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The impact of globalization on culture
The impact of globalization on culture
The impact of globalization on culture
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At a surface level the native people of Nacirema are foreign, barbarous, and outlandish. Scenes of cosmetic torture and life-threatening practices instill a sense of recitation and awe in readers of Western values. This is exactly what author, Horace Miner, intended in his essay, Body Ritual Among the Nacirema. His critique of Western culture, specifically the United States, is apparent in several aspects beyond the one-layer deep reverse-spelling of “American”, Nacirema. Miner opens the door for discourse on Eurocentrism by his critiques via extended metaphors of physical vanity, medical obsession, and fixated materialism.¬¬¬ In Miner’s essay there exists a large focus on the immense and self-depriving issue of physical modification. The native people’s culture believes “that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease” (Miner 471). This is a comment on American, and perhaps on a broader scope, Western, society’s involvement in body enhancements and modifiers. This shows that Miner argues that humanity is from nature, but society places them apart from it, thereby allowing for this modification. The Nacireman view of weight loss, weight gain, breast enlargement, and breast …show more content…
Though the parallel is not as explicit as the aforementioned physical modifications, Miner’s use of them is characteristic of his commentary toward the focus on vanity. The people are convinced they cannot live without the potions; they are economically bound, to the point that they forget the intended purposes (471). This comment is directed toward the capitalistic exploitation of medicine, vitamins, supplements, etc. The charm box − medicine cabinet − is praised (472). This places medicine as being a false idol, due to the foreign atmosphere, which furthers Miner’s claim of the unworthy focus on medical
The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into
Human needs are similar- health, physical appearance, human body and economic resources to meet these needs. Nacirema culture bears some semblance to more civilized culture. While reading this article it seems most of the practices are similar with modern culture. A major difference is the magic, ritual and the crude method of doing things. One of the cultural practices that stood out for me is the “holy-mouth-men” ritual, which seems like what a dentist will do. I also find interesting the diagnostic ability of the diviner.
The fascination with the body as noumenon can be attested to have taken true momentum with new technologies, particularly in the field of genetics and medicine which resulted in the epiphanic hype that humans themselves had the capacity of altering human bodies. Moreover the range of photographic representations of the body expanded through media globalization and divergence. Thus, photographs of human bodies were caught up in social, racial, gender and ethical struggles in the interpretation of their meanings and uses.
In Horace Miner’s “Body ritual among the Nacirema.” Miner writes about the strange customs and rituals practiced amongst the Nacirema tribe. These rituals revolve mostly around the human body which is seen as “ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease” (Miner, 1). In order to treat their natural afflictions, the natives put themselves through a daily series of seemingly sadistic and brutal rituals that include visiting a holy-mouth man who ”opens the client's mouth and enlarges any holes which decay may have created in the teeth”(3) and “scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument.”(3). Upon closer inspection, the reader soon realizes that the exotic Nacirema tribe that Miner describes is in fact our own culture (Nacirema is American spelt backwards) and that these bizarre rituals are daily actions that we ourselves take part in regularly.
In the article “Body Ritual Among the Nacerima” by Horace Miner wee see the framework for social construction of the Nacerima culture. The Nacerima fundamental belief is to avert their bodies debilitating characteristics with powerful
The reading assigned titled “The Socially Constructed Body” by Judith Lorber and Yancey Martin dives into the sociology of gender with a specific focus on how the male and female body is compromised by social ideals in the Western culture. She introduces the phenomenon of body ideals pressed on men and women by introducing the shift in cosmetic surgery toward body modifications.
After reading Horace Miner’s Body Ritual Among the Nacirema I cannot say that I would want to be part of the tribe. A huge reason would be that I could never go from my own Christian faith to the religious practices of the Nacirema. My second reason for not wanting to be part of the tribe is that I could never be subjected to the horrific medical practices and “magical potions” used on every citizen in the tribe.
