Steel and Identity: Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in Lorain, OH
Hygiene
"Bathing once a week was the generally accepted custom in Lorain (except for those with 'dirty' jobs who could shower at the steel mill). Our family bathed using a large galvanized metal laundry tub. My friends and I gave up the laundry tub routine as teenagers; we took showers three or four times a week at the YMCA prior to using its swimming pool." (29)
"There were other put downs, usually based on my physical appearance. Much of the time I went barefoot from spring to autumn, wore cheap, patched, secondhand clothes, and did not change shirt or trousers for several days. The fact that I had only one or two changes of clothes was no excuse- I actually believed that I was supposed to be like that, in keeping with the expressed 'Anglo' view. 'That's the way Mexicans live.'" (25)
