“Baseball Magic,” by Geoorge Gmelch, was a very cute ethnography. It brought to light all the quirky habits that baseball players have and revealed them to be more than mere superstitions. Many baseball players perform rituals or adhere to taboos to do well during a game. For example, outfielder John White picks up a piece of paper before each and every game as a ritual. White truly believes that picking up paper will improve his game as a result of the first instance it happened when he “got some good hits that night” (Gmelch 129). Another player, like pitcher Turk Wendell, wears a necklace with the teeth of all the animals he has ever killed.
I never noticed all the rituals that baseball players put so much care into. Perhaps it is because I don’t watch enough baseball, or perhaps it is because my own religious beliefs are too skeptical to permit rituals and superstitions. The chapter in the Kottak book was about religion and the way people do bizarre things in order to establish control. I don’t have a religion or a need to explain the unexplainable. I don’t have good luck charms or taboos. Friday the 13th is a regular day. If there is a ladder and nowhere else for me to walk, I’ll walk under it. But I did find the text on these things interesting. It’s enlightening to understand people and the way they use their charms. Just this Sunday, when I became an official member of Kappa Phi Alpha sorority, I learned of one of their taboos regarding personal gear (greek lettered clothing). I do not know how specific I can be with what they told me because greek organizations are secretive and I’ve yet to be educated on so much, but regardless I thought what they told me was really silly. I have to adhere to it out of respect because if I don’t they’ll think I’m bringing bad luck upon them. But Gmelch’s story and the Kottak chapter kind of help me understand the taboo.
Gmelch, George. "Baseball Magic." Conformity and Conflict. 4th edition. Pearson. 2008. pp 126-135.
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You may not have good luck charms or taboos (and consider you might be don't notice them because to you they are simply the way life is) but now you are part of a culture that does. So perhaps you might take a look at Chap 3 and consider who culture has you. See grade on BB.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that you called what your sorority does "silly" and yet you do it out of respect. It's funny because that could be juxtapositioned with the silliness of religious dogmas and rituals. The blood of Christ?
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