The Nacirema people‚ living in the territory between the Canadian Creed‚ the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico‚ and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles‚ are a group of Northern Americans who have chosen to live their lives in a strange manner. There is a main premise to their choice of lifestyle and that is to rid the body of its ugliness and natural tendencies towards debility and disease. (p. 503). The Nacirema people have devoted their lives to deterring these features of themselves through ritual
Premium Anthropology Ritual Sociology
"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 was "normal" and‚ that the other studied cultures
Premium Anthropology Culture Cultural anthropology
the Nacirema” by Horace Miner discusses the ritual practice of Nacirema people‚ which is an ethnic group of people in America. In freshman year‚ I had a chance to take freshman seminar class about religion‚ so I know that even in one religion they have various way of ritual practice. The ritual practices are usually formed very early in the acient period of time‚ so most of them are unreasonable and superstitious. It is very interesting to read an article about the ritual practice of Nacirema people
Premium Medicine Physician Pharmacology
January 23‚ 2014 Writing Assignment 1 Horace Miner’s article “The Body Ritual” accurately depicts the obsession the United States has with self-image‚ while disguising Americans as a tribe called the Nacirema. The article shows how someone outside of the United States could potentially view America’s culture as strange with all of our rituals and self-obsession. “The Body Ritual” can provide examples of many topics presented in Sociology and people’s
Premium Culture Cultural relativism
The Nacirema are a culture of vast ethnic diversity‚ yet the majority still share numerous similarities despite their unique trace origins. In the Nacirema culture there are many conventional values that most individuals try to adhere to‚ albeit the varying degrees of adherence due to their unique sub-cultures. The most prominent values are: treating all adult(18yrs) individuals equally with regards to making decisions about their leaders and allowing individuals to follow their own spiritual beliefs
Premium Marxism Karl Marx Capitalism
different viewpoint on a culture we find normal will be addressed. This essay will elaborate on the theme that Body Ritual of the Nacirema and “This American’s Life” audio have in common. The ability to look outside the box and be open to different perspectives will be explained. Thoughts on Lamron Rituals in Society As I read about Nacirema‚ I began to see the clear parallels between their society and our very own in the United States. The unique analogies give insight
Premium United States Economy Culture
At first I wasn’t too surprised by the behavior of the Nacirema. Medicine men making potions and priests making sure water is holy are all things that I have heard about before. What really took me aback was the holy mouth man. I was shocked at the torture these people go through because of their beliefs in certain magic rituals. I’ve never had a cavity before‚ so just the thought of someone grinding holes in my teeth makes my mouth hurt. However‚ I guess if I was raised believing that these sort
Free Thought Psychology Pain
Cultural Anthropology 28 September 2011 The Nacirema People: Sadistic Exploiters? It’s difficult to say whether or not a different culture‚ other than my own is politically correct in the ways they go about their daily lives‚ but after reading the article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner‚ it got me to question; What type of society are we making out our culture to be? Often people look at different cultures as primitive
Free Culture Sociology
In "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" Miner is ridiculing how much society cares about their appearance. He talks about the unnecessary rituals that we go through just to please society. An example the author uses is how people are never pleased with what they have. Everyone is trying to fit in with what society thinks is right. Since society has its own perception of what is beautiful women try and do whatever it takes to fit into that definition. This is why women get breast implants or breast
Premium Plastic surgery Medicine Breast
Miner is successful at making his point clear‚ his point was that we are in a routine and have our faith and placed on doctors and technology‚ that those have become customs. In Miner’s view‚ “The Nacirema have an almost pathological horror of and fascination with the mouth‚ the condition of which is believed to have a supernatural influence on all social relationships”(Miner). Miner is correct‚ we choose to keep our mouths clean‚ I consider this relevant for the reason that this has become a routine
Premium