The reading, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”, shows the strange and torturous culture traits of the Nacirema of North America. This people are extremely barbaric in their practices, and often torture themselves just to look good. In our modern society, it seems nearly impossible to us to understand, or even partake in these horrific actions. But there is something hidden within the Nacirema culture that would shock the modern American world.
In “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”, Horace Miner (1956) revisits the rituals of a North American group, the Nacirema, as first described by Professor Linton in the early 1900s. Miner depicts these people as quite vain; obsessive over money, appearance and health. While the economic status of a Nacirema individual is extremely important, nothing compares to the significance of the rituals of the body. These rituals tend to involve various steps that allow the Nacirema people to present themselves to the world in their fittest, most beautiful form. The majority of these rituals are performed by the individual in their own home, in extreme privacy. The body is viewed as a disgusting vessel, in need of constant upkeep to be presentable to others. The Nacirema home contains one or more ‘shrines’, devoted to transforming the body into the definition of health and beauty. The main purpose of the shrine is to hold charms and magical potions, bought from
The article, “Body Ritual among the Nacircema” by a Horace Minor, brings the unusual beliefs and practices of these people to light. Minor begins by introducing the North American group and how little is understood about their beliefs. These people lived in a thriving market economy; despite being dedicated laborers, much of their day is set aside for ritual activity that focuses upon the appearance and health of the body. The Nacirema partake in ritual activities in hopes that it will over power the tendency of the body to be ugly and frail, making them healthy by standard.
The satire Body Ritual Among the Nacirema by Horace Miner, bring up the fact of the rituals among the people in North America. Morace Miner calls the people a group called the Nacirema and goes about the rituals they perform. They go into their “ritual activity” at a shrine. The shrine is only discussed by their children. Miner talks about the medicine cabinet and how it holds “many charms and magical potions,” but he calls it a box or chest on the wall. “Human body is ugly” so the people need to go to the “shrine” and fix the problem like women do with makeup. The “tribe” brushes their teeth with “a small bundle of hog hairs and magical powers”. “Holy-mouth-men” are considered to be the dentist to this tribe. The shrine is not all Minor had to say, Minor continued with many everyday things. Women going to the hair salon is “women make their heads in small ovens”. “Fat people thin... thin people fat. ...women's breasts larger if they are small, and smaller if they
Obsession with self-image in American culture was best presented in Horace Miner’s essay, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” which used satire to illustrate American society through an outside viewpoint. Miner asserted through his essay that American people spend a large amount of time and money on improving the human body due to the fact that they are never truly satisfied with themselves. He claims a fundamental belief among these people is that the human body is “ugly”. Therefore, in order to maintain their body and appearance, people make frequent visits to doctors and dentists
In Horace Miner’s article, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”, he talks about a tribe and describes their odd behavior. He tells about how the tribe performs these strange daily rituals and how their peculiarity is extreme, but in fact he is actually speaking of Americans as a whole (Miner). Miner uses this style of writing to more effectively prove his point: that Americans are ethnocentric.
In his essay titled "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema," Horace Miner introduces us to a mysterious tribe of people and their strange daily rituals. According to the author, the Nacirema tribe members subject themselves to various daily tortures and ritualistic behaviors in hopes of achieving the ‘perfect' body. The article mentions several comparisons of the Nacirema tribe habits to the actions of today's society. One of the easily recognizable elements is the extreme mouth rituals referring to today's obsession with oral hygiene. Another example is the fixation with medicine men; a reference to today's fascination with doctors, psychiatrists, and the use of various medications. One of the aspects of today's culture that is similar to the ones
The author Horace Miner’s article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” is a comment on the vanity that is present in the American culture. He focuses on a North American Group, which he considers Naciremas which is Americans backwards. Horace Miner demonstrates that attitudes or daily rituals have a convincing sway on numerous establishments in Nacirema society. The writer uses many metaphors to describe this vanity including his statement that “women” try to cover up their impurities by applying makeup in addition to getting surgeries and other things to fix what they think is wrong. However, in reality Miner uses this metaphor to show that the American culture is vain and always tries to fix its faults and mistakes. Basically, Miner uses the