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How Children in a Maya Village Do Chores

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Re: How Children in a Maya Village Do Chores

#191
post #27

I know this is a bit petty, but I've stared to resent a little that even though I'm Mexican, I'm not considered Western. What am I, then? Eastern? Central? Southern? I'm not just arguing about the geography, but about the culture. I feel much more like a Canadian or a USian (or a Guatemalan) than I feel like an African, Middle Easter, East Asian, or South Asian. I speak the same languages as Europe, have been mostly…

My friend, this was something that surprised me 15-20 years ago when thanks to the Internet I started to interact with Americans. At the end Western is a code word for White dominated places or sometimes just Anglo. This came from Huntington's Clash of Civilizations a profoundly ignorant work. As you wrote you can live in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo or Mexico City, huge cosmopolitan places, maybe you have some recent rel…

[deleted]

Re: How Children in a Maya Village Do Chores

#192
post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But it's not. North America and South America are just as separate as Africa and Eurasia. Could you clarify that? I understood that as both cases are separated by a channel (Panama vs Suez), or did you have another meaning?

Well in both cases North/South America and Africa/Eurasia are on different tectonic plates.

Gotcha, thanks!

Re: How Children in a Maya Village Do Chores

#193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People think it saves time and trouble to push their kids around in strollers instead of letting them walk (very slowly at first), set them in walled cribs for 12 hours per day instead of letting them move about, sit them in high chairs to eat, get them to play in small fenced places with no sharp corners, let them stay in little rolling walker chairs, pre-process all their food into mush, not let them climb up or do…

There's a couple of outliers in your list IMO. Long-legged "high" chairs raise the child to a comfortable table height. How else do you expect then to sit at the same table as much taller people? Giving soft food, to people with no teeth, also just seems entirely sensible. We pretty much all just ate the same food at family meals, but even then we'd mush vegetables and pre-chew meat (from about 5-6 months). Otherwise…

The problem is not with sitting in high chairs ever, at any age. The problem is with being carted from one stationary place to another and never getting to move about, even up through age 3 or 4.

My kid eats at least half his meals standing on his feet, starting when he was 14 or 15 months old, either on the kitchen floor with a low table, or on chairs at restaurants. Another quarter of meals he is sitting in a high chair. The last quarter he is sitting on someone’s lap or a booster seat or some other arrangement.

But someone could certainly sit in a constrained chair for every meal up through age 2 and still manage to get plenty of time to move independently. From age 2.5 or 3 kids could be sitting on a Tripp Trapp chair or the like, something that lets them sit at the table without being stuck.

Eating soft and pre-processed food is similar: kids who don’t have any molars yet can’t chew much, but I see 3-year-olds eating nothing but mushed up food. Biting and chewing hard foods is what the jaws and teeth were evolved to do, and if they don’t get a chance they don’t develop properly. I had friends whose parents cut the crust off their bread, shelled nuts for them, peeled shrimps, only ever gave them boneless pieces of meat, etc. even as teenagers; we shouldn’t be infantilizing people who aren’t infants.

Re: How Children in a Maya Village Do Chores

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are a house-wife or -man doing chores related to your home and family is literally your job. How can you argument with "don't want to"?

Some people mop the floors every day. Other people don't do that every day. Can we say whose decision is wrong ?

The higher standard of both partners should apply, and should be held-up by the partner that stays at home. If they don't match there's something wrong.

E.g. if you want fresh warm food for dinner and your wife just always buys microwave food because she doens't like to cook, then you got the wrong wife (resp. she got the wrong husband).

Or if your are a slob and mess up the house, and your wife nags you to clean up after yourself because she cares about having a clean home. Then she got the wrong husband and vice versa.

Re: How Children in a Maya Village Do Chores

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>America is a continent, But it's not. North America and South America are just as separate as Africa and Eurasia. >sticking to definitions that are internationally agreed upon. "American" is used as the demonym pretty much everywhere in the world other than Central America and South America. So that advice is backwards. And try to empathize by imaging that you can't call yourself a demonym, and you have to either go…

> "American" is used as the demonym pretty much everywhere in the world other than Central America and South America. Solely by misappropriation. America was world-wide known as a continent before England sent their colonizers. Somehow migrating to America was misappropriated as meaning "migrating to the English colonies in America". Somehow the United States of America became the only America. I have the theory that…

Of course the only reason we use the term "American" is because of the USA! It's a natural term for residents of the USA, and has become ingrained in English by virtue of America being the largest English speaking country for nearly 200 years. Do non-English speakers have a problem with this? In Spanish the term for USA is "Estados Unidos" which isn't problematic at all.

