Estrella Arauz
Bourdieu’s definition of habitus is rather complicated but in my own words its defined as a form of lifestyle with values and expectations that is embedded in different social groups. Habitus helps form individuals in a social group and shape the way they think, act, and how they react to society.
This past Thanksgiving break, I went to Ecuador and I traveled to several different towns. There is a town called “Otavalo” that has a population that is primarily indigenous. What was interesting was the way that the people carried themselves and their dress attire. In this town, women were dressed in layers, although it was about 70 degrees out and wore gold thick layered jewelry around their neck. Their skirts covered their legs and there was no show of skin aside from their hands and face. Even their head was covered. Men had long braids below their waist area. I learned that they are not allowed to cut their hair—if they do, it is a sign of disgrace to their culture and they are not to label themselves as residents of this particular town. I was able to see many generations, even kids that dressed in the same attire. It is embedded in their values to never forget their culture and their attire is one of the many visual signs that prove that.
Aside from visual signs, there are also other values that they live up to. They are very family-oriented and religious. There is a church in the middle of the town that they all attend. The percentage of divorce rates are rather low—if at all. Marriage is taken very seriously and the quote “’til death do us part” is what they live up to. I compared this lifestyle to the one in the U.S. society where divorce rates have skyrocketed. Our lifestyle is rather liberal compared to towns like Otavalo, Ecuador. But, that can be explained through our exposure and acceptance to divorce. In Otavalo, that is hardly tolerated because it is heavily embedded in their values.
I was also able to visit the civilized part of the Amazon in Ecuador in the jungle. Here, European men marry indigenous women because they consider INDIGENOUS women to be PURE. They are not mixed and believe that because of the differences in European men and indigenous women, that their children will come out very healthy and strong—(it is believed that the more biological differences there are in a couple, the healthier their children will be. For example, an Asian woman and an African American man or a white man and a black woman) It was interesting to see these very handsome, blue-eyed, light skinned European men married to very dark-skinned, short, dark haired, indigenous women. But this is very common in their lifestyle and they believe that this will make their race a lot stronger and pure.
Indigenous women in this town also do not wear clothes. They wear leaves to cover their private parts. Their homes are built on top of trees like tree houses to protect them from wildlife on the ground. Their flexibility and speed of coming down and up the trees are impressive! Arriving into this town was rather different—their welcome was done this way: The women would chew on this particular herb and spit it out on a plate and you were expected to eat it. If you did not eat it it was a sign of disrespect and you were not allowed in. I found this to be so shocking to have to eat what in their mouth. The weird part was that their teeth were BLACK because they do not use toothbrushes or toothpaste; they use leaves to clean their teeth. That’s why they have no cavities, but their teeth are black.
Overall, habitus defines social groups and the way they carry themselves. Here are two clear examples of how habitus takes place within social gr
Bourdieu’s definition of habitus is rather complicated but in my own words its defined as a form of lifestyle with values and expectations that is embedded in different social groups. Habitus helps form individuals in a social group and shape the way they think, act, and how they react to society.
This past Thanksgiving break, I went to Ecuador and I traveled to several different towns. There is a town called “Otavalo” that has a population that is primarily indigenous. What was interesting was the way that the people carried themselves and their dress attire. In this town, women were dressed in layers, although it was about 70 degrees out and wore gold thick layered jewelry around their neck. Their skirts covered their legs and there was no show of skin aside from their hands and face. Even their head was covered. Men had long braids below their waist area. I learned that they are not allowed to cut their hair—if they do, it is a sign of disgrace to their culture and they are not to label themselves as residents of this particular town. I was able to see many generations, even kids that dressed in the same attire. It is embedded in their values to never forget their culture and their attire is one of the many visual signs that prove that.
Aside from visual signs, there are also other values that they live up to. They are very family-oriented and religious. There is a church in the middle of the town that they all attend. The percentage of divorce rates are rather low—if at all. Marriage is taken very seriously and the quote “’til death do us part” is what they live up to. I compared this lifestyle to the one in the U.S. society where divorce rates have skyrocketed. Our lifestyle is rather liberal compared to towns like Otavalo, Ecuador. But, that can be explained through our exposure and acceptance to divorce. In Otavalo, that is hardly tolerated because it is heavily embedded in their values.
I was also able to visit the civilized part of the Amazon in Ecuador in the jungle. Here, European men marry indigenous women because they consider INDIGENOUS women to be PURE. They are not mixed and believe that because of the differences in European men and indigenous women, that their children will come out very healthy and strong—(it is believed that the more biological differences there are in a couple, the healthier their children will be. For example, an Asian woman and an African American man or a white man and a black woman) It was interesting to see these very handsome, blue-eyed, light skinned European men married to very dark-skinned, short, dark haired, indigenous women. But this is very common in their lifestyle and they believe that this will make their race a lot stronger and pure.
Indigenous women in this town also do not wear clothes. They wear leaves to cover their private parts. Their homes are built on top of trees like tree houses to protect them from wildlife on the ground. Their flexibility and speed of coming down and up the trees are impressive! Arriving into this town was rather different—their welcome was done this way: The women would chew on this particular herb and spit it out on a plate and you were expected to eat it. If you did not eat it it was a sign of disrespect and you were not allowed in. I found this to be so shocking to have to eat what in their mouth. The weird part was that their teeth were BLACK because they do not use toothbrushes or toothpaste; they use leaves to clean their teeth. That’s why they have no cavities, but their teeth are black.
Overall, habitus defines social groups and the way they carry themselves. Here are two clear examples of how habitus takes place within social gr