of the perceived “normal” individual‚ rituals and rites performed by individuals as part of a different culture might seem harsh‚ cruel or even barbaric. After my first read of "Body Ritual among the Nacirema"‚ that is how I perceived their daily way of life. They believe in magic potions‚ seeking pain from the “holy – mouth – men” a couple of times a year‚ and the men and women perform acts that seem to contradict one another by trying to obtain abnormal body shapes‚ and then the men cut their face
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After reading the article‚ I conclude the author is trying to teach or inform us about the Nacirema tribe and their way of life. By writing about their civilization the reader can learn how they live through rituals and what they practice. Miner discusses about Nacirema’s exotic customs‚ ritual activities‚ the shrine‚ their magical practitioners‚ oral care‚ harsh physical ceremonies‚ witchdoctors‚ breast rituals‚ thoughts on intercourse‚ and magical power. Once I read about these aforementioned topics
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The original use of the term was in Body Ritual Among the Nacirema‚ which satirizes anthropological papers on "other" cultures‚ and the culture of the United States. Horace Miner wrote the paper and originally published it in the June 1956 edition of American Anthropologist. In the paper‚ Miner describes the Nacirema‚ a little-known tribe living in North America. The way in which he writes about the curious practices that this group performs distances readers from the fact that the North American
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Many of the practices Miner mentions in the article aren’t really strange to the Nacirema culture. But an outsider views the practices as odd. For example‚ Miner mentions about a shrine box‚ which translate to a medicine cabinet being strange to the outsider. The charms and magical potions in the shrine box being the medicine needed cure the ills and maladies of an individual. Medicine had a purpose of curing those maladies for many with similar ills. But the outsider views pulling out these magical
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Comparing the Nacirema culture to what I know to be considered "normal" from living in the United States my entire life gives you a whole new aspect of thinking towards why others act and feel the way that they do. One comparable thing is that everyone‚ no matter your culture or who you are‚ has a focus of concern towards their own appearance and health. The Nacirema culture is different in this aspect by the way they go about their concerns of their appearance and health‚ which I am sure the majority
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the Nacirema Culture Ethnocentrism is defined as a belief that one’s own culture is superior. This article uses metaphors’ to describe our own well to do American society. As we read the article we automatically judge and think that the Nacirema’s are barbaric people who seem very uneducated and masochistic‚ when in fact we follow the same practices. As we read this article‚ we see the Nacirema as a masochistic culture which gave their possessions for the chance to be treated with rituals they
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After realizing “Nacirema” is American spelled backwards‚ it becomes evident that Miner is criticizing American culture. He describes the “tribes” behavior with a focus on changing personal appearance and magic-based rituals. Everybody goes to the “Latipso” to see “medicine-men” when they are sick and often are given potions or end up dead. This is like a looking glass into American culture. In our culture‚ there is a huge focus on physical features‚ but we don’t pray to fix it. Instead we take vitamins
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The Nacirema Tribe By Edgar A. Maceo September 2008 The article that I read is called “Body Ritual Among the Nacierma”. The Nacierma is a North American Group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree‚ the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico. My first thought was‚ wow‚ I never heard of this tribe before‚ and they are North American. As I continued to read this article‚ I became more fascinated by it and wondered‚ how come I’ve never heard of this tribe. They appear to be a lot like us or
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1. Do you think you would enjoy a vacation in the land of the Nacirema? Why or why not? Where do the Nacirema live? Nacirema have different beliefs than I do. They believe you body is ugly and it is a vessel for disease and debility. This belief is not something I chose to believe. I believe we should all love our bodies. There are ways to prevent sickness and weakness outside conditions does these things to the body. The body does not function just for weakness and disease. I would not want to
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article‚ I realized Nacirema is American backwards. Horace Miner’s article Body Ritual among the Nacirema is about the way a group of North Americans and their culture. Nacirema’s people lived in the early 1900’s and these people were extremely obsessed with body rituals. During one of these rituals men used what’s described as a chisel to scrap faces. These rituals are usually done in what’s described as a shrine area where there’s potions and medicine to be used for these rituals they conduct during
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