Horace Miner Body Ritual Among The Nacirema

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Recommended: Emerson's essays on self reliance

Two values central two hegemonic America, as discussed in the readings and lectures, are society’s obsession with self-image and their need to conform to society.
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 …show more content…

Now people take more time to groom and pamper themselves outside of their homes. Some spending hundreds of dollars on hair styles, pedicures, manicures, and many other cosmetic procedures. Overall, self-image has become more of a relevant problem considering how society has advanced. For instance, social media gives a platform to expose people to millions of others around the world. So, if you choose to let yourself go even for a day, you might become the talk of the day to the world. Social media also paints a certain idea of perfection by constantly hyping trends of current fashion and looks. Women are encouraged to follow the “Barbie doll” look while men should be the typical “macho man”. Therefore, insecurities among the society has created an obsession with …show more content…

Lowell and Ellen Holmes’s essay, “The American Culture Configuration”, asserts that people care to much about what their peers think of them. Americans are more concerned over the new/popular ways and trends over originality. For instance, the well-off pretend to be “common” in order to blend in while the common attend lavish events to seem well-off. The essay also mentions that people which are “self-reliant” are individually free as they have power over their own lives. This idea of self-reliance shows up again in Ralph W. Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance”, which intended to encourage others people to have their own thoughts and learn to follow them instead of conforming to “books and traditions”. Because if everyone chooses to conform then there will be no change. Though due to the pressures of society, people lack individuality and choose to

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