The Body Ritual of the Nacirema Essay - 615 Words

The Body Ritual of the Nacirema It is human nature to describe ones 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 ones 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 societys eyes to their biases. The Body Ritual of the Nacirema was written by Horace Miner for shock value. The article describes the rituals of a people which on the surface seem to be barbaric and highly out of date for that time at which the article was†¦show more content†¦Other practices described seemed so nonsensical like that of a people the believed in witchery, or rituals of putrid or outlandish that a readers stomach could turn from learning of some of the rituals these people partake in. In a reflection of this essay one would think of how undeveloped this culture is, yet on further investigation the reader would come to discover the true identity of the people being described. This barbaric, unruly, and unsophisticated society Horace Miner had just described in such detail was the American people! Knowing the true meaning of the article upon rereading it once more the ideas and traditions click. The somewhat fabricated or concealed details of all those traditions make sense and one can understand exactly what Miner is describing. In fact, one probably participates in these practices himself! Miner?s creative writing style in this essay was critical to the effect it had on his readers. The disdain the reader felt at first when reading the description of this people soon turns into an embarrassment of sorts because one realizes that he has been fooled. Miner tricks his reader so well that there really should be no feelings of resentment for the way Miner presents the information he has gatheredShow MoreRelatedThe Body Ritual Among the Nacirema737 Words   |  3 PagesHRM582 The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema As an individual coming to investigate American civilization through the observation of cultural activities, I find the ritual of medicine men and women (doctors, psychiatrists and pharmacists) very interesting. â€Å"Medicine man or medicine woman are  English  terms used to describe  traditional healers  and spiritual leaders among  Native American  andRead MoreNacirema - Body Ritual in Anthropology757 Words   |  4 Pagesprofessor 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 â€Å"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 appearanceRead MoreBod y Ritual Among the Nacirema1031 Words   |  5 PagesBody Ritual among the Nacirema Name Course Sociology Date 6/12/2013 Body Ritual among the Nacirema Horace Miner in the article, Body Ritual Among the Nacirema depicts a society that is growing naturally, but which has transformed itself into a ritual tribe. In this article, the tribe, Nacirema, is a tribe that has transformed itself naturally and which has incorporated a lot of beliefs and religious tendency forRead MoreBody Ritual Among the Nacirema948 Words   |  4 PagesJanuary 26, 2013 Horace Minor applied satire in his article â€Å"Body Ritual among the Nacirema.† to the culture of the American people. Several ways in which â€Å"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 atRead MoreBody Rituals Among the Nacirema1097 Words   |  5 PagesBody Rituals Among the Nacirema Abstract This study examines Horace Miner’s essay â€Å"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. Horace Miner was a professor for the University of Michigan. He sought out to teach young people the importance of cultural anthropology. (Horace Mitchell Miner - Wikipedia, theRead MoreBody Rituals Among the Nacirema Essay925 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Body Rituals Among the Nacirema, â€Å" by Horace Miner, is an essay written about the Nacirema, or American people, from an outsider’s perspective. Miner gives an insight on the Nacireman people, which he describes in his essay as an unknown tribe, and the completing of the Nacireman’s magical beliefs and practices, which involve daily, involuntary body rituals that cause much pain and discomfort. Miner shows how an outsider’s perspective can affect the way a culture is seen. In his essay, Miner usesRead More Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Essay699 Words   |  3 PagesBody Ritual Among the Nacirema What is the precise geographical location of this strange tribe, the Nacirema? The Nacirema is a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, though tradition states that they came from the east. What are the private and secret shrines of the Nacirema? In the Nacirema, the belief is that the human body is ugly andRead MoreBody Ritual Among the Nacirema Essay822 Words   |  4 PagesWould you want to live among the Naciremas? Why or why not? 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 â€Å"magical potions† used on every citizen in the tribe. One of the fundamentalRead MoreBody Rituals Among the Nacirema Tribe421 Words   |  2 PagesBody rituals among the Nacirema tribe The story relates to how we seek perfection on our bodies. It demonstrates how people will perform extreme procedures to achieve perfection, and even after this they will still feel they are ugly and not perfect. The rituals performed by the Nacirema tribe may seem inhumane, but if compared to our current culture and the procedures people perform on their bodies there is no much difference. I viewed the things they did as bizarre, but on close analysis of ourRead MoreSummary of Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Essay726 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema† Summary In the essay â€Å"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema†, anthropologist Horace Miner depicts a group of people known as the â€Å"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