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
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Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Edward Hamilton Sociology Professor January 15‚ 2014 The “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner‚ is an article that examines the various rituals that manifests within industrialized societies‚ specifically referencing to the United States. In the article Miner joked about the invasion of privacy and the obsession of becoming immortal. Miner provides gives outstanding evidence that the characteristics or an attitude of the human
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Body Rituals of the Nacirema tells a story of a tribal group’s lifestyle and the rituals of it. Miner is actually talking about the American culture. As most of us know‚ Nacirema is American spelled backwards. In this article‚ Miner’s intention is not to express the extreme human behavior with the Nacirema‚ but the way it affects our perception of an unfamiliar culture. If we were to look at the Nacirema’s behaviors with regards to appearance and hygiene without the slightest bit of knowledge about
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n the article‚ “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner‚ the author’s purpose is revealed through judgemental and magical word choice. The author’s purpose is shown through his judgmental word choice. For example‚ to describe going to the dentist he uses the words‚ “ritual torture”‚ “augers‚ awls‚ probes and prods” and “gouge.” All of the words that Horace Miner used to describe going to the dentist sound negative and foul. The words make people judge the Nacirema for doing these ill sounding
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Reaction Paper In his article Body Rituals among the Nacirema‚ Miner effectively convinces his reader of the ridiculous nature of America’s obsession with the body’s health and visual appeal by allowing his readers to form an opinion about themselves without realizing they are their own subject. At first glance the reader may be convinced he is reading about magical beliefs and extreme practices of a little know civilization. Miner effectively employs an academic tone as he opens the paper with
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In the article “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner‚ he writes about a North American group known as the “Nacirema”‚ who were described by Professor Linton in the early twentieth century. In the article described‚ the “Nacirema” are a cultural group who seem to be obsessed with rituals they perform in regards to the human body on a day-to-day basis. These people believe that the human body is ugly and debilitating and are described to waste great portions of their days performing the
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economy‚ wealth‚ and body-focused rituals performed to keep oneself looking aesthetically pleasing‚ not unlike our own American culture. Found between Canada and Mexico‚ the people of the Nacirema tribe perform these rituals to keep death and disease at bay‚ while also improving the looks and social life of the worshipper. Common practices mentioned in the article include washing themselves with purified water‚ visiting multiple physicians to improve the state of the mouth and body‚ and fasting to make
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The Body Ritual of the Nacirema discusses the habits of Americans and medical professionals to someone outside the culture. The article is meant to make the Americans health habits seem like a new discovery. In the article it examined health habits that Americans follow‚ it also examined the bathroom habits of the Americans‚ and it also examined the medical professionals that treat them. But the distinction of the habits of the Americans in the article is that the author worded them as if they were
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professor 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 “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
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In the article‚ “Body Ritual among the Nacirema‚” author Horace Miner talks in detail about the culture of a North American clan‚ the Nacirema. Horace Miner seems to be particularly interested in the magical beliefs‚ practices‚ and rituals of the Nacirema clan. The “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” article shows many different examples of culture‚ cultural relativism‚ ethnocentrism‚ and qualitative research methodology. The sociological concept of culture is shown in nearly every paragraph of this
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