Bathroom and Rituals
Nacirema
HR 582
Managing Global Diversity
Patsy A. Shepherd
March 22, 2012
In Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, Horace Miner writes about the strange rituals that people do in America. While reading the story I was almost fooled, but as read further I realized the spoof of Nacirema; Nacirema is American spelled backwards and the references in the myth are the backward strange American everyday rituals. Miner’s word usage made it obvious it was just a myth, words like magical, fascination, bewitched, and mythology gave it away. Miner portrays Americans as a tribe that go through their daily life by performing painful and needed rituals to their bodies. It is not obvious at the beginning of the case study that the tribe Miner is talking about is American people. The rituals they perform mainly focus on the human body, and if Americans skip these rituals we will have a nasty society of individuals. (Miner 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. He describes the shrine as a private and secret place where cleansing and makeup rituals take place. The box and the chest have charms and potions from the medicine men). Harvey, C & Allard, J (2005) Understanding and Managing Diversity: readings, cases and exercises Pearson Prentice Hall 4th edition p.19 Rituals are ceremonies and most rituals have a purpose. In my observation of Nacirema I want to know why the tribe conducts these types’ rituals. How are the rituals performed? Where are the rituals performed? Tribal rituals play a large part of everyday life in the Nacirema and American culture. Rituals are what we do on a regular basis, repeated over time; that which bring people together; shared beliefs; and loyalty. Many of the events that occur in day to day life in Nacirema are just past down customs, rituals, and beliefs. Many of our customs are a belief system past down from generation
HR 582
Managing Global Diversity
Patsy A. Shepherd
March 22, 2012
In Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, Horace Miner writes about the strange rituals that people do in America. While reading the story I was almost fooled, but as read further I realized the spoof of Nacirema; Nacirema is American spelled backwards and the references in the myth are the backward strange American everyday rituals. Miner’s word usage made it obvious it was just a myth, words like magical, fascination, bewitched, and mythology gave it away. Miner portrays Americans as a tribe that go through their daily life by performing painful and needed rituals to their bodies. It is not obvious at the beginning of the case study that the tribe Miner is talking about is American people. The rituals they perform mainly focus on the human body, and if Americans skip these rituals we will have a nasty society of individuals. (Miner 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. He describes the shrine as a private and secret place where cleansing and makeup rituals take place. The box and the chest have charms and potions from the medicine men). Harvey, C & Allard, J (2005) Understanding and Managing Diversity: readings, cases and exercises Pearson Prentice Hall 4th edition p.19 Rituals are ceremonies and most rituals have a purpose. In my observation of Nacirema I want to know why the tribe conducts these types’ rituals. How are the rituals performed? Where are the rituals performed? Tribal rituals play a large part of everyday life in the Nacirema and American culture. Rituals are what we do on a regular basis, repeated over time; that which bring people together; shared beliefs; and loyalty. Many of the events that occur in day to day life in Nacirema are just past down customs, rituals, and beliefs. Many of our customs are a belief system past down from generation