Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Essay

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.

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

One could feel sorry for the tribe being written about and disapprove of our own culture when viewing it using the sociological perspective. Miner writes in one of the introduction paragraphs that “the magical beliefs and practices of the Nacirema present such unusual aspects that it seems desirable to describe them as an example of the extremes to which human behavior can go,” (Minor, 1956) Teeth brushing, dental visits, and hair drying are things that seem like normal behaviors. Even the obsession of women’s breast sizes are accepted as normal and certainly haven’t changed since the 1950’s. Minor’s description of these behaviors make them sound foreign and we feel sympathy towards the behavior’s in this “tribe”.

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.

The insignificance and expectations of women in society are further presented in the Exodus. In the Exodus, Oedipus says, "As for my sons, you need not care for them. They are men, they will find some way to live. But my poor daughters, who have shared my table, who never before have been parted from their father take care of them, Kreon; do this for me." (760) Oedipus also says,? Then, whom can you ever marry? There are no bridegrooms for you, and your lives must wither

This study examines Horace Miner’s essay “Body Rituals Among the Nacirema. While using the participant observation approach, he gives us a new perspective on the daily behaviors within this group of people. Exploring ethnocentrism and how we view cultures outside of our own.

The psychology of the “Nacirema” people is one of malcontent. There seems to be a general dissatisfaction with one’s body and this inescapable attitude reaches into almost every aspect of their lives. The psychology of the “Nacirema” people is one of malcontent. There seems to be a general dissatisfaction with one’s body and this inescapable attitude reaches into almost every aspect of their lives. The “Nacirema” seem to necessitate unhappiness and even pain. They voluntarily allow “holy-moth-men” to subject them to torturous practices meant to postpone the inevitable decay of their mouths, pay “herbalists” to provide them with “potions” and “charms” expected to improve their health and consent to “medicine men” poking them with needles and performing life-threatening procedures all in the name of beauty and driven by the fundamental mentality that the body is ugly.

Cultural anthropologists have studied the Nacirema for almost 2800 seasons now, and yet many of them acknowledge that they are no closer to understanding the eccentric customs of these superficial people than when they began. The Nacirema, a people whose history seems to consist mainly of impulsive actions and blood sheddings, have numerous bizarre rituals in which they partake on the dawn of every new sun, but one sect, the Naitsirhc, are more idiosyncratic than the rest. With their status as a deeply holy people, one would assume that they are perhaps the most generous of the tribes. However, this is false, and their Day of Tributes is a prime example of humanity’s materialistic values.

A woman walked six paces behind her husband and if she uncovered her hair in a public place she was considered a harlot...In ancient Judaism the woman only had rights in the home and even that was very limited...Women were passed from the control of her father to the control of her husband with little or no say in the matter. They were sold for a dowry settlement usually when they came of age...Women also did not have the right to divorce (Women in Ancient

As civilizations began to emerge from the dust of their prehistoric ancestors, males became the dominant gender, decreasing the value of their female counterparts with every passing generation. Females were often seen as property, and female children were sometimes viewed as a punishment from the gods. It was a well-known rule in ancient times that females were inferior and had to be properly brought up, not as contributors to society, but only as mothers and housewives. However, sometimes that rule was broken. One society dared to break that rule, and developed their own system of women's rights.

Ancient cultures treated women more as property than people. The cultures that I will proceed to talk about are Mesopotamia, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans and how differently yet how equally treated women. Women were more of a household decoration to the men of each culture, all they did was cook, clean, and be a mother to the children. When the men got home the women were expected to make him happy no matter what.

The difference in treatment between mortal women and goddesses differed greatly in ancient civilizations. This treatment strongly influenced the political, social, and cultural aspects of these ancient civilizations. One of these ancient civilizations was ancient Greece. The gap between the treatment of women and the treatment of goddesses was caused by patriarchal societies that would create or believe in goddesses that were like mortal women but they would strip them of their natural qualities. Some of these natural qualities are menstruation, pregnancy, and physical

During the time of the Ancient Greeks, women were treated very differently depending on the social class that they were in. However, a major similarity across all women regardless of class is that they were treated less than men in the patriarchal society. Women of this time had no rights and were not treated as citizens. They were controlled by men for the entirety of their lives (The Ancient Greek World, Daily Life: Women's Life). The

You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (Corinthians) The human body is a gift that is part of God’s creation. God asks for people to take care of each other and oneself. By staying healthy, and making healthy decisions is living as God asks. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans) This means that God lives within all of his creation. We must take care of God’s creation, therefore Catholics must stay healthy and care for one another. People are to know that God is with us and when they do, they can live happy, healthy, and strong

After a few more readings of the article and a little bit of research on North American tribes, there is no tribe in North America called the Nacirema. Then I realized, this article is a bout Americans. The medicine men are physicians, dentists, ophthalmologists, and other hospital personnel. Americans are so obsessed with appearances that they will do anything to maintain it. I even find myself doing it without even trying. Americans tend to dye their hair, get braces, have liposuction, and even have cosmetic