Americans traditionally celebrate Halloween on October 31 but recently, a new trend has hit the states. El Dia de los Muertos, The Day of the Dead, is a Mexican celebration that honors the deceased. Some Americans love the female skull face trends that originated from Dia de los Muertos. Many do not know that the skull face evolved from a celebration of the dead. On Dia de los Muertos, people in Mexico paint their faces as skulls, make alters and also give offerings to graves (Hernandez).
Dia de los Muertos has been practiced for at least 3,000 years. "The celebration traditionally starts at midnight the night of Oct. 31 and... continues until Nov 2nd" (Erichsen). During this time, people prepare for the celebration by making alters and food as an offering to deceased souls. "An area of the house is cleaned up and the furniture removed to make room for the altar," this is when families will put the a picture of the deceased and also things that the deceased used to like, such as candy, food or even a toy (Kenyon). Other times, family members will enjoy eating a meal at the grave site of their passed loved ones. People would bring candles and flowers to the grave yard to show that they are welcoming souls back to the world of the living.
Another big tradition of Dia de los Muertos is the skull face painting. "Many euphemisms are used for death, like
La calaca (the skeleton). It might sound somewhat morbid, but the Mexicans react to death with
mourning along with happiness and joy. They look at death with the same
fear as any other culture, but there is a difference. They reflect their
fear by mocking and living alongside death" (Hernandez). In the U.S many girls on Youtube teach viewers how to achieve the skull face look for parties or for Halloween. Also, the female skull face has been a big trend on clothing for men. However people use it, the skull face is almost everywhere.
The day of the dead may seem morbid and taboo to some Americans but the tradition is depicted beautiful in this video. Being half Mexican myself, I feel closer to my heritage from researching the tradition. Although my Mexican family does not celebrate Dia de los Muertos, it is fascinating to know people are celebrating the dead with unique traditions and good intentions.References
Erichsen, Gerald. "Day of the Dead Honors The Deceased." About.com Spanish Language. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
Hernandez, Aracely. "Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead)." Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
Kenyon, Chelsie. "Dia De Los Muertos "Day of the Dead"" About.com Mexican Food. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
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ReplyDeleteI have heard of the day of the dead before but had not known many of these details. It is really interesting that a lot of Americans have taken iconography from Dia de los Muertos to use on clothing, for makeup, or for tattoos. I am rather curious if this is an example of cultural appropriation and what your opinion of Americans using this iconography is.
ReplyDeleteThis is another nice post! Again, I think focusing on one aspect of a culture lets readers develop more of an interest in that culture as a whole...and then a reader (or blogger) can expand their content from Dia de los Muertos" to other Mexican cultural experiences and events.
ReplyDeleteYou also have a nice balance of text and images. I did wonder whether you were going to focus this text on how Americans have modified the Day of the Dead celebrations...but you ended up focusing on Mexico...