Re: How Children in a Maya Village Do Chores

#196
post #142
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know this is a bit petty, but I've stared to resent a little that even though I'm Mexican, I'm not considered Western. What am I, then? Eastern? Central? Southern? It's not about the geography. It's more about development (e.g. money) and culture -- and in essence an arbitrary historical capture of the term by Western Europeans and WASP-like Americans to mean themselves. It's best to not thing such terms as about…

Insignificant or not they will live on through the consumerist culture they have refined and disseminated, just like the Romans live on in Western mores themselves.

Even that is easy to change. All it takes if a few economic busts and/or environmental issues, and here comes religion and frugality and so on again...

Like those Roman mores had themselves been supplanted by orthodox/catholic Christian (and then puritan protestant Christian) mores the west.

Re: How Children in a Maya Village Do Chores

#197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My friend, this was something that surprised me 15-20 years ago when thanks to the Internet I started to interact with Americans. At the end Western is a code word for White dominated places or sometimes just Anglo. This came from Huntington's Clash of Civilizations a profoundly ignorant work. As you wrote you can live in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo or Mexico City, huge cosmopolitan places, maybe you have some recent rel…

That's one of the greatest comments I've read on here. 100% gringo here, UK-born Australian. About 10 years ago I started meeting latin americans online (also filipinos), I liked them so much I learnt spanish and was soon chatting online 95% with latin american friends. Played Clash of Clans in a colombian clan hehe, love watching online chess tournament commentary in spanish etc. Am starting to love Portuguese too.…

American here. "Anglo", as you might call it.

As other commenters have mentioned, perhaps not outright, your comment carries a great deal of racist undertones.

I've travelled a bit through Europe and have travelled through Mexico for around 1.5 years.

I love Mexico, it's culture, and its people. Like all people, they largely wish to have a happy life.

With that said, each individual should be judged off their personal merit.

In many ways I feel there is a great deal of similarities between Mexican and American culture, in particular (and perhaps ironically) when comparing Mexico to the American South.

To counter your point, I've seen just as much racism and classism among Mexicans/Latin people as I have Americans (many Mexicans are quick to point out that they are also "American". This is technically correct)

Personal anecdote: I was sitting at a house party with some friends for Mexico's Independence Day.

I met someone new, we exchanged pleasantries, and the next words out of his mouth were "I don't really like your people" after he found I was American.

This conversation ended amicably after I asked him how he would view me if I'd say the same thing about Mexicans. He reconsidered his point.

Anyhoo, judge people off their individual behavior, not based on the color of their skin.

Re: How Children in a Maya Village Do Chores

#198
post #27

I know this is a bit petty, but I've stared to resent a little that even though I'm Mexican, I'm not considered Western. What am I, then? Eastern? Central? Southern? I'm not just arguing about the geography, but about the culture. I feel much more like a Canadian or a USian (or a Guatemalan) than I feel like an African, Middle Easter, East Asian, or South Asian. I speak the same languages as Europe, have been mostly…

There are some significant cultural/heritage differences between Mexico and the United States. The current population of Mexico is a result of large scale admixture between indigenous people and European colonists, whereas essentially no such admixture occurred in the US. Also, the US is culturally descended from Northern Europeans, whereas the European aspect of Mexican culture is descended from Southern Europe. The Northern/Southern cultural divide in Europe is pretty significant and I would guess that, in practice, the term “The West” primarily refers to Northern Europe rather than Southern (or Eastern) Europe.

Re: How Children in a Maya Village Do Chores

#199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because she does not want to. Then either you do it or if you too don't want to do it just leave it undone. Most chores are optional anyways.

If you are a house-wife or -man doing chores related to your home and family is literally your job. How can you argument with "don't want to"?

My argument is that as an adult you decide what you want to do. Even if you are hired and you are working for someone when he tells you to do something you can decide you don't want to do it and don't do it.

And that's when you have written agreement as what you should be doing at your job. There's no written marriage agreement that says what married woman should do when she has no job.

Re: How Children in a Maya Village Do Chores

#200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people mop the floors every day. Other people don't do that every day. Can we say whose decision is wrong ?

The higher standard of both partners should apply, and should be held-up by the partner that stays at home. If they don't match there's something wrong. E.g. if you want fresh warm food for dinner and your wife just always buys microwave food because she doens't like to cook, then you got the wrong wife (resp. she got the wrong husband). Or if your are a slob and mess up the house, and your wife nags you to clean up…

My approach is, when you want something done, you have to be ready to do it yourself or stop wanting it.

If you want home cooked meal and your wife doesn't cook for her own pleasure they you can ask her to do it for you, if she does, you must thank her, if she refuses, you must accept and respect her decision and either stop wanting home cooked meals or make them yourself.

Of same approach should be applied by both spouses.

As far as I know that's best recipe for happy, conflict-free life.

Expecting someone to do something will lead to disappointment, miscommunication and general decline of relationship.

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