Who are the Nacirema and how shall they be defined? The dictionary defines an Anthropologist as a person that studies human beings and their ancestors through time and space and in relation to physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture (Webster 2011). I am not claiming to be an Anthropologist however, from my viewpoint, I am not sure if I am capable of grasping my mind around the concept that “the body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease” explained, (“Horace Miner”, 2005). Unfortunately, the Nacirema people believe that this statement is true based on their culture and their belief system. The Nacirema has a rich and an untraceable culture and practice of ritual system that is …show more content…
In Jones findings, “the ancestral spirit, therefore, is above all and it is just a symbol” (“Myth & Symbol…” 1980). My question is, where was Miner getting his information and during that time what was he trying to prove?
Needless to say, we are all creatures that will go through an evolutionary process. Furthermore, with internet moving with the speed of light, we shall all discover new cultures and advancements that will promote behavior changes, new cultural awareness as well as similarities. My question is, was this difficult for Miner to accept?
In conclusion I would like to point out that, Ellin (2008) explained that when Horace Miner in 1956, was using hyperbole as well as rhetorical misreading to defamiliarized his own culture in this essay Body ritual among the Nacirema. “Nacirema is American spelled backwards”. He exposed an obsession with the body that contributed to masochistic tendencies including annual visit to ‘holy men (dentist); and weekly head-baking by women (using hair dryers); lacerating the face with sharp instrument by men (shaving); and he discusses the ritual fast to make fat people thin” (“Life support: Nacirema redux”). Through this entire scenario, my perspective is that Miner was not prepared for change, growth nor evolution. * Works Cited
Dimsdale, J. E. (2001). The Nacirema Revisited. Annals Of
Horace Miner’s “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” was a very entertaining essay. The essay made made fun of American culture without directly stating the name of the culture, other than including the word American spelled backwards. Miner bring to the reader’s attention the odd rituals practiced in America that the normal citizen would not find strange at all. However, by presenting his essay in this form he shows how strange American customs are from the view of someone in a different country.
In 1956 a professor from the University of Michigan, Horace Miner, wrote an article in The American Anthropologist that has become a mainstay of learning for anthropology students. Miner published the article to show a fictional exotic society called “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” as an example of how one’s own limited perspective might affect the perception of a foreign culture (Miner, 1956, p. 503). The article uses subtle humor to make the reader more comfortable in examining cultural behaviors, physical appearance, and health as the reader soon discovers that the actual society being examined is the American society. To the reader, the article begins to sound very familiar after each paragraph is
What are the private and secret shrines of the Nacirema? In the Nacirema, the belief is that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to the hope that mans body will be changed through the use of the powerful influences of ritual and ceremony. Each family has at least on such
Over those years, I believe that their culture has undergone social changes or even degreased it member. For one reason could be that outsider would want to stop their extreme ways compared to their culture. In other factor that might have been exposures to our culture and the technical advances from recent years. Culture is dynamic meaning it can have adopted to new changes, but it can also loose traditional knowledge in the process (Blanco). I believe this has been the case for the Nacirema, but I also believe that our culture is not that different from theirs. One example as mention earlier is that we both trust a “medicine men” or a doctor that prescribes us medicine or “magical potion” that is suppose to heal us. Another example how are society protrude our body. “… pervasive aversion to the natural body and its function. There are ritual fasts to make fat people thin and ceremonial feast to make thin people fat (Miner). Similarity, we set unrealistic standard for people which makes people want to go on diets or seek breast surgery to achieve that ideal body image imposed my society. It may not be as extreme as their culture, but many cultures aspect do overlap one other. We are not as different or as righteous as we envision our culture to
In the essay “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”, anthropologist Horace Miner depicts a group of people known as the “Nacirema”, but is referring to Americans, whose cultural beliefs are deeply rooted in the perspective that the human body is prune to sickness and disfiguration. Consequently, a substantial part of their lives is spent on unusual rituals and customs to improve conditions of the body that are filled with magical components. Moreover, Miner uses the Nacirema’s unusual culture to establish his view that we simply could not judge another culture that it is different from our own, as opposed to another anthropologist Malinowski’s point that we can judge another culture since we are
Horace Minor applied satire in his article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema.” to the culture of the American people. Several ways in which “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” relate to the core concepts of sociology are through the use of sociological imagination, ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. The American culture is described by Minor in a very unique and humorous way. The author uses satire to examine the rituals that are every day in American culture. The reader thinks at the beginning of the article that they are reading about some uncivilized tribe of people but soon realized that the “rituals” that are being performed are just everyday events that take place in every American household.
