very friendly and loud. Being Italian is all about the greetings and being very loving towards each other.

What are some greetings that stood out to you?

TM: Well my grandmother used to always kiss me on both cheeks and squeeze my face even when I got older it was common for her to always see me as her little grandbaby. But kissing someone twice on the cheek is something I have seen in common in many European countries as a greeting. It is not very common in the US unless you have those roots already. We just don’t get as friendly as they do I guess.

Do you think there was any significance that it was both cheeks?

TM:  Not that I know of, I’m sure there is but I was never told what the significance of it was… hmmm, well I wonder whether it could have been that two is better than one? I’m really not sure but I can tell you it was significant who you kissed and where. Sometimes my great grandmother would kiss me right on the mouth! I would wipe it off and feel like it was a bit gross when I was really little, but I am sure she just did it cause she wanted to show her affection that way. She didn’t speak the best English to begin with.

Analysis:

The culture and meaning of cheek kissing varies in many parts of the world. The US is friendly to it but most of these traditions started in Europe. In countries in Asia physical contact happens less so it is less likely that cheek-kissing would be used on a day to day basis. Now it is not as commonly used in non-European countries but cheek kissing remains a significant greeting and has many variations added with a hug or the kissing of both cheeks one, two three or four times. The affection dates back to 1602 in art and practice.

Baseball Rituals: “When in Doubt, Tap the Hip”

Nationality: American, Italian
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern California
Performance Date: March 20, 2016
Primary Language: English

Informant AB is a 23-year-old male who is from the East Bay in Northern California. He is a student at the University of Southern California in his third year as a civil engineer major. Informant AB also plays club baseball at USC:

AB: “I play baseball and it is my favorite sport to play. I have been playing since I was 5 or 6 years old and I am still playing on the club team at USC.”

Do you have any particular rituals or customs you perform prior to a game?

AB: “Yes I have two main rituals that I do in baseball. So I play “infield” and when you’re in the infield you are always taking your one-two step to get ready for the ground ball before the pitcher hits so that you are ready to field it, which is pretty common for everybody, but one thing I do just kind of on top of that before every pitch is that I take my glove and I kind of almost tap it on my left hip ever so slightly to just shift the glove in my hand so it feels better in my hand. It’s just something that makes me more comfortable, maybe more confident in feeling grounders and being ready for the potential play coming my way. I also wear the same pair of baseball sliders that I never wash. I’ve had them for years and years and I wear them at all my practices and games. They make me feel more positive about each game or practice because of all of the great wins and experiences I’ve had while wearing them.”

Who did you learn these rituals from?

AB: “My dad actually played baseball for most of his life and when I was little I would watch him play. I would see that he would do the same gesture I do today. I remember asking him one day why he would tap his hip with his glove and he said it would help him to focus and center himself during the games. When I started playing in little league, that’s when I started doing the same gesture my dad did. I guess watching him as a little kid, I picked up on some of the things he did while he played. I’ve been doing it ever since.”

What do these rituals mean to you?

AB: “Well, growing up watching my dad play and learning my ritual from him holds a special place in my heart. I really looked up to him when I was little. I just think it is something special. It brought us closer together.”

Analysis:

Informant AB’s baseball rituals were passed down by someone he looked up to as a young child and is something that he continues to do as an adult. As America’s favorite past time, there are countless folk beliefs in baseball that surround good and bad luck such as rituals being practiced during the seventh inning stretch, to verbal lore being performed during the game. I think it is interesting how as a young child the informant noticed the rituals his father would perform while out on the field and how much of an impact his father had made on him growing up. Their passion for baseball and their father-son dynamic depicts how rituals can be passed down to the next generation through a strong familial bond.

 

Kicking the lamppost on gameday

Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA / Denver, CO
Performance Date: 4/18/16
Primary Language: English

DK is a junior at the University of Southern California, and is originally from Denver, CO.

DK had some more USC folklore to share with me:

“Football season is a huge production at USC, and probably the most obvious time when the whole school gets together…on gamedays, everyone usually tailgates on campus, setting up tents and hanging out together hours before the game even starts. Once kickoff is approaching, everyone sort of migrates away from campus to cross Exposition and head to the Coliseum…if you go with everyone else through the south entrance of campus, there are these huge light posts at the exit, and for some reason everyone has to kick the base before they keep heading to the Coliseum. Honestly, I have no idea why people do it, and no one I talk to seems to know either. But there’s always backup once you get there, because everyone’s standing around this lamppost waiting to kick it.”

I asked DK what her best guess was as to the origin of the ritual:

“Maybe we’re kicking at our opponents? I don’t know how threatening that is.”

My analysis:

Sports rituals are very common for college and professional teams, and are probably even more prevalent during home games. The entire process of gathering together on campus to tailgate, then migrating together to head to the game, and stopping to perform this ritual without even knowing the meaning demonstrates the strength of USC pride and how it indoctrinates us best on days like gamedays. When school spirit is running high we’re more willing to participate in the most random of activities, because all of it is bringing us together.

Deadly Chopsticks

Nationality: Japanese-American
Age: 53
Occupation: Higher-education administrator
Residence: Pasadena, CA
Performance Date: 4/17/16
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese

KM is a third-generation Japanese-American from Los Angeles, CA. She now lives in Pasadena, CA with her husband and 18-year-old son.

KM gave me some insight on chopstick etiquette that was passed down from her Japanese parents:

“So in Japan, when you’re eating rice with chopsticks, or really anything which chopsticks, you NEVER rest them by sticking them straight up in your food. It looks like the number 4 spelled out, and in Japanese culture 4 is a very unlucky number – it means death. If you go to Japan you’ll never find anything grouped or sold in 4s, it’s just superstition, like how in America people are scared of the number 13. Also, you never point your chopsticks at people, like if you’re talking at the dinner table. It’s rude, and a little threatening.”

My analysis:

Many cultures have different traditions surrounding food and table etiquette, and this folk belief offers insight into utensil practices many American might not be familiar with. While Asian cuisine is not absent here, it’s often transformed over time by the influence of other places, or even other Asian cultures (like common Japanese-Korean fusion). People from all over use chopsticks, but it’s important to be aware of protocol observed by those whose heritage is more authoritative.

Apparently, chopsticks stuck straight-up in rice also imitate incense sticks on the altar at a funeral, another symbol of death or bad luck. Oftentimes people avoid mixing their foodways with death imagery, compounded by the prevalence of rice in Japanese meals.

I also think it’s interesting that the subject is Japanese-American, and three generations removed at that. Seeing which customs are continued when a family emigrates shows both their cultural and individual values, or superstitions that for some reason or another “stick” in places where they’re not observed.