Summary Of Body Ritual Among The Nacirema

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 in examining cultural behaviors, physical appearance, and health as the reader soon discovers that the actual society being examined is the American society. To the reader, the article begins to sound very familiar after each paragraph is

The Nacirema believe if they did not perform such rituals their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them. The Nacirema seek out a holy-mouth-man once or twice a year. The holy-mouth-man opens the client’s mouth and, using a variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods, enlarges any holes which decay may have created in the teeth. Magical materials are put into these holes. The extremely sacred and traditional character of the rite is evident in the fact that the natives return to the holy-mouth-men year after year, despite the fact that their teeth continue to decay.

These practices seem redundant and superstitious when seen from an outside culture, but not so much within the culture, since our social norm defines beautiful white teeth an extremely attractive and desirable asset. Moreover, the fear of cavity that is learnt from an early age also motivates Americans to devote to this scrupulous daily “ritual”. By examining these aspects, it becomes clear that an outside culture cannot understand why Americans go to great length of pain and financial loss to obtain nicer teeth.

Horace Minor applied satire in his article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema.” to the culture of the American people. Several ways in which “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” relate to the core concepts of sociology are through the use of sociological imagination, ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. The American culture is described by Minor in a very unique and humorous way. The author uses satire to examine the rituals that are every day in American culture. The reader thinks at the beginning of the article that they are reading about some uncivilized tribe of people but soon realized that the “rituals” that are being performed are just everyday events that take place in every American household.

Miner talks about the mouth, and says the Nacirema have an almost pathological horror of, and fascination with the mouth (Miner). He

In the book “mama might be better off dead” written by Laurie Kaye Abraham, tells a story of Jackie Banes and her family, and their struggles to hold the family’s health together. Her grandmother Mrs. Cora Jackson, who pretty much raised her, has suffered the amputation of one leg because of uncontrolled diabetes. Jackie’s father, Tommy, who has suffered a stroke because he didn’t care about the consequences of high blood pressure. Jackie’s husband, Robert, who has a progressive kidney disease. Abraham has gone out of her way to find more about the American health care system in North Lawndale, Illinois. Throughout the book she talks about how the health care system in America is so unfair and unsatisfactory to the needs of poor people such as the Banes’s Family.

After reading Horace Miner’s Body Ritual Among the Nacirema I cannot say that I would want to be part of the tribe. A huge reason would be that I could never go from my own Christian faith to the religious practices of the Nacirema. My second reason for not wanting to be part of the tribe is that I could never be subjected to the horrific medical practices and “magical potions” used on every citizen in the tribe.

This essay will be exploring how the key task of the anthropologist is “to make the strange familiar and the familiar strange”. I would define “strange” as being abnormal and different, not the norm and “familiar” meaning something we can relate to and are accustomed to. An anthropologist undertaking ethnographic research would be exploring the cultural and social variation and how as humans, we are unique but similar.

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.

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.

In comparison of the Canadian and Hispanic cultural health traditions to those of the American author, mild variances exist. As the other families, the author uses good eating habits and exercise to maintain health. She practices yoga and prioritizes time spent ridding her body and mind of stress. The author protects her health by receiving immunizations such as the seasonal influenza vaccine. She avoids substances known to be toxic to the body like cigarette smoke. She encourages her family to practice good health habits and teaches them about maintaining, protecting, and restoring health. The author has Hispanic heritage but does not practice as many traditions as S. M. and her family. The author trusts in western healthcare similar in the ways that R. R. and his family do. Residing in American culture has possibly influenced all three families in which they have adopted some alternative traditions.

The author’s purpose in writing this 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 the way studies were representing distinctive cultures was narrowminded and defective. Without the proper comprehension of the basis of any society, huge cultural misunderstandings could occur. Of

This report will be investigating the various sociological perspectives on health as well as the models and definitions of health and ill health. These topics will assist in the understanding of how different people and different cultures react to ill health.

For me the strangest practice is the exorcism of the evils of the mouth. This is also the most gruesome. I can imagine the pain I feel after the anesthetics wears off after took extraction. Having holes drill in your teeth without any pain medication is just horrific.

In this unit, illness and health are approached as social construct wich provides a new perspective towards the common outlook on medicine. Conrad and Baker argued that culture of illness, the experience of the disease and the medical practices are shaped by society. In accordance with this view, much of our attitude towards illnesses are derived from our own social values rather than empirical science. This is reflected in my own understanding of illnesses. when I get ill, I seek medical help by taking medication or by following conventional method of healing. For instance, with a cold, I take pills, drink plenty of fluid and consume chicken noodle soup. This western remedy that I have adopted would differ from my Chinese parents, who have