In this article, Miner takes the role of an outsider and judges the Nacirema just as we judge other cultures. Miner does an exceptional job of wording things in such a way that we don’t even recognize our own culture. Miner wants us to realize that when someone, such as an anthropologist describes another culture, we can interpret that into being abnormal but in actuality, it is, by all means, very normal.
Horace Miner wrote the article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”, in which he described and detailed the various body rituals practiced among the Nacirema culture. Horace starts the article by explaining that anthropologists encounter all types of cultural and ritualistic extremities, but the Nacirema body rituals are among some of the most extreme observed. The
This is about a culture called Nacirema that is practiced in many different place and was brought to the attention of the Anthropologist attention by Professor Linton to talk about this culture that was poorly understood. The Nacirema is a type of culture that is summed up as that these people that believe in this culture that the human body is ugly and that the natural tendencies are meant to debilitate and cause disease. They are also big believes in rituals and ceremonies in the household to preform these ceremonies either as a family but in most cases it was privately. Where they would receive charms and other items form the medicine man of the community that would help with a certain problem. They would use these magic items to help with
"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" is significant as it establishes the issue of representation in ethnography. The purpose of the article is to raise the question of how can we study a different culture from the outside and how can we understand our own culture from within. Culture can be defined in many ways, Tylor (1871) stated that culture is; “…that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” Therefore, the article presents the topic of cultural relativism, arguing that there is no impartial viewpoint from which to assess cultures, that every culture should be interpreted and understood from the
The term Anthropology refers to the study of mankind as a whole. In the article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner, the introduction of a new cultural perspective crosses the boundaries of today’s societal norms. Horace Miner is mainly known for his studies in mankind, and as an anthropologist he must take into consideration, without preconceived opinions the variety of unique cultures within the human race. The Nacirema is a group living in North America whose culture, through the perspective of Horace Miner showcases human behavior taken to its highest degree. There is a common belief among the people of Nacirema in which it is the human body is prone to weakness and disease; therefore, in becoming the focal point of the
Horace Miner describes the people of the North American tribe the Naciremas as persons “devoted to economic pursuits (Body Ritual Among the Nacirema. Miner. 503.3.2)” and ritual activities of the human body. Miner uses a satirical style, play on words to abnormally describe such cultural upon this tribe. Throughout the text, Miner uses words and or phrases such as: “sadism, masochistic, neophyte, awls, and objects in the exorcism of the evils of the mouth involves almost unbelievable ritual torture of the client.” Horace Miner, uses those such words and phrases to describe the various everyday rituals conducted by the Naciremas by producing ethnocentrism through the readers of his text.
Horace Miner was a professor for the University of Michigan. He sought out to teach young people the importance of cultural anthropology. ("Horace Mitchell Miner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia", n.d) In June of 1956, he released an article that he had written called, “Body Rituals Among the Nacirema” in the American Anthropologist (vol 58, pp 503-507) Miner writes so cleverly as he explores the culture that of the
Horace Miner’s essay, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”, focused on rituals among the people of the “Nacirema” tribe (or the American people). The first main idea of the essay is that all people of this group spend most of their time and earnings on “ritual activity” which targets improving the human body. Leading to the second main idea of the essay which asserts that a fundamental belief among these people is that the human body is “ugly”. The final and overall main idea of the reading is obsession over self-image has caused these people more stress than necessary.
Miner’s article presents numerous anthropological concepts including culture, social behaviors, symbols, material culture and holism. While providing us with a synchronic view of an unexplored culture, Miner tackles the principle mindset that governs the “Nacirema’s” social customs and “rituals”, looks at key symbols and material possessions as the focus of the culture, and highlights the importance of studying a culture in its entirety to gain a full and accurate understanding.