...In Horace Miner's Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, he characterized them as a culture based people who very much believe in strange rituals with reference to the vanity of the human physical structure. Doing these practices, in their beliefs, can cure their bodies' problems, debilities, diseases, and other ugly characteristics. Each Nacirema family shares a "shrine" as part of their practice to keep their bodies in good condition. A built-in chest or box is also located inside it where charms are placed for safekeeping and to reuse when needed. Rites of ablution are done everyday that requires bowing before the charm box and using the holy water. It also includes a private mouth rite, described as "revolting", that involves putting hog hairs into their mouths....
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...Community College Abstract Horace Miner constructed an article named “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”. The intention of this article was to examine the ideals and way of life in the culture of the “Nacirema”. Miner tells of this culture which readers imagine to be extremely out there and different. This culture’s way of life is deemed as extreme paranoia and the extreme measures this culture takes when it comes to health, beauty, and death. However, readers are thrown in for a twist when they eventually realize that Miner is mocking their own culture, and that all of these strange practices and ideals are part of their very own everyday life. Because of the way Miner constructs this article he allows for readers to experience ethnocentrism and sociological imagination by tricking readers into thinking they are reading about another culture. Readers are able to detach themselves from their very own culture and view it from the outside looking in. Next they are able to examine their judgments and how quickly they may jump to conclusions when indulging into another type of culture, but then are able to examine their own when they begin reading it as unbiased and then become biased on the matter. It allows room for examination from the outside, and most importantly, examination of one’s own self. “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner is an ironic and sardonic article that takes its readers for a journey. First, Miner mocks the tribe “Nacirema” making readers feel the...
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...Horace Miner from the University Of Michigan wrote of the Body Rituals among the Nacirema, in which he described the customs of the Nacirema people. The culture of the Nacirema people has been brought to the attention of anthropologist as their rituals and habits concerning the body are uniquely distinct. Their culture is depicted as strange and centered on the human body; appearance and health are prioritized, and modification is widely used. The Nacirema people have a peculiar habits in which their appearance is altered. One of which involves “scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument”. This ritual consist of an uncanny description of a practice that Americans preform on the daily. Shaving is an act that everyone...
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...The Nacirema and the American The Nacirema culture as described by Horace Miner creates a very mixed impression. In the beginning one may think that the rituals described in the article seem truly horrific and unusual. But, as soon as one realizes that Miner has chosen a very unusual way to describe the culture of modern Americans, one gets to appreciate the unusual humor of the author. The Nacirema focus on the cleansing rituals, which at first seem unusual and somehow even unbelievable and unusually masochistic, seem to be pretty normal if looked at from a different angle. The author shows how presentation of one theme from a different perspective and a bit of imagination totally changes the perception of a reader. The new angle at which Miner sees and describes the modern society makes one to take another look on the everyday life of Americans. It is truly amazing how a new perspective changes the perception of things that are considered to be normal. Miner managed to turn some ordinary activities into ghastly and unthinkable acts performed by representatives of an exotic tribe. Therefore, this article makes one to stop and think of the perception of the common acts and deeds by representatives of different cultures and societies. Miner’s paper is a very interesting piece of work that makes the US citizens looks at their own actions from another perspective. Although all the actions described by the author are quite common and have been performed by each person at different...
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...article by Horace Miner entitled Body Ritual of Nacirema by Lynn Byrne Horace Miner depicts a group of people from Nacirema, but is actually referring to Americans, whose cultural beliefs (totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior) are rooted in the perspective that the body is prone to sickness, degradation, and dis figuration. Miner states that Naciremians spend a substantial part of their lives on magic based rituals and actions to improve the condition of their body. Miner went into great detail when he wrote up his findings. His detail let me look at my life, as an American, in a different perspective. Miner used cultural relativism and qualitative research methodology to explain why the Naciremain culture uses magic to maintain their physical conditioning and why magic is prevalent in their lives. Cultural relativism (the viewing of people's behavior from the perspective of their own culture) and use of qualitative research methodology (research that relies on what is seen in the field or naturalistic settings more than on statistical date) are prevalent throughout this article as Miner used ethnography (the study of an entire social setting through extended systematic fieldwork) and observation (a research technique in which an investigator collects information through direct participation by closely watching a group or community) to give us a deception of how the culture of Nacirema view the human body and use...
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...[SS310 | Exploring the 1960s: An Interdisciplinary Approach] Body Ritual among the Nacirema Body Ritual among the Nacirema by Horace Mitchell Miner Published in American Anthropologist, vol 58, June 1956. pp. 503-507. Most cultures exhibit a particular configuration or style. A single value or pattern of perceiving the world often leaves its stamp on several institutions in the society. Examples are "machismo" in Spanish-influenced cultures, "face" in Japanese culture, and "pollution by females" in some highland New Guinea cultures. Here Horace Miner demonstrates that "attitudes about the body" have a pervasive influence on many institutions in Nacirema society. The anthropologist has become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different people behave in similar situations that he is not apt to be surprised by even the most exotic customs. In fact, if all of the logically possible combinations of behavior have not been found somewhere in the world, he is apt to suspect that they must be present in some yet undescribed tribe. The point has, in fact, been expressed with respect to clan organization by Murdock[1] . In this light, the magical beliefs and practices of the Nacirema present such unusual aspects that it seems desirable to describe them as an example of the extremes to which human behavior can go. Professor Linton[2] first brought the ritual of the Nacirema to the attention of anthropologists twenty years ago, but the culture of this people is still...
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...Anthropology in Action As we learned in our very first lecture video by Dr. Stacey Camp, anthropology is considered a holistic field- meaning anthropology encompasses almost every aspect of human life, whether it is in the past, present, or future. Anthropologists Study everything that was involved in a certain time period or in a certain place, or even with a certain group of people. There are four fields of anthropology; physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, archaeological anthropology, and linguistics. Without anthropology, we would not know about our past, which will affect how we live in the present and how people will live in the future. Anthropology is a field that continues to grow, just like any other science. Boston University encourages students to major in anthropology, stating “Anthropologists are careful observers of humans and their behavior, maintaining an intense curiosity: What does it mean to be human?” An anthropologist studies every aspect of human life. They provide explanations for why we talk the way we do, why we walk on two feet instead of on all fours, and how we raise our children. They also help to answer questions about the reasons cultures wage wars against each other, and why human beings decided to start making sophisticated tools such as the wheel. It is an anthropologist’s job to seek out the truth and provide factual evidence. People need to study anthropology for all of these reasons and more; their knowledge benefits people in...
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...Fijian villages to show how the economy has almost consumed the culture in America, and that it may not be heathy to be engulfed in a culture that focuses on consumption and driven by the economy. Part I In this section, I will be discussing the state of the economy in America from an etic perspective. Meaning I will take “an outsider's or observer's allegedly ‘objective’ account” (Crapo, 2013, p. 1.1). This will allow me to examine the American economy objectively; even though I will able to pull from my own experiences and knowledge. In the article Body Ritual among the Nacerima by Horace Miner the Nacerima culture is examined from an outsider’s perspective. Miner observes the significance the Nacerima put on their bodies and how that has shaped their routines and practices. These cultural practices have shaped a prospering society; but is much different than what I know from my personal cultural experiences. Miner’s etic perspective allowed me to understand the culture before coming to my own conclusions. The United States of America is ethnically and racially diverse, often referred to...
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...the World Elements of Culture Culture and the Dominant Ideology Case Study: Culture at Wal-Mart Cultural Variation Social Policy and Culture: Bilingualism Boxes Sociology in the Global Community: Life in the Global Village Sociology in the Global Community: Cultural Survival in Brazil Sociology on Campus: A Culture of Cheating? “Nacirema culture is characterized by a highly developed market economy which has evolved in a rich natural habitat. While much of the people's time is devoted to economic pursuits, a large part of the fruits of these labors and a considerable portion of the day are spent in ritual activity. The focus of this activity is the human body, the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people. While such a concern is certainly not unusual, its ceremonial aspects and associated philosophy are unique. The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of the powerful influences of ritual and ceremony. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their...
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...ANTHROPOLOGY 101 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Queens College / CUNY, Spring 2015 TuTh 12:15-1:30PM, Kiely 150 Professor: Ramona Lee Pérez, PhD Email: ramona.perez@qc.cuny.edu Office hours: Th 2-3 PM, PH 315H COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is an introduction to the range of human diversity through an exploration of the peoples of the world. We will cover the basic concepts, theories, and methods that anthropologists use to study variations in cultural norms and social practices, economic systems and rules of law, social organization and patterns of inequality, identity and worldview, and patterns of social and cultural change. Focusing on the culture concept and the method of ethnography, we begin with the historical foundations of anthropology and then follow its attempts to understand contemporary human cultures. Comparative analysis of multiple ethnographic case studies and major theoretical approaches illuminates the range of human diversity, the forces that shape cultures, and how people adapt to a rapidly changing modern world. The central objectives of this course are to develop your intellectual skills, your cross-cultural fluency, and your sense of civic and moral engagement in global society. I hope that this course inspires many of you to become anthropology majors or minors, and grants each of you an anthropological perspective on your own life. REQUIREMENTS This is an intensive course that requires full participation from every student...
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