article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”‚ I can’t help but notice blatantly obvious similarities between our culture and theirs. Their rituals‚ rites‚ and customs are bizarre in nature and seem to illustrate a nearly obsessive fascination with the human body. The main focus of their culture appears to be shaming people based on their appearance and forcing them to conform to the societal norms. Upon further reading‚ I noted that while the Nacirema put a high value on the upkeep of their bodies‚ they
Premium Sociology Ancient Rome Human body
Body Rituals of the Nacirema tells a story of a tribal group’s lifestyle and the rituals of it. Miner is actually talking about the American culture. As most of us know‚ Nacirema is American spelled backwards. In this article‚ Miner’s intention is not to express the extreme human behavior with the Nacirema‚ but the way it affects our perception of an unfamiliar culture. If we were to look at the Nacirema’s behaviors with regards to appearance and hygiene without the slightest bit of knowledge about
Free Culture Sociology Cultural anthropology
Body Ritual in Nacirema When I started reading Miner’s “Body Rituals among the Nacirema” I wasn’t really ‘reading’ it. By the end of the first page‚ it “hit me” and I had to start reading it over again. Realizing the essay was speaking of Americans gave me a whole different perspective. I found some of it quite amusing as well as enlightening. My feeling is that the author intended the reader to see our own ethnocentrism and question our own acts towards others with whom we are not familiar
Premium Culture Sociology United States
article was not to show the “Nacirema” as an example of how extreme human behavior can become‚ but how an outside perspective can affect your perception of an alien culture. If one were to look at the “Nacirema’s” cultural behaviors regarding physical appearance and health without any insight or knowledge of the specific beliefs or values of that culture‚ they might seem bizarre and even incomprehensible. By showing behaviors and “rituals” performed by this unknown tribe‚ Miner allowed others to see that
Premium Culture Anthropology Cultural anthropology
Perspectives of Dress JOURNAL ENTRY CHAPTER 1 1.6 Body Ritual among the Nacirema Horace Miner‚ University of Michigan In the article‚ the author introduces us alleging that the anthropologist is familiar with so many different behaviors that it is hard to believe he can be shocked by some exotic culture. However‚ he specifies later that the piece is just about how far humans can reach regarding their demeanors and rites. Along the article‚ Miner describes the habits – I might just call them obsessive
Premium Sociology North America Psychology
Article 1: Body Ritual among the Nacirema The narrator writes about the strange rituals that people from the Nacirema tribe performs. After reading the article‚ you understand that the Nacirema tribe represents the American people. Another way you can tell that the Nacirema tribe is about the American people is because “Nacirema” is actually America backwards. The narrator uses many different references to explain our everyday doings as rituals. Some of the references in which he put were Medicine
Premium
Anthropology Paper - Module 1 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
Premium Sociology
The Body Ritual of the Nacirema discusses the habits of Americans and medical professionals to someone outside the culture. The article is meant to make the Americans health habits seem like a new discovery. In the article it examined health habits that Americans follow‚ it also examined the bathroom habits of the Americans‚ and it also examined the medical professionals that treat them. But the distinction of the habits of the Americans in the article is that the author worded them as if they were
Premium Native Americans in the United States Teeth Oral hygiene
Elise Murray Analysis of the Nacirema Sociology 101 04D Ivy Tech Community College Abstract The analysis of the article Body Ritual Among the Nacerima by Horace Minor uses key principles to help decipher the hidden meanings behind his work. The article is based off of Americans but written in a primitive manner to help show readers the importance of keeping an open mind. Cultural relativism is crucial when researching a new topic. This culture is different than others based
Premium Sociology Culture Anthropology
In the essay “Body Ritual Among the “Nacirema”‚ anthropologist Horace Miner describes a group of people known as 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 group described actually corresponds to modern day Americans of the mid 1950’s. The Nacirema’s cultural beliefs are deeply rooted in the perspective that the human body is prone to sickness and
Premium Worship North America Human body