The social construction of the temazcal bath in two communities of the Oaxacan Mixtec: Santiago Yolomecatl and San Andrés Chicahuaxtla

Abstract

The temazcal bath is a tradition with pre-Hispanic roots that is still practiced in rural and indigenous communities in our country. The studies carried out on the temazcal have focused on its construction and operation methods, however, the multiple therapeutic benefits that the temazcal bath provides to the human body, and to women in particular, have not been sufficiently documented. In this case, two communities in the Mixteca region of Oaxaca were studied: Santiago Yolomecatl and San Andrés Chicahuaxtla. In this study, a questionnaire was applied to 20% of families in each of the communities, a questionnaire to allopathic doctors and six life stories to temazcaleras. The results indicate a coincidence between patients and doctors in the study populations regarding the medicinal uses of the temazcal bath: after childbirth and for muscle pain. However, the interviewed temazcal women indicate that the diseases that this bath cures are: tonsillitis, flu, rheumatism, scars, muscle pain, after childbirth and colic. For their part, the doctors support the idea of ​​maintaining the temazcal bath because it is a curative means to treat diseases through steam and faster recovery of the body. The constructivist analysis of the responses collected in questionnaires and life stories shows that the medicinal uses of the temazcal, before being recognized as such, go through a process of evaluation, filtration and social construction. This process of acceptance, perception and recognition occurs through rules of knowledge, ideological connotations, norms and social symbols.