study on the Nacirema Tribe. In the study he talked about their body rituals‚ and revealed to the world every strange ritual these people had. After reading this study‚ I decided to do one for myself. So I visited the Nacirema tribe. The things I observed still puzzles me. I noticed that everyday around the same time at daybreak‚ young Naciremas are awaken by an unusual noise coming from some sort of object. I have never in my life heard such an agitating sound. The young Nacirema then changes
Premium The Conclusion Rooms Ritual
William Sumner said it best when he described ethnocentrism as “the technical name for this view of things in which one’s own group is the center of everything‚ and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it” (Sumner‚ 1906).Now‚ ethnocentric thinking is born‚ in the most basic form‚ from the belief in a useful quality in every person’s culture. This useful quality‚ or virtue as this paper will refer to it‚ can be one or many and about any area of society. When one identifies with this virtue
Premium United States Stereotype Immigration to the United States
The Nacirema People: Sadistic Exploiters? It’s difficult to say whether or not a different culture‚ other than my own is politically correct in the ways they go about their daily lives‚ but after reading the article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner‚ it got me to question; What type of society are we making out our culture to be? Often people look at different cultures as primitive and contradictory through the eyes of ethnocentrism‚ and after reading this article
Free Culture Sociology
The Nacirema people‚ living in the territory between the Canadian Creed‚ the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico‚ and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles‚ are a group of Northern Americans who have chosen to live their lives in a strange manner. There is a main premise to their choice of lifestyle and that is to rid the body of its ugliness and natural tendencies towards debility and disease. (p. 503). The Nacirema people have devoted their lives to deterring these features of themselves through ritual
Premium Anthropology Ritual Sociology
"Body Rituals among the Nacirema" is a document written by Mr. Horace Miner. Miner was a graduate of the University of Chicago‚ with a degree in anthropology. Throughout his life‚ Miner was dedicated to his studies ranging in anthropology to sociology. He was very interested in the study of anthropology‚ but Miner disagreed with the way that other cultures were represented. He thought American anthropologists believed that the American culture was "normal" and‚ that the other studied cultures
Premium Anthropology Culture Cultural anthropology
the United States of America usually believe that we are better than other countries. A lot of people even get into debate on this subject. This is where the definition of ethnocentrism comes to play‚ which is how we tend to view other cultures based on how we compare it to our own culture‚ which makes us believe wrong things about that cultures or even judge that cultures in a bad light. But we should not do this because other cultures have their way of doing things for a reason. Like how culture relativism
Premium Culture Africa The Culture
systems used to compare cultures in sociology: ethnocentrism; the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture (Macionis)‚ and cultural relativism; the practice of judging a culture by its own standards (Macionis). Since we are raised in our own culture‚ it is easiest to use ethnocentrism‚ because it comes natural to judge by our own standards. From studying “Body Rituals Among The Nacirema”‚ it is obvious that the Nacirema people have unusual and extreme customs. Using
Premium Culture Cultural relativism Anthropology
The Nacirema Study and the Priorities of the Modern American When a person visits a museum or watches a documentary to learn about an unfamiliar culture‚ particularly distant cultures‚ often the information has been gathered and studied by an anthropologist. As defined by Merriam-Webster‚ anthropology is the study of humankind‚ their culture and how they react with their environment (Anthropology‚ n.d.). In Horace Miner’s essay about the Nacirema people‚ he observes a culture who is on the extreme
Premium Anthropology Culture Sociology
Thoughts on Lamron Rituals in Society Bagger Vance East Tennessee State University Abstract The Nacirema’s post-industrial economic structure will be identified along with thoughts on the article. Miner’s purpose of spinning a different viewpoint on a culture we find normal will be addressed. This essay will elaborate on the theme that Body Ritual of the Nacirema and “This American’s Life” audio have in common. The ability to look outside the box and be open
Premium United States Economy Culture
The Nacirema are a culture of vast ethnic diversity‚ yet the majority still share numerous similarities despite their unique trace origins. In the Nacirema culture there are many conventional values that most individuals try to adhere to‚ albeit the varying degrees of adherence due to their unique sub-cultures. The most prominent values are: treating all adult(18yrs) individuals equally with regards to making decisions about their leaders and allowing individuals to follow their own spiritual beliefs
Premium Marxism Karl Marx Capitalism