intertwined

I had never really thought about who and what I am connected to. Obviously I am connected to my friends, family, teachers, employers and even the people I don’t particularly know but go to school with. But I never thought that I was somehow connected to the girl that made my jeans or the person that picked the banana I ate at lunch today. I also never thought about my connection to my environment – and how it truly shapes the way I live my life. But after our discussion in anthropology I realized that in examining what I am connected to, something about my culture is revealed; and that perhaps these connections are much more powerful that I realized.

It is apparent that people are tied together, within their own cultures, through their models of living. Obviously I am tied to the people that I work with and also the people that I am in classes with because we share the same culture, a culture that values work and education. But because we live in a world economy that is rooted in capitalism we are also increasingly interconnected to many other people that we may not be aware of. Because nation states occupy every part of the globe and are dependent on political and economic others, although unaware of it, we also become connected to those “others.”

We are obviously also tied to our environment – but perhaps for reasons that we are unaware of. The relationship between human beings and the environment is mediated by culture itself. Culture not only provides us with adaptive strategies to survive in our environment, but it also gives us meaning and allows us to thrive in our environment. So because we attach meaning to the environment when people challenge that, they in turn challenge us. Our identity is tied up in our environment, so in losing our environment we are also losing our identity.

What is happening in our world today is that these connections while originally being mediated by culture are moving towards being mediated by the world system. And although I think that capitalism is very successful in the United States perhaps it isn’t such a great mediator for other cultures.

Anthropologists look at the situation from the view of the culture itself – is the culture choosing to change? Or is the US demanding that they change the structure of their society? When this demand occurs the world system does not play the role of a healthy mediator, it actually disables the community and the culture is destroyed while being pulled into the world system.

Now, I’m still not sure what this all means. Does it mean that the US shouldn’t try to help other countries because our way of life doesn’t coincide with theirs? Or should we still attempt to help but in a different way? What if we witness something that is against our ethical values – should we intervene even if the action is part of that society’s culture?

Obviously I am still left with some questions about my role and our country’s role in this world – but I do find some sort of comfort knowing that we, as a globe, really are all intertwined in some way or another.

Baseball Player = Opera Diva?

In Anthro this week we read at article by George Gmelch entitled “Baseball Magic.” Gmelch discusses the rituals, taboos and fetishes that can be found within the world of baseball. He argues that “obviously the rituals and superstitions of baseball do not make a pitch travel faster or a batted ball find the gaps between the fields…what both do however is give their practitioners a sense of control, with the added confidence, at no cost” (Gmelch 185). As I was reading this article I realized that this world of rituals and taboos greatly applies to my own life. But the rituals, taboos and fetishes I witness have nothing do to with baseball - they are part of the world of performers. Although at first glance a professional baseball player and an opera diva seem to have nothing in common, but their superstitions provide similarities between the two very different professions.

Gmelch states that routines are comforting and at times produce tangible benefits. But Gmelch argues that what players often do goes beyond mere routine, “their actions become what anthropologists define as ritual – prescribed behaviors in which there is no empirical connection between the means and the desired end” (Gmelch 182). He says that rituals are not rational are most often irrational. A player may ritualize any activity – eating, dressing, driving to the ballpark – that he considers important or somehow linked to good performance. But baseball players are not the only professionals to have rituals; performers practice many rituals before shows. There are specific rituals every singer does while preparing for a performance; they may eat (or not eat) a specific food, wear a certain undergarment, use the same lipstick or drink the same type of tea from the same mug. Singers feel that by doing practicing these rituals they will perform well. Similarly to baseball players, when success is achieved by a performer it is attributed to the food she ate, or the hair tie she used – and by repeating this behavior before every concert or show the singer seeks to gain control over her performance.

I think the most common superstitions found in performing are taboos. Taboos are the opposite of rituals. If a taboo is broken, players/singers believe that undesirable consequences or bad luck will arise. Gmelch discusses that for baseball players many taboos take place off the field, out of public view. For example, “on the day a pitcher is scheduled to start, he is likely to avoid activities he believes will sap his strength and detract from his effectiveness. Some pitchers avoid eating certain foods, others will not shave on the day of a game…” (Gmelch 183). Singers also have many taboos. It is extremely taboo to drink milk, or eat any kind of dairy before singing. (It is said that the dairy coats your throat and makes phonating more difficult). It is also taboo to whistle in the green room or back stage before a performance. In most professional situations a whistler will actually be fired from a show because whistling is said to doom the performance. The most common taboo throughout the performing world is saying “good luck.” Performers never say “good luck” for fear that it will in actuality remove the luck from their own performance, “break a leg” is often used instead.

Although there are many similarities between the rituals and taboos of baseball players and performers, the basis of the superstitions vary. Baseball players rationalize their rituals because “they bring order into a world in which players have little control.” The game of baseball is greatly based on chance where as the world of performing is not. The superstitions for performers are often rooted in the fear of the public opinion. But wherever the root of superstition lies, the rituals and taboos provide a sense of added confidence for the player or performer and by believing in these rituals and taboos – success may be more easily achieved.