Nacirema Essay

While reading the Nacirema I could not help to think how different they were and question the different rituals and customs they practiced. After finding out the meaning behind the allegory I was shocked and surprised. I was surprised int the similarities that are visible after knowing that the parable of the Nacirema was actually about America. My brain started making connections to the American culture. One of the first connections that immediately made to the reading was the part where Miner talked

Culture is very fascinating becasue it entails so many elements. Differences in food, talk, dress, religious beliefs and even schooling often determine what region you are from in the U.S. much less then world. The types of rituals that the Nacirema go through are harsh but they still exist as a society. It is hard to understand how they have managed to exist so long under the burdens with which they have imposed upon themselves. (Miner, p507). The fascinating thing about this society is that they

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

completely random as there is hardly any structure to them. For instance, the number of representatives from each tribe and the location of the gatherings change after each conference. The content of these meetings vary widely as well. Every aspect of Nacirema society is up for discussion at these meetings including natural medicines, monetary regulation, and other various civic issues. At the beginning of these gatherings, all of the tribe officials, the peacemakers, and all of the tribe members that

Explicit culture can be spoken or written. No matter what category culture falls into it truly makes us different from one another. It is everywhere shaping people all around the world every day. The Nacirema May sound like strange a tribe, but if you read very closely you will notice they are not. Nacirema is American spelled backwards and latipso is ospital backwards which almost spells hospital. In this passage the American people are really the ones who are being talked about. All the rituals that

Looking back at the article Nacirema, I feel my daily routines are weird and tradition as a Chinese. After reading the article Nacirema, it shows that the belief of American think their culture is superior to others, they tendency to view other cultures from their own views. Some of the traditional culture, maybe looks weird in another people’s eye. For example, as a Chinese, we eat chicken feet, duck feet, and chicken viscera which American people don’t like it. We like to have a morning tea with

The Western definition of disease is the malfunctioning of biological and psychophysiological processes in the individual. This definition emphasizes the importance of individuals being in control of their own health and being disease free. In Nacirema there is a great focus on the human body and a considerable amount of time is spent on ritual activity to promote proper function. To combat our ailing bodies people turn to wellness and medicine which is a social institution. The way people view their

from our ethnocentric views and think critically about the Nacirema people's. However, the description of the culture creates an ideology that is hard to agree with. For example, the Nacirema peoples take part in a rite that involves hog hairs and magical powders. The Nacirema rituals do sound strange and displeasing but, we have to learn to recognize our ethnocentric judgments. An anthropologist will try to read and understand the Nacirema culture with the notion of being culturally relative. With

small ovens for about an hour”, I found it too absurd and irrational. The top search result for Nacirema from Google says Nacirema is “American” spelled backwards and there’s also a picture of a dentist shown. I just realize that the “holy-mouth-men” resemble to dentists in modern society. The mouth-rite described in Miner’s observations closely resembles our daily activity, teeth brushing. The Nacirema have a fascination with mouth. Every day they go through the mouth-rite in which they cleanse the

Cosmetics are a large part of the Nacirema culture, particularly for women. Cosmetics are geared toward women so they can improve upon or even completely change their natural looks. Their goal is often to make themselves fit the “standard” of beauty often shown in magazines, television or other media. Women are often expected to wear cosmetics as a way to enhance their appearance. This is because appearance plays a large role in Nacirema culture. If you do not look a certain way, especially as a