The Nacirema Analysis

Horace Miner’s “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” was a very entertaining essay. The essay made made fun of American culture without directly stating the name of the culture, other than including the word American spelled backwards. Miner bring to the reader’s attention the odd rituals practiced in America that the normal citizen would not find strange at all. However, by presenting his essay in this form he shows how strange American customs are from the view of someone in a different country.

Have you thought of someone’s culture as weird? Have you thought that you are completely different from them? If so, what prompts us to make that assumption. Culture is a very good reason for this. So, to what extent does one’s culture inform the way one views others and the world? Culture informs a person on the way others are and the world.

It is human nature to describe one's own culture as the most advanced and most intellectual. Unfortunately, it is also common practice to look down upon the practices of another culture because they are not similar to one's own traditions. The ability to do this can sometimes be a damaging characteristic for society as a whole. Horace Miner realized the implications of egocentric views and wrote a groundbreaking essay to open society's eyes to their biases.

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

All things considered, we believe that ones culture may or may not inform the way he or she views others and the world around them. Some people do let their culture inform the way he or she views others and the world around them as shown in the story "An Indian Fathers Plea" by Robert Lake. Though many people do not let their culture inform the way he or she views others and the world around them as shown in the story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker with Dee straying from how she was raised. Yet those are just a few people who do or don't let their culture inform them about the world or others. Everyone is different and people should understand that yes some people do use their culture for information about things, but many people this days

This is about a culture called Nacirema that is practiced in many different place and was brought to the attention of the Anthropologist attention by Professor Linton to talk about this culture that was poorly understood. The Nacirema is a type of culture that is summed up as that these people that believe in this culture that the human body is ugly and that the natural tendencies are meant to debilitate and cause disease. They are also big believes in rituals and ceremonies in the household to preform these ceremonies either as a family but in most cases it was privately. Where they would receive charms and other items form the medicine man of the community that would help with a certain problem. They would use these magic items to help with

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive” (Mahatma). Our culture identifies who we are and how we behave in social environments and provides us with a foundation in which to live our lives and raise our families. Each individual culture has certain customs and courtesies that are important. Exposure to the cultures of others can be intimidating and can leave a person feeling confused and unsure about how they fit in (Schaefer 60). Culture shock can leave a person feeling out of place in an unfamiliar culture (Schaefer 60). Our diverse societies demand understanding and acceptance of other cultures. Learning and understanding these cultures before being

The term Anthropology refers to the study of mankind as a whole. In the article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner, the introduction of a new cultural perspective crosses the boundaries of today’s societal norms. Horace Miner is mainly known for his studies in mankind, and as an anthropologist he must take into consideration, without preconceived opinions the variety of unique cultures within the human race. The Nacirema is a group living in North America whose culture, through the perspective of Horace Miner showcases human behavior taken to its highest degree. There is a common belief among the people of Nacirema in which it is the human body is prone to weakness and disease; therefore, in becoming the focal point of the

Most of the Nacirema travel to the edges of their land during the warm period of the year. They pack their vehicles with large sacks that contain food, drinks, odd-looking tools, and shiny boards. When they arrive to the edges of their land they can see water; lots of it. There are also trillions of really tiny rocks that are between the Nacirema's driving path and the water. When the Nacirema walk on rocks, they feel soft.

“Culture is sometimes described as a lens through which we view the world, meaning that one’s culture influences their perceptions and interactions in everyday life” (Davis, 2006). Every culture has different beliefs and customs

The question would be very important for cultural anthropologists to answer because the article talks about what Nacirema would do for their body to be healthy. According to the article, Nacirema have to reward gifts to both medicine men for the list of ingredients and herbalist for potion. We need to understand why Nacirema spend so much of their fortune on their health, even though they don’t know if the potions and magical cures will have positive effects for their body.

The “Body Rituals of the Nacirema” by Horrace Miner explores the rather abnormal culture known as the Nacirema. Throughout the article, Miner describes in detail of the Nacirema’s exotic behaviours, and the unusual rituals engage in to improve their otherwise ugly bodies. While at first glance, the reader is generally appalled by the peculiar and extreme behaviours of the culture, after analyzing the text on a deeper level, one can discover the underlying satirical nature of the article. Through Miner’s sophisticated language, he uses our own ignorance to mask the view of our North American culture. Nacirema is in fact American spelled backwards. Because Miner portrayed the Nacirema as a culture so different

Horace Miner’s article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” is an amazing article that makes people that do not believe their unique grasp the concept that everyone is indeed unique. Miner wrote this article about Americans as Americans generally believe that other countries have rituals while we are just plain with no uniqueness. Miner uses a language that is not typical among american literature. He has a strategy of using words such as: Supplicant, Witch doctor, household shrine, etc in order to make us realize that we do have our own rituals. We as Americans hold a misconception that we are not as special as other countries which makes us percieve them to be weird because of their customs. Miner wants us to know that we are indeed different too which makes him use vocabulary words that we would not use versus the ones that we are used to in order to prove that point. This article is trying to make it clear to the readers that Americans see other cultures as true cultures and that we just have a daily life. A daily life is the same as a culture, it is no different. Americans see themselves as Americans yet see others as foreigners. People never think that those from other countries would see us in that light, we believe that there are only two catergories. The categories are that you are either a Nacirema or a foreigner which is what it sounds like Miner is trying to point out. This is not the truth but this is the way that the Nacirema see it because they do not really want

Sometimes I question if culture changes who you are. I try to pull up memories of the decisions I make, are they affected by my culture? Here is the response I came up with: Culture sporadically informs how an individual sees the world because, even being from completely different places and raised in contrasting households, people could still have similar views based on what they think of others and not how you are constructed with your culture, however, sometimes affects your perspective in certain occasions in circumstances where you wouldn’t face a community the same if you weren’t from the culture you were built in. This idea is supported by the personal essay by Bharati Mukherjee, Two Ways to Belong in America, the essay by Robert Lake, An Indians Father Plea, and also personal experience.

How does reading stories from different cultures affect our interpretation of that culture? Stories affect how we view a culture as a whole, while also showing how different cultures value different ideas or objects. In stories from different cultures we learn many things about that culture that we can ultimately compare and relate to our own culture.