How cutlery defines eating, how eating defines us?

Yesterday was about knives, today about cutlery. All over the world we use some sort of cutlery. Different sorts of eating tools like spoons, forks, knives, chopsticks, hands, mouths.

Every country and culture has his own eating habits. His own etiquette, rules and traditions on how to eat your food. I never really looked into it, but I think the world has three main eating habits and matching cutlery. The first one is prehistoric, using your hands and mouth. The other one is using some sorts of knives, forks and spoons. And the last one, using chopsticks. A basic, a Western and a Eastern approach on cutlery.

Cut·ler·y noun, drawing and diagram, 2012

The cutlery we use has a great influence on how we eat, and the other way around.
When we use our hand and mouth we will sip with sound. Cut our food with our teeth or tear it apart with our hands.
When we use chopsticks we would bring the food into our mouths by manipulating the food between two sticks. Cutting, tearing with our teeth and sticks.
When we use spoons or knives or forks, we make everything bite size.

I guess the spoons, forks and knives are the youngest of cutlery. Perhaps the most refined, because these are the only ones who will do almost all the work for you. You just need to chew and swallow. 

 (my) ways of eating, video still, 2012

I got intrigued by these different ways of eating, all the etiquette, traditions and rules about eating.  As a young girl I was taught to eat soup with a spoon and make no sound. But I would see my dad and uncle gobble and loudly sip there soup, placing their mouths on the bowl and shove all the food inside their mouths using their chopsticks. It was such a difference, totally opposite, but in the end has the same result.

I grew up eating with chopsticks at home and other cutlery outside the house. Although my chopstick grip isn't traditional or great at all, it works. Ever since I was young I noticed that eating with chopsticks wasn't the status quo. Because every time friends would stay over for dinner, my dad or brother needed to teach them how to use chopsticks.The reason why I knew how to eat with chopsticks was because of my dad. A connection to the Eastern way of eating.

My mom taught me to eat with my mouth closed, don't talk with food in your mouth. That was all inappropriate, bad habits. But looking at my Chinese family all of these rules weren't obeyed. Making the differences between European and Asian eating habits visible.

All of this makes me wonder about how we all eat, but all have such different ways. How much your upbringing influences your eating habits. And even your definition of food and eating. I guess it shows how our childhood and upbringing forms us, defines us and makes us who we are, in one way or another. Don't you think?