Nacirema Essay

The culture of the Nacirema is really defined by a highly developed market economy (American Anthropologist 58 (1956)). A lot of time is devoted to economic advancements, but equally, a large amount of time is put aside for rituals that the Nacirema perform. The point of the rituals is ultimately maintaining homeostasis of the body, which the Nacirema people put much emphasize on. This doesn`t sound any different than any other culture, especially American; what stands out about this is the way that

In his anthropological work, Miner introduces readers to the Nacirema tribe. The Nacirema are presented in a way that seems barbaric and inhumane. Their sacred rituals are conducted by medicine men, holy-mouth men, and listeners; these people seemingly control the Nacirema society. These three groups have fully convinced the Nacirema to endure torture and abuse with pride. To an outside eye, voluntarily having holes drilled into one's teeth, putting their heads in ovens, and being force fed strange

According to Miner (1956), one of the practices upheld in the Nacirema culture is the use of influential ceremonies and powerful rituals as the remedy for averting human weaknesses, diseases, and ugliness incarnated in the human body. This differs from the practice in my city of residence, where we uphold a culture in which the cure for ailments and weaknesses is proper nutrition and that for ugliness is aesthetics and cosmetic therapy. The Nacirema culture has a norm where parents discuss the society’s

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. Before any of the people go on the rocks, they take off their clothing to

The ethnography of the Nacirema is complex. Miner gives plenty of examples of the culture to allow the reader to understand that the Nacirema society is actually referring to the American people. Miner wrote, “The holy-mouth-man opens the clients mouth, and using the above mentioned tools, enlarges any holes with decay have created in the teeth. Magical materials are put into these holes.” (Miner. 2017) As I read about this ritual I found similarities that could be compared to Americans getting their

Body Rituals of Nacirema - Surya Kumar Prabakaran 1.The first impression about the town of Nacirema seems very horrifying and cruel. They seem to be a culture who is focused on the outwardly appearance of their members and they are led to believe that the Human Body in the original form is ugly.Furthermore,the inhumane practices of the “Mouth Men” lead us to believe if more harm can be caused to the individual by visiting the

It’s fascinating that as Miner stated in the text, the diversity of ways that different people behave in similar situations. The Nacirema people are a secluded society that not many people have heard about it and they are willing to go to the extreme with their bodies. Nacirema are very conscious about their body, as it is seen as ugly and week. Therefore most of the rituals described are to cure the body and to make it more atheistic to their people. As well as, going to the extreme to make their

Nacirema would best be ruled by Suliman for many different reasons. In Suliman´s early years he was schooled by a great teacher in many different topics. He started to govern many provinces starting at 15. To start off any civilization you need a good set of rules or laws and Suliman is just the person for that. He was even represented as one of the best lawmakers in history by the United States government. He made many laws that combated corruption something you don't want in a country. Just showing

The Nacirema: The Pursuit of ‘The Black Stuff’ Miner (1956) discussed the body rituals among the Nacirema. The Nacirema are human beings, just like all other humans. They bleed, they love, they are born, and they die. However, for some reason, the Nacirema consider themselves a special breed of humans. This belief is so ingrained in their traditions and cultures that some have taken it to the extreme. Scholars have argued that the Nacirema’s inflated sense of pride stems from the greatness of their

magical beliefs and practices of the Nacirema people and it seemingly does just that (Miner). The normality of the American way of living is removed and just the facts are left to be described as a seemingly different culture. Upon rereading, there are many facts that show the reader that the author is talking about Americans, but they are easily skimmed over with the guise that this is some other culture. For Example, the author even states that the Nacirema live in North America between Canada