Hispanic cultural practice - I just learned something!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

How is that racist? Or how is that less racist than assuming all Hispanic people believe in "el ojo"?

OP just repeated something she read, as an explanation of something she'd seen: hispanic girl covers baby... to protect from evil eye. OP did not say, "oh those stupid hispanics!"

It's the angry hispanic poster (AHP) who started calling them ignorant, and got all huffy, afraid that she might be lumped in with a group that she (AHP) seems to consider less sophisticated than she.

The "racism" charge only carries any weight where this is a value judgment involved. OP did not make a value judgment. AHP did. Therefore, AHP is the racist, or at the very least, very very snotty.

[Anonymous]

Hey an Indian friend of mine told me they also believe in the "evil eye thing" she talks about it like its absolute truth,so I guess its true to her culture.

[Anonymous]

"Belief in the evil eye is strongest in the Middle East, East and West Africa, Central America, South Asia, Central Asia, and Europe, especially the Mediterranean region; it has also spread to other areas, including northern Europe, particularly in the Celtic regions, and the Americas, where it was brought by European colonists and Middle Eastern immigrants."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal_de_ojo

[Anonymous]

My family is Greek and they, too, believe in the "evil eye."

My mom does some sort of something with oil and says a prayer when she thinks my kids have been "evil eyed." I know how to say it in Greek, but I can't figure out how to translate it... We are not religious and I do not believe in hoodoo, but I gotta say whatever she does works.

My kids also have a pin with an eye on it and a cross that they are supposed to wear to ward it off. They never wear it...

[Anonymous]

Back home, my Italian/Sicilian family and friends still wear the little horn pendants to ward off the malocchio. It's not something we're taking seriously, just a little superstition, tradition...

[Anonymous]

I'm Hispanic and my problem with the op is not the show and tell tone of her post nor her saying that she found out why those women are probably covering their babies. My problem with the op is that it puts all Hispanic people in a big pot labled Hispanic and assumes that we're all the same, with same cultures, beliefes and traditions. Of course the op was making a co-relation of something she saw with an explanation she read, but saying that this is why Hispanic people, as a whole, cover their babies is being shallow and ignorant. When the previous Hispanic poster stated that there is a difference between a poor person from El Salvador and a rich from Argentina, she replied to say that she knows there is probably differences between country folk and city folk. That's ignorant. The difference is so far beyond rural vs city. They are two different countries, two different continents, two different cultures, etc. If I told you white people have a cerimony called christening for their babies and I just found out why, would I be racist because of it? No. But I would be ignorant to assume just because the white people around me do it, it must be a "white person" thing.

[Anonymous]

I am also Hispanic and I think some people are just looking to be offended.

I took it the OP to mean "Now I understand why the Hispanics that I see with their children OVERLY covered are warding off the evil eye." Not all Hispanics, the Hispanics that she SEES doing this.

[Anonymous]

I'm a US-born Latina with parents who immigrated from cities in Central and South America to attend grad school in the the US. Never heard of the evil eye, never overly-bundled up my babies, and was never overly-bundled by my parents as a child (even growing up in the northeast). When I had labor induced with my oldest child, I chose the 13th as his birthdate b/c the OB I liked best in my group practice was on that day. I figured he'd never believe in superstitions, and he doesn't. Oh, wait, I'm forgetting that thing my college roommate, whose family has been in North America since colonial days, told him about black squirrels bringing good luck. (At least that's what she learned growing up in Baltimore, where she attended a toney private school.)

I think we can all agree that many cultures have superstitions, though, generally, most educated people from those cultures don't act on those superstitions. (My friend, for example, doesn't go out of her way to cross paths with black squirrels.) For this reason, while I didn't find OP's post offensive, I did find it naive and simplistic that she seemed to be assuming that all "Hispanics" believe in the evil eye. (I'm willing to give OP the benefit of the doubt here; maybe she doesn't believe this, but just didn't draft her post carefully.) But this is what really dismayed me -- that she -- and many other PPs -- dont' seem to know a single, well-educated Latina -- a friend, a neighbor, a colleague -- who might counter the example of the young women profiled in the Post article. That's the real tragedy -- that, as the article points out, so very few US born-children of Latino immigrants are attending college and entering the mainstream culture.

[Anonymous]

I'm Jane white chick and I believe in the evil eye. The way I understand it is that one shouldn't be boastful of what they have, lest others covet it. And no, I don't cover up my daughter, but I do wear a pendant that "protects" me. It's superstitious, yeah, but it has meaning to me personally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am also Hispanic and I think some people are just looking to be offended.

I took it the OP to mean "Now I understand why the Hispanics that I see with their children OVERLY covered are warding off the evil eye." Not all Hispanics, the Hispanics that she SEES doing this.

This is exactly how I took it. Of course OP doesn't believe ALL Hispanics do anything as everyone is different. She was just talking about learning why the people she saw do something, did it. She may not have phrased it that way, but that's all she meant. People just do a lot of projecting of issues and got offended.
Personally I think the slam on "ignorant, poor" Hispanics was WAY worse than anything the OP said.

[Anonymous]

The evil eye thing is not only in hispanic culture, though there are different ways for dealing with it. In one culture, a small pin with the blue 'eye' is attached to baby's crib or cloth. In another, it's almost taboo to say what a cute baby. The tradition is to say: what un ugly, bad baby - implying that praise will bring on the evil eye. I'm sure other cultures may have similar protective measures against the 'eye'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm Hispanic and my problem with the op is not the show and tell tone of her post nor her saying that she found out why those women are probably covering their babies. My problem with the op is that it puts all Hispanic people in a big pot labled Hispanic and assumes that we're all the same, with same cultures, beliefes and traditions. Of course the op was making a co-relation of something she saw with an explanation she read, but saying that this is why Hispanic people, as a whole, cover their babies is being shallow and ignorant. When the previous Hispanic poster stated that there is a difference between a poor person from El Salvador and a rich from Argentina, she replied to say that she knows there is probably differences between country folk and city folk. That's ignorant. The difference is so far beyond rural vs city. They are two different countries, two different continents, two different cultures, etc. If I told you white people have a cerimony called christening for their babies and I just found out why, would I be racist because of it? No. But I would be ignorant to assume just because the white people around me do it, it must be a "white person" thing.

Really? Which two would that be? Last I heard there were only 7 continents (although some Latin American countries teach the 6 continent theory, combining Europe and Asia)...but under neither scenario do you come up with El Salvador and Argentina being on separate continents.

White (or more correctly, Caucuasian) is a race.
Hispanic isn't a race, it's an ethnicity, which is why you can be black Hispanic or non-black Hispanic under the Census Bureau guidelines.

[Anonymous]

Well OP, hope you've learned that you haven't actually learned much about the evil eye practice beyond the girls in this article. Overly (in whatever definition) covered babies and kids usually has more to do with parents/caregivers from poorer countries and their caution about avoiding the evil of germs (and pollution and exposure) than evil eyes. The "evil eye" can also be understood in many cultures as "bad luck" or "bad vibes" and often reflects the tragedy of high infant mortatlity rates. OP, there's probably lots you could learn from and share with your neighbors by speaking directly with them. Most of us hispanics are pretty friendly.

[Anonymous]

My mother-in-law is from South America and she believes in the "evil eye." She gave me a little ornament that is really neat looking to hang from the baby's stroller. It is very colorful and eye-catching. When I asked her what it was for, she said it was so that people didn't look at the baby and give him "mal de ojo." I think that just means to transmit their bad thoughts or feelings to the baby. I had never heard of this before, but it may also have something to do with religion, since there was also a little picture of Mary on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Belief in the evil eye is strongest in the Middle East, East and West Africa, Central America, South Asia, Central Asia, and Europe, especially the Mediterranean region; it has also spread to other areas, including northern Europe, particularly in the Celtic regions, and the Americas, where it was brought by European colonists and Middle Eastern immigrants."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal_de_ojo

Yes, this is part of Jewish culture too. How seriously do we take it... I don't know. We often display hamsas (for protection against the evil eye-- pretty much like the ones popular in the Arab world) in our homes or wear them as jewelry, though I suspect it's more cultural affirmation badge than amulet for most people. I'll tell you that even with my multiple degrees, I was very eager to buy my daughter a hamsa pendant recently when some bad health news threatened my certainty that I'd be around to protect her. Nothing like an amulet to help you feel like you have some control over a scary, uncertain situation about which you can do little else.