46 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



1—1 !-• 



H 



the most advanced category than women, and 

 more are in the least advanced. The largest 

 category of men are those who wear the "indig- 



enous" calzones with or without huaraches, i.e., 

 one step above the lowest possible category. The 

 second most numerous category is that of men 

 who have both trousers and calzones and who 

 wear both shoes and huaraches, depending upon 

 their activity. 



On the other hand, the most numerous cate- 

 gory of women is tliat which is characterized by 

 shoes and dresses to the exclusion of other com- 

 binations. The second largest category is that 

 of women who wear dresses, and shoes only for 

 festive occasions. This gives the illusion that 

 the women are more progressive than the men. 

 Actually, economic factors are probably more 

 lesponsible. A dress is the cheapest garment a 

 woman can have, and shoes, though relatively 

 expensive, cost far less than a telar or even a 

 good bayeta. Hence, there is a strong induce- 

 ment to adopt this garb. Trousers and shoes, 

 on the other hand, are the most expensive garb 

 for men. In addition, huaraches and calzones 

 are more practical for most occupations; the 

 former deteriorate less rapidly in mud and 

 water and are more easily repaired, while the 

 latter can be more easily washed than heavy 

 trousers. 



Males show little if any correlation between 

 dress and ethnic afHliation. About the same 

 percentages of total numbers of Tarascans and 

 Mestizos are found in each category. On the 

 other hand, among women there is a rough cor- 

 relation between dress and ethnic affiliation in 

 that only women of Tarascan speech wear the 

 most primitive costume. Indian women, how- 

 ever, are found in all of the other major cate- 

 gories, including the most catrin. or citified. 



Among men there is no appreciable correla- 

 tion between age groups and costume. Among 

 women the dress little by little is dri\'inp; out 

 the older forms of garment: of females under 

 30 vears of age 55 percent wear only dresses, 

 while of those over 30, only 36 percent wear 

 dresses to the exclusion of other clothes. The 

 present trend indicates, then, that "indigenous" 

 garb will disappear more rapidly among m'o- 

 men than among men. Shoes and dresses, as 

 the two most citified items, are not as closely 

 correlated as one might expect. A surprising 

 number of barefoot women wear only dresses. 

 On the other hand, only seven women who 

 customarily wear shoes do not wear dresses. 



