Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Essay - 822 Words

Would 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 fundamental beliefs of the Nacirema is that â€Å"the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease.† According to the Christian tradition, the human body is fallen and is therefore prone to disease and weakness; so in that†¦show more content†¦Women were also worse off in this society. There is definitely no room for any sort of equality between the sexes. Women were accused of â€Å"bewitching† their children and subjected to more scrutiny and prodding from the medicine men if they were taken to the temple. Women could not show signs of being pregnant, which I assume would be very difficult, and when the women give birth they are not allowed to have friends or family help with the delivery. A women’s breast size is also scrutinized if she is too small or too big. If she has the perfect sized breasts she can make a living by going around to different villages and getting paid to show them. In many ways society is still like this. There is a lot of attention given to a women, not solely because of her breast size, but also with weight, hair, and clothing. Women have always been scrutinized by each other, by men, and by society. The fact that women are so dissected and disrespected in the Nacirema culture (and even in today’s culture) makes me sad. One thing that I found extremely interesting about the Nacirema is the devotion to their culture, despite all the pain and suffering they endure. They torture themselves because they have never known anything else. Their beliefs run so deep that they are willing to even â€Å"bake their heads in small ovens† in order to stay on a right path. Many Christians today do not have anywhere near that kind of devotion to theirShow MoreRelatedThe Body Ritual Among the Nacirema737 Words   |  3 Pages 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  and otherRead MoreBody 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. 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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 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 usesRead More Horace Miner’s Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Essay596 Words   |  3 PagesHorace Miner’s Body Ritual Among the Nacirema In Horace Miner’s article, â€Å"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema†, he talks about a tribe and describes their odd behavior. He tells about how the tribe performs these strange daily rituals and how their peculiarity is extreme, but in fact he is actually speaking of Americans as a whole (Miner). Miner uses this style of writing to more effectively prove his point: that Americans are ethnocentric. Miner does an exceptional job in disguisingRead MoreAnthropology Analysis of Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Essay996 Words   |  4 Pagesin writing this article was not to show the â€Å"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 â€Å"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 â€Å"rituals† performed by this unknown tribe, Miner allowed