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
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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 to different perspectives will be explained. Thoughts on Lamron Rituals in Society As I read about Nacirema‚ I began to see the clear parallels between their society and our very own in the United States. The unique analogies give insight
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At first I wasn’t too surprised by the behavior of the Nacirema. Medicine men making potions and priests making sure water is holy are all things that I have heard about before. What really took me aback was the holy mouth man. I was shocked at the torture these people go through because of their beliefs in certain magic rituals. I’ve never had a cavity before‚ so just the thought of someone grinding holes in my teeth makes my mouth hurt. However‚ I guess if I was raised believing that these sort
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Nacirema Reflection Paper As Filipinos‚ we believe that our way of life is inferior to all others but for other cultures they think theirs are superior to the rest. This feeling isn’t something that many people want to have‚ but it happens over time as a person becomes integrated into their own culture. Change is typically hard and being able to look at a completely new culture or way of life as normal doesn’t come naturally to most. However‚ with time and patience many can overcome the ethnocentrism
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Human Communication. A Publication of the Pacific and Asian Communication Association. Vol. 11‚ No.1‚ pp. 27 – 38 Overcoming Ethnocentrism through Developing Intercultural Communication Sensitivity and Multiculturalism Qingwen Dong University of the Pacific Kenneth D. Day University of the Pacific Christine M. Collaço University of the Pacific Qingwen Dong (Ph.D. Washington State University‚ 1995) is Associate Professor and Chair and Kenneth D. Day (Ph.D. Indiana University‚ 1980) is Professor
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Are we limited in knowledge‚ in imagination‚ and in understanding by the culture we grow up in? In other words‚ are we ethnocentric‚ and if so is it a bad thing? To answer that‚ one must understand what ethnocentrism is. According to Macionis (2004)‚ ethnocentrism is "the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture". We are not born with culture; culture is a socially learned behavior‚ or set of values that a given groups holds as a norm and are considered to be
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Ethnocentrism By Richanda L. Brown SSCI210-1204A-06 AIU 8-30-2012 Abstract This paper will evaluate the movie The Stoning of Soraya M. and discuss the effect of ethnocentrism on individuals‚ societies‚ and multinational corporations. This paper will provide a comprehensive overview of ethnocentrism and focus on the cultural observations made based on cultural experience. Ethnocentrism Introduction Our text defines ethnocentrism as the practice of judging another culture by the standards
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Any action on the part of individuals‚ a group of people or institutions that promote the believed superiority of one group‚ profession‚ or set of ideas over another can be considered ethnocentric. Ethnocentrism is defined as one’s own race or ethnic group as of supreme importance than the order race or group. It is apparent that a broader use of the term has entered common usage. It has been demonstrated that ethnic and cultural values and beliefs influence the way individuals and groups view health
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Ethnocentrism in Anthropological perspective - Avatar Using highly advanced technology to replicate and to creating false bodies which humans use to walk amongst the natives known as the Na’vi living in the planet Pandora hence the name ‘Avatar’. The story focuses on an ex U.S. soldier name Jake Sully who is wheel-chair bound‚ was called upon as a last resort to replace his late brother whom had trained for 3 years in a project which was invested with so much money that the researchers could not
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Allen Mr.Savastano Pre-IB English III 29 April 2010 During the Common Era the eastern world managed to portray huge amounts of Ethnocentrism which operated internally on the minds of conquered societies as well as cultures. The eastern perception on the way of life degraded other traditions in order to uplift the status of their own beliefs. The correlation of Ethnocentrism led to the encouragement of Nationalism demonstrating the characterization of hubris. In the text Things Fall Apart‚ Chinua Achebe
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