Cultural Differences Of The Nacirema Culture

The article, “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”, written by Horace Miner is an anthropological and sociological study of the Nacirema culture. Who are the Nacirema and where do they originate? The Nacirema have many strong beliefs and rituals. This is shown by the Author’s interpretation of the Nacirema‘s beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies? Since the article was written in the 1950’s, is it possible their culture has changed in the present or is it dated? Horace Miner’s article takes the emic and etic approach by looking at it through the Nacirema‘s eyes and his own interpretation.

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.

'Body Ritual among the Nacirema' is an article by Horace Miner. In this article, Miner describes the way a particular tribe behaves. He talks of how the tribe performs strange rituals to very extreme levels. It becomes quite interesting when the reader notes that it is the American society he is talking about. He disguises 'the Nacirema' as American people. He also disguises the bathroom as a cleaning shrine, the medicine chest as the major device in the shrine and the hair on a stick as a toothbrush. Miner employs this style of writing to illustrate that Americans are ethnocentric people. There are several hints in this article which point to the fact that 'the Nacirema' actually refer to the Americans. For example, the word Nacirema when

The ethical views of the Navaho tribe are somewhat similar to our basic morals. They generally frowned upon actions such as lying, losing your temper, stealing or cheating. They praised generosity and shunned stinginess. However, they did not hold to many abstract ideas to support their morals. They had a primarily practical reason to the way they acted. For example, one would avoid lying so that they would be trusted in their community. Although the foundation of honesty in most situations was a key in their morals, lying was almost excused if you could get away with it in certain circumstances and white lies were frequently overlooked. Also, a person would rarely feel a sense of guilt if his crime went unnoticed. This fact, in my opinion,

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 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

The rituals of the Nacirema culture are very unique when it comes to the different forms of beliefs and remedies. According to the article, “The fundamental belief underlying the whole system of the Nacirema appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease” (4). With that in mind, the Nacirema have come up with a bundle of ways to keep the body healthy and pure. Of those ways, most are included with the belief that magic is the key component in the use of ritual and ceremony. Houses in the Nacirema culture have shrines dedicated to the purpose of these ritual ceremonies. Homes with one or more shrines often mean the family is considered wealthier. The focal point of a shrine is a box or chest

The article give a great insight into the life and cultural rites of the Nacirema people. It seems there are two group of people at either ends of the Body Ritual ceremonies with one group benefiting more than the others. The healers (medicine men, herbalists and holy-mouth-man) are all directly benefiting as they require a fee for their services. On the other hand, the healing of the people is dependent on chance. This made me recall similar habits of medicine men back home.

I like your post and agree with you. I also think that Nacirema’s culture is barbaric and could not believe these strange activities at the first time. I also wrote in my discussion about the holy-mouth-men. The way the author describe the dentist is very appropriate for me because I am very scared when I go to dentist since I was young. Also, I think the listeners are psychologist. Psychologists’ job is to help people solve their problem from internal and provide them therapy. I think this is a interesting article to learn. I am wondering if someone outside our culture read this article, how would that person react? Will he or she think we are the barbaric nation?

I agree with your point, the conquerors had to be really impressed by the city grandeur. Event today we can visited Teotihuacan ('the place where the gods were created'), and appreciate the size and the beauty of the temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon. The Aztecs were one of the most powerful cultures in the American continent at the time. As a Mexican, I’m proud of my culture and my ancestor’s heritage. I remember my study books for my primary school with lots of images of Aztec’s warriors and color pictures of different gods. The books use to have many transcripts from Bernal Diaz del Castillo, one of the best observer and writer about the “new world”. Unfortunately, the spaniars did not tried to negociate

This article describes how the Taranuelo dig, which is located in Spain, has surprised archaeologists not only for the rich amounts of well-preserved artifacts it has, but also because of their origins. According to Sebastian Celestino, director of the Merida Institute of Archaeology, and his co-director Esther Rodriguez, the hoard of bronze artifacts like the grills and cauldron found might point towards the lost Tartessian culture which disappeared around the end of the fifth century. Celestino who has been studying the site for 20 years, believes that the main clue lies within the bronze artifact found in the site with two doves separated by an outstretched bull hide,

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

Every Culture and Country has norms in which they live there day to day life by. What the Nacirema,(Americans) expects out of society, and the structure is seen as peculiar to someone from another part of the world. Thesis statement -Throughout the world Cultural diversity is evident. Cultural Diversity is demonstrated through Marriage, Ceremonies, and the lives of Children.

The Nazca culture is best known for the creation of the Nazca Lines, a series of more than 1,000 large-scale designs etched into the desert sands of southeastern Peru that are best seen from the air or on a hilltop. The drawings, created by digging up the dark stones on the desert surface to reveal the light sand underneath, depict geometric shapes, lines, plants, animals, and humans. Due to the dry and practically windless climate of their geographic location, the Nazca Lines have been well-preserved for more than a thousand years.

Like many other countries in the area, Algeria is a country that has been influenced and occupied by many different cultures and groups of people. The native population in this North African area, however, were the Berbers. In the classical period, the Berber civilization was already involved in agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and political organization. However, the Roman Empire annexed this territory which led to increases in urbanization in the area under cultivation, causing dislocations of Berber society, and increased opposition to the Roman presence. This was because the prosperity of most towns relied heavily on the agricultural sector.