Mexican Daily Life
A brief overview of the traditional lifestyles, clothing, foods, and housing of Mexico.
Traditional Lifestyles of Mexico
In precolumbian times, the common people of Mexico for the most part worked as farmers and craftsmen. While lifestyles varied between the region’s urban centers and rural tribes, their customs followed a few common patterns. Most lived in thatched houses or urban apartments and grew staple crops of maize, beans, and squash, as well as more regional foods like potatoes and peanuts. Their only livestock animals were turkeys, ducks, and short, plump dogs raised for food. The rest of their meat they gained through fishing, hunting, and gathering. Meals were typically served on a maize tortilla topped with meats, vegetables, and sauces. Men worked outside the home, while women focused on producing clothing, tending gardens, and raising children. Under the Aztecs, education for children was mandatory, regardless of their gender or social class.
Meanwhile, the elite members of civilizations like the Aztecs enjoyed a higher standard of living. They owned large urban houses plastered in white clay, keeping household musicians and poets and taking private baths. Their meals were more elaborate, including ingredients like tomato, avocado, chili peppers, and chocolate. In Tenochtitlan, lake algae was sometimes harvested for food as well. White cotton was in high demand for clothing, along with feathers, precious metals, and gemstones.
Daily Life in the Colonial Era
The arrival of the Spanish had an uneven impact on Mexican daily life. The invaders toppled the Aztec monarchy, but many of its nobles remained in power. Peasants began serving encomienda estates instead of paying tributes to the Aztecs. In some cases, they experienced great cruelty, but other areas saw little effective change. Both cultures benefited from food exchanges. The Spanish brought rice, beef, pork, chicken, onions, garlic, and other vegetables to the New World. In turn, the favorite foods of Mexico would spread to influence cuisine around the world. Catholic convents introduced a Spanish tradition inherited from Islamic culture: sweets and candy-making. The art took on its own identity in Mexico, including the use of hot chilis and savory flavors. Over time, the Spanish language and Roman Catholicism came to dominate the colony.
Modern Lifestyles of Mexico
After its independence in 1821, Mexico settled into a still highly stratified society. The estates granted under Spanish encomienda grew larger and larger. Their houses expanded to become small palaces. Local populations, often displaced Amerindians, worked on these haciendas for meager pay or food and board. The estates functioned as small communities, lorded over by an haciendo and his family. Hospitality, an old Spanish ideal, remained an important part of daily life. Many of these ranches burned during the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920. The Revolution brought liberal reforms to Mexico, but it also devastated the common people. As the nation rebuilt, populist arts and music flourished. The instability pushed thousands of young people to emigrate, a trend that would continue to the present day.
Lifestyles in modern Mexico reflect its history of both wealth inequality and rich natural resources. As of 2017, Mexican people worked longer hours than any other developed nation. Poverty is still a widespread issue. Nonetheless, the average people of Mexico enjoy its world-famous cuisine and are more likely to pursue urban careers than rural farming.
References
Aguilar-Moreno, Manuel. Handbook to Life in the Aztec World. Oxford University Press. 2006.
“Average Annual Hours Actually Worked per Worker.” Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, OECD, stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ANHRS.
Beezley, William. The Oxford History of Mexico. Oxford University Press. 2010.
Foster, Lynn. Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World. Oxford University Press. 2002.
Koch, Peter. The Aztecs, the Conquistadors, and the Making of Mexican Culture. McFarland & Co. 2006.
Long-Solis, Janet and Luis Alberto Vargas. Food Culture in Mexico. Greenwood Press. 2005.
Ruiz, Ramon Eduardo. Triumphs and Tragedy: A History of the Mexican People. W. W. Norton & Company. 1993.
“The World Factbook: Mexico.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 7 June 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mx.html.
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