The article “The Body Ritual among the Nacirema” gave me a different perspective of how humans look at the human body. I was very shocked and upset because of how much we think the human body is ugly. These people see the body as ugly dirty, and a thing that needs to be hidden and covered. They don’t only think the body is ugly but they think that they must continuously change their body image may it be their teeth breast, whatever it needs to be changed to be seen as prettier. I was able to make distinct connections with the article about some of the changes but I could wasn’t able to connect the painful rituals with body change. I love learning about different cultures and I’m usually not too harsh however, I thought they were much more abusive to their body and unappreciative of it. I could usually watch a video about a Malaysian rural tribe that put metal rings around their neck that makes their neck so thin and long that usually when they are removed their neck snaps however I thought that the Nacirema people’s rituals were worse than that. The Nacirema people practically go to medicine men and can sometimes end up dead because of the extreme changes their trying to do to their bodies and that is just considered to be a part of culture. I was also shocked that the Nacirema people would go to the temple the …show more content…
Some of the painful “remedies” we use to “cure” themselves. We go to the dentist and have them use sharp tools to drill holes to fix old teeth, pull ugly teeth out, put new teeth. We pay lots of money to go to fancy “medicine men” or doctors to have our breast bigger or smaller, our stomach flatter, and our buts bigger. We go to “latipso” or hospitals when we are sick where doctors run test or procedures to help us get better but if we are too sick we can sometimes die right there in the hospital. The Nacirema people are much more like us than we
The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into
“Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner was a very interesting read. It took me a while to actually, fully understand the meaning of the article. The first time that I read through the article I was dumbfounded on how strange the rituals described in the article were. I genuinely thought that the author was describing a very primitive culture found in a remote area of the Americas and did not have the slightest clue that the author was talking about the American culture found in the United States. Originally, the article made me wonder how, in such an advanced world, there could still be such a primitive culture as the one described in the article. The article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner opened my eyes to how another person may look at the American culture and how strange it may seem to them.
In the paper “Body Rituals Among the Nacrima,” written by Horace Miner, we learn of the unique cultural practices of the Nacrima – a North American group. The group has complicated social institutions, hierarchies and cultural practices much like other societies in the world but the practices of this particular group are unique. However, once the reader critically analyzes the passage, they realize that Miner is actually describing the American culture and he does so from the lens of an outsider and demonstrates how strange societies are to an outsider looking in.
The “counselor will validate the individual’s experiences”, and “entertain blame of others” for his or her “problems” (Rose, 2015). “Providing analysis”, and “interpretation of what the individual has experienced (Rose, 2015). Similarities and Differences of Indigenous Healing and Western Psychotherapy The similarities of both Naikan Therapy and Western psychotherapy are that they both help individuals with their suffering, and help them to feel better about themselves, and their lives. Both approaches can and have worked together in some form or another.
There is absolutely no way I would ever want to be part of a culture like the Nacirema. I think we can learn a lot about devotion from this culture. They devote their lives to learning and living for what they believe which is very respectful in a lot of ways. However, the practices that require mutilation and torture are not things that I could ever be part of. No society should ever require their people to suffer in order to hold to their beliefs. It is interesting to study cultures so different from ours because it puts a lot of the freedoms we enjoy into perspective.
The body rituals that I had the privilege of reading in this article among the Nacirema people group were extremely shocking. In America we are sheltered from the information on how these other people groups live around the world. We live in a generation were different ethnic food is shocking, let alone something as intense as the practices of the Nacirema group. A portion of the reading, I found extremely interesting, was the Nacirema’s take on their appearances. It seems no matter where you are in the world; apperances always seem to chain people. It was very intriguing to read about how the people go about the care of their teeth. The “holy-mouth- men” was a vivid description of a very unhealthy approach to dental care. A lack of education
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
2. The body as a subject is evincing humanity beyond cultural construction and linguistic formulation.
The Nacirema people are obsessed with rituals with respect to the self-importance of the human body all in all within a shrine where mostly all their rituals are executed with a numerous amount of charms. The way of life of Nacirema belief is that the human body is not beautiful and its regular propensity to infection which causes a continuation of practicing the customs and extraordinary beliefs. A common ritual done mostly by men is the scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp object. To add alongside, the Nacirema go twice a year to ‘holy-mouth-men’ known as the ‘hierarchy of magical practitioners’ specialists of the mouth. The holy-mouth-man opens the individual's mouth and broadens any gap which rot may have made in the teeth. Magical materials are put into the enlarged man-made holes in the teeth. Miner explains according to the view of the Nacirema, this mouth ritual is to arrest decay and draw friends. Horace makes it sound similar to as going to a dentist to get a brighter and better smile which is a norm that’s forced upon individuals as a must have quality in a
While analyzing “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema,” I noticed that the rituals Miner was referencing were all American rituals. There were subtle hints, for instance, America was written within the title, just spelled backwards. Even though I recognized the rituals Miner mentioned in his article are still very common for most Americans, it was still peculiar to read about. Regardless of how strange Miner was able to phrase American daily rituals, he helped me notice the strange rituals we have today. The most interesting aspect I found in Miner’s article was his ability to make Nacirema people appeal so foreign, but yet so obvious.
Body modification is defined as any deliberate alteration to ones’ physical appearance. Most people think that only tattoos and piercings fall into this classification, but this is barely grazing the surface of the extents that body modification can lead to. Anything from a simple ear lobe piercing to breast implants, or tattoos and scarifications are all considered as some form of modification. In western cultures, modifications are made for aesthetics and self-expression, but every culture is different. Native American tribes find spiritual clarity or vision in body suspension, where the body is literally hung on hooks, and in Imperial China's practice of binding the feet of women to represent wealth and beauty. In this paper we will not only look into different piercings, but the history behind them and tattoos as well, also the different modifications that various cultures practice, and why. I will explore tribes such as the Mursi tribe in Ethiopia and the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, India. By the end you will have learned about various cultures and traditions, and have a whole new perspective of the art of body modification.
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 the US., the therapeutic group seldom has approaches to correspond with individuals of societies so drastically unique in relation to standard American society; even a great interpreter will think that it troublesome deciphering ideas between the two separate societies' reality ideas. American specialists, not at all like Hmong shamans, regularly physically touch and cut into the collections of their patients and utilize an assortment of capable medications and meds.
Cultural relativism is powerful and unique, ascertaining and appreciating people cultural. Cultural relativism is unique but can be hard to understand, upsetting the views, morals, and outlines of culture from the standpoint of that civilization. When analyzing the hominid culture, it provides the luxury of understanding their philosophy from their viewpoint. Taking in another culture without being basis can be daunting. Anthropologist deliberated cultures by exploiting two methods, the emic perspective, and etic perspective. Crapo, R. H. 2013, Section 1.1 defines, the Etic perspective that is, an outsider's or observer's alleged "objective" account—creates a model of a culture by using cross-culturally valid categories, which anthropologists
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