n the article, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner, the author’s purpose is revealed through judgemental and magical word choice.…
The materials (hog hairs and magical powder) are placed inside the decaying teeth or healthy teeth (when healthy, their teeth are gouged out to make space) to prevent decay and welcome friends. Another custom they practice is breast rituals. If one’s breast are too large and need to be shrunk they will perform a ritual to shrink them and vice versa with small breasts. Intercourse is a scheduled act and is typically not discussed. Reproduction is not as common in this tribe. Once pregnant the woman will hide herself and childbirth happens in secret. These are just a few of the topics I would tell a stranger about to describe Nacirema.…
He calls hospital, “Latipso”, and he talks about how crazy it is that the Nacireman even their people there because how horrible the care is. He makes some decent points but for the most part is just more crazy tribal exaggeration. He writes again how the Nacirema just basically hate their bodies, and if their fat then they don’t eat and eat a bunch if they are skinny. He talks about boobs how they are either too big or too small and how girls get implants. He also says that some girls with implants show them off to make a good living, a.k.a strippers. Then the last topic he talks about is sex and how were not supposed to talk about it and we try to prevent it but conception is still high (I mean that’s totally true.weve all seen teen…
The Nacirema are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawark of the Antilles. Little is known about their origin but people believe that they came from the east. These people concentrate on the human body, which is their main concern which makes the Nacirema unique in their rituals and ways of thinking. The Nacirema believe that the human body is ugly in the sense that it’s not perfect because it’s weak and prone to catch diseases. They believe that the only way to rid of these characteristics is through rituals and ceremonies.…
After reading the article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”, I can’t help but notice blatantly obvious similarities between our culture and theirs. Their rituals, rites, and customs are bizarre in nature and seem to illustrate a nearly obsessive fascination with the human body. The main focus of their culture appears to be shaming people based on their appearance and forcing them to conform to the societal norms. Upon further reading, I noted that while the Nacirema put a high value on the upkeep of their bodies, they made it exorbitantly expensive to do so, even if a tribe member was dying of sickness and the supplies, or “potions”, were readily available to cure him/her. This seemed backwards. There are some aspects of the Nacirema culture…
The analysis of the article Body Ritual Among the Nacerima by Horace Minor uses key principles to help decipher the hidden meanings behind his work. The article is based off of Americans but written in a primitive manner to help show readers the importance of keeping an open mind. Cultural relativism is crucial when researching a new topic. This culture is different than others based on their obsession with physical appearance but it does not make them wrong. Also, the culture that practices different rituals has a different belief system. One culture may place great importance on preserving the land while…
The Gros ventre Tribe was established in May 1,1888. Women in the Gros Ventre tribe grew harvest corn, squash, and beans while the men went on hunting trips, They hunted for Buffalo's while they were in herds.The Gros Ventre Tribe means big belly. They lived in North Central Montana near the Rocky Mountains, They migrated in the plains of Wyoming and Colorado. Gros Ventre means big belly in french. They spoke Algonquian,They did not know english. The shelter they used were tepees made of wooden poles that were covered in animal skins, most tepees were approximately 12 to 16 feet in diameter.…
In Horace Miner’s “Body Ritual among the Nacirema,” the reader is introduced to an interesting group called the Nacirema, whose culture is then described and dissected in very tribal and primitive terms. At first, it is unclear as to where or how this culture exists under the guidelines and practices and beliefs its society maintains; but, the reader soon discovers, with contextual clues and a bit of pondering, that Nacirema is actually American culture. Miner uses creative contextual clues and diction to confuse the reader, letting the discovery and satire push his purpose, as well as allow reflection on how certain societies tend to inaccurately…
The Nacirema change their behavior leading up to December 25th on their approved calendar. They believe that a spirit called "Christmas" will magically fill themselves and the people around then with joy and caring tendencies. They tell their offspring and little ones that a large man in a red suit with a white beard will break into their homes on the 25th and leave gifts if their behavior is good. If they are bad this man will leave black natural resources, coal. The children are also told to leave cookies for the man, although he is already extremely stout. The adults although supply the children with gifts and not coal, whether the child is good or bad by cultural norms. The women of the homes spend days prepping the home for others to come.…
Body Ritual among the Nacirema” tells the story of the “unusual aspect” lifestyle and the rituals of the Americans. Miner uses a unique approach to describe not Nacirema but the Americans by using an outsider's view, a person who does not understand American's lifestyle. Nacirema is American spelled backwards Miner writes about is every household having a “shrine room” and those individuals with more power contain more than one. He remarks that the shrines rituals ‘are not with family but are private”and the box or chest which contains “magical potions”. The “shrine room” Miner describes is the bathroom and the box with magical potions is the medicine cabinet. The most important potions are described to be obtained from the medicine man who writes it down on a piece of paper in an “ancient and secret language” then is taken to the herbalist. Miner is talking about the American culture the medicine men are doctors the ancient writing are the scribbles on the prescription forms that somehow the pharmacist can understand. This helps us (Americans) realize different things about our culture and see how others view our culture.…
The research article about the Nacirema culture focused on a heavily religious society. In which the indualives shape their whole lives around it. Most people in the culture have at least one shrine dedicated to their physical health. It’s custom for all of the household members to pray to the shrine at least once a day. Praying is a secluded activity in the Nacirema culture and it is believed to reinforce the individual’s relationship with the divine. There is a major emphasis on the mouth and how it relates to a person’s social interaction and relationships. The mouth was so empathized that the Nacirema people visit the “Holy-mouth-man” once or twice a year, who inspects their mouths of any evil spirits using special instruments. The ancient traditions of the Nacirema culture seems to have influenced western culture.…
As an introduction, Horace Miner in his essay provides again the definition of an anthropologist, in which we have to maintain an open mind regarding things we may not understand. He introduces the Nacirema people for their “exotic customs”. Extreme behaviors in human aspects that have been either suspected or been imagined can be found in this tribe. A study done on them was conducted due to many unknown (pre-study) details regarding this tribe. The Nacirema culture views the human body is “ugly in its natural tendencies to debility and disease.…
“Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner discusses the ritual practice of Nacirema people, which is an ethnic group of people in America. In freshman year, I had a chance to take freshman seminar class about religion, so I know that even in one religion they have various way of ritual practice. The ritual practices are usually formed very early in the acient period of time, so most of them are unreasonable and superstitious. It is very interesting to read an article about the ritual practice of Nacirema people to understand more about a culture in the religious aspect. I was surprised to see that in every religion they usually have an image of God to worship, but Nacirema people does not. They worship to holy-mouth-man, medicine man,…
Many Native Americans Died in new england of a European diseases from 1500's to 1600's. After each hardship occurred several neighboring tribes decided to merge together, making their identities very indistinct, even within the indian oral history. However the Abenaki tribe, to avoid the reoccurring hardship moved to Canada, which in fact gave them their name the " Canadian Indians" but they are originally natives to New England. Although the Abenaki strategies to survival was to merge with others and to momentarily cover up their existence resulted in the tribe not able to receive federal recognition it ultimately ensured their people survival.…
It was a quiet summer's day on the Island of Utoya, where each year, hundreds of youngsters would come together and spend a week away from their families, to do projects, activities and other fun things. Little did they know, that many would never see their families again...…