Body Ritual Among The Nacirema By Horace Miner

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”.

There is no culture in which people do not, or did not paint, pierce, tattoo, reshape, or simply adorn their bodies (Schildkrout, 2001). Throughout history, body art and ornamentation has become a worldwide phenomenon and has played a key role in our lives, yet there is a social stigma which we cannot seem to rid ourselves of. It is most commonly misunderstood and misinterpreted which can be attributed to the fact that the symbolism and significance of the body art and/or ornamentation doesn’t always translate the same among the cultures. Although Western culture views body art

There are a few points the author is trying to get across here. The purpose of the article is to have Americans read this, then have an opinion of the Nacirema that is of a lower standard then our culture., then be disgusted in themselves when realizing that they were, in actuality, judging themselves. Therefore, once again, Miner is proving that we, as Americans, are ethnocentric.

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.

In this week’s assignment, we will discuss Horace Miner’s analytical study of tribal behavior and Body Ritual among the Nacirema tribe by answering the following questions. First was I surprised when the true identity of the Nacirema tribe was revealed? Then how does Body Ritual among the Nacirema help us understand our own view of other cultures and how we are viewed by other cultures? Next why do some of the practices and rituals of other cultures seem odd or foreign to us? Finally, how do our own cultural norms affect our understanding and perception of other cultures?

While the Nacimera tribe has not evolved drastically in terms of their obsession with the human body, their idea of entertainment has shifted. Their shrines have evolved from ones dedicated to body rituals to ones dedicated to witnessing the misfortune of others. The Nacimera now profit from exploiting the mistakes of other members of their tribe. As the number of young women that have children of their own rose, the leaders of the Nacimera tribe realized that it could be an opportunity to showcase the wrongdoings of others in an attempt to discourage other members of the tribe from doing the same.

The "Indians" often compared to Adam and Eve before the fall are content with their understanding of the world so that they have no further curiosity to discover any more, "and where there is no Novelty, there can be no Curiosity."(39). So in comparison the "Indians" innocence, or naivety although honorable in its own means is what makes them less beautiful.

All countries and cultures have their own ideology or standards of what makes a person beautiful. In a National Geographic video entitled, “Teeth Chiseling” an Indonesian tribe believes that a woman will be able to obtain more beauty if her teeth are chiseled into sharp points. Although this body modification may appear to be extreme, it is important to understand the philosophy that has allowed this tradition to manifest and endure over the years. The Indonesian tribe believes that if a soul is not pleased with the body, it inhabits, the spirit will leave causing the person to die (NG). As a result, in order to prevent the spirit from leaving, people of the tribe will usually endure several body modifications. Although, teeth chiseling appears

Naaman had been embarrassed of the way he looks due to his Leprosy. He felt embarrassed because he was the army commander of the king and thought that since he had Leprosy people would look at him differently and treat him differently. So, he went to the king of Israel to help with the cure, the king tore his garments to pieces. Naaman went to Elisha, a prophet at the time. Elisha told Naaman to go to the river and jump in seven times. Naaman did what he was told his flesh was then clean. As it talks about in the “Good Looks” article people in society today are embarrassed of how they may look because they may not look like the models they see on TV.

How is the image of beauty different from culture to culture as expressed in this essay? Beauty is measured through certain types of body art that is specific to each culture. Some communities measure beauty by external adornments such as the women of the Bonda tribe who dress in colorful jewelry. Other communities believe that beauty is determined by physical alterations such as the stretching of necks in Thailand. Varying cultural perceptions and beliefs result in different definitions of beauty.

In conclusion, there are many reasons why people partake in the culture of body modifications. Traumatic events, like bullying or sexually assault, may cause people to modify their nose or breasts. The lack of a parental figure helping a young person accept their body can do tremendous damage to their self-esteem. On the contrary, people may feel like they “owe it to themselves” to get a piercing, tattoo, or partake in cosmetic surgery. Body modifications can help, or harm, a person’s mental health and

7). Cultural views vary by religious institutions, which means “artificially altering the body, may violate some important values in some cultures” (par. 14). For example, the Chinese are naturopaths, which prefers not artificially altering the body composition (par. 14). Those who get plastic surgery are perceived as violating cultural views. On the other hand, Cosmetic surgery is more prevalent in the US because patients undergoing these procedures are not judged (par. 16). The U.S towers over any other country in the number of surgeries completed (par. 16). This is a credible scholarly journal published by The Journal of Social Psychology in 2012. This article is only four years old, which is an appropriate time for this article to be written. Tam has created forty-five publications of different articles. Tam has studied at the Hong Kong University of Science granting him a PhD in Social Psychology and Applied Psychology. Tam is a professor teaching multiple topics relating to psychology. Many speeches and presentations were done by Tam on this topic as well. There are a large number of sources in which information was referenced from.

Humans are social animals by nature. There is an ever-present urge to assimilate into society for person gain or comfort regardless of a person’s place of birth. Through personal observations, in both the Western and Eastern cultures, the region a person is brought up does not definitively matter when it concerns physical insecurities or how someone goes about remodeling themselves. Some go about change through adapting their dietary habits and fitness regimes to achieve their ideal body, but in other cases, a person’s ideal is not achievable through natural means. At that stage, if someone is willing, they can turn to cosmetic surgery to sate their desires of the perfect body. This course of action is not recommended. Plastic surgery is detrimental to the individual and subsequently to modern society with how frequent the media promotes highly specific traits to even be considered beautiful while the target audience does not naturally fit into this mold. Therefore, plastic surgery exorbitantly changes how individuals perceive social status—based on idealized features—which can directly equate to a higher standard of living; additionally, it can also alter current societal mindsets concerning the epitome of beauty (whichever features is considered more advantageous) will result in the homogenization of the standard of beauty.