THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF BATH IN TWO COMMUNITIES TEMAZCAL OF THE MIXTECA REGION: SANTIAGO YOLOMECATL AND SAN ANDRES CHICAHUAXTLA

The bathroom of temazcal is a knowledge of pre-Hispanic roots still practiced in rural and indigenous communities in our country. Studies on the temazcal have focused on its forms of construction and operation, however, the many therapeutic benefits temazcal bath attached to the human body, and women in particular, not have been sufficiently documented. In this case, two communities of the Oaxacan mixteca were studied: Santiago Yolomecatl and San Andrés Chicahuaxtla. In this study, a questionnaire was applied to 20 per cent of families in each of the communities, a questionnaire to allopathic doctors and six stories of life at temazcaleras. The results indicate a coincidence between patients and doctors in the study populations on the medicinal uses of the temazcal bath: after childbirth and for muscle aches, however, interviewed temazcaleras indicate diseases that cures this bath are: angina, flu, rheumatism, scars, muscle aches after childbirth and cramping. For its part, doctors support the idea of preserving the temazcal bath because it is a healing means to treat diseases through steam and faster recovery of the body. The constructivist analysis of the responses gathered in questionnaires and life stories shows that the medicinal uses of the temazcal, before being recognised 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, rules and social symbols