The Body Ritual of the Nacirema It is human nature to describe one's own culture as the most advanced and most intellectual. Unfortunately, it is also common practice to look down upon the practices of another culture because they are not similar to one's own traditions. The ability to do this can sometimes be a damaging characteristic for society as a whole. Horace Miner realized the implications of egocentric views and wrote a groundbreaking essay to open society's eyes to their biases
The Nacirema: Another Look Written by Horace Miner, this essay of the people group Nacirema is an interesting look at their everyday functions. The tribe Miner describes is seemingly primal and uncivilized, and yet somewhat familiar. The entire account of these mysterious people describes unusual and strange behaviors and activities. The brief overview on the Nacirema is graphic from Miner’s point of view. When the meaning of the story becomes clear, the purpose for writing it becomes either
Body Ritual Among the Nacirema What is the precise geographical location of this strange tribe, the Nacirema? The Nacirema is a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, though tradition states that they came from the east. What are the private and secret shrines of the Nacirema? In the Nacirema, the belief is that the human body is ugly and
Ritual Among the Nacirema 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. Miner does an exceptional job in disguising the Nacirema as Americans.
Truth Exposed in Body Rituals among the Nacirema “Body Rituals among the Nacirema” is a document written by Mr. Horace Miner. Miner was a graduate of the University of Chicago, with a degree in anthropology. Throughout his life, Miner was dedicated to his studies ranging in anthropology to sociology. He was very interested in the study of anthropology, but Miner disagreed with the way that other cultures were represented. He thought American anthropologists believed that the American culture
An Interesting Connection Many times people can be put into a situation that would make them feel uncomfortable. It may be even worse when a situation like that is the way and style that you live. In the two stories A Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, by by Horace M. Miner, and Reclaiming Culture and the Land: Motherhood and the Politics of Sustaining Community by Winona LaDuke, this situation is just that. In both of the stories, the main character or characters are living in a situation where
In the article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner, the author describes that the Nacirema civilization connected by their social believe through the mythology of their cultural hero. According to the analysis of the author, the Nacirema culture uses different people to maintain their social believes and exercise their power to create social solitary. The people of Nacirema society believes their civilization was originated by a cultural hero, and they believe they should follow their
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
While analyzing “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema,” I noticed that the rituals Miner were 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
but define their culture and give them a distinct personality. In “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”, author Horace Miner (1956) recalls his studies about a “North American group called the Nacirema, living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Taraumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles” (Miner, 1956). During his expedition, Miner (1956) viewed many outwardly odd Nacirema practices such as “using magical potions and charms to defend against ailments, or drilling
pertains to a story. “In the Body Rituals of the Nacirema”, “The ones who walk away from Omelas”, And “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” , you come to recognize
Understanding the Nacirema When a person visits a foreign country it may be difficult for them to understand the other countries culture. To better understand this Miner wrote a paper about a foreign country in his perspective. Miner wrote a paper about the Nacirema titled “Body Rituals of The Nacirema”. The work was a little vague but true, shows the American way of life, and has many hidden meanings. Miner describes the Nacirema with vague but true detail about what he saw happening. “In this
tribe called Nacirema, it sounded so unfamiliar, but once it spelled backward it became familiar. People can recognize right away once Nacirema spelled backward and became ‘American’. In Miner’s essay, Nacirema sounds so far away and mysterious, they have many strange customs and traditions that hard to comprehend, but when ‘Nacirema’ were actually American, all those actions of Nacirema tribe, are much easier to understand. Miner incorporates double speak skill in the article ‘Nacirema’ he takes many
the Naciremas? Why or why not? 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. One of the fundamental beliefs of the Nacirema is
of the Nacirema, Horace Miner demonstrates through his study of the North American tribe Nacirema that “attitudes about the body” have a significant influence of human behavior within the people and can give a glimpse into some of the most extreme behaviours humans can reach. He argues that the beliefs and practices of the Nacirema, which have a sort of magical connotation, are so bizarre that members assume an extreme in human behavior is very easily within their community. The Nacirema, a North
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
compelled to colonize these natives? In the two articles, “Body Rituals of Nacirema” by Miner Horace and “Geographical Basis of World History” by Hegel
“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
article, Body Ritual among the Nacirema, spoke of the many ritualistic activities a native people known as the Nacirema undergo on a daily basis. As described by Horace Miner, the Nacirema’s daily life involved rituals that focused on the appearance and health of the human body. According to Miner, the Nacirema people believe that the human body is ugly therefore; they try to diverge from this fate by engaging in different rituals and ceremonies. For example, the Nacirema have special shrines where private
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. Minor continues, every household has at least on shrine in the shrine room; the family’s economic status