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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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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“Body Ritual Among The Nacirema” As I started to read “Body Ritual Among The Nacirema” by Horace Miner I was really confused. You told us that the homework was to write what was the real true meaning of this reading but I had to reread the pages over and over to find the true meaning to the reading that Horace Miner was talking about. It is a culture named Nacirema and that no one really know much about this culture. And also that they come from the east. He talks about the rituals they have
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Nacirema and Its Sociological Effects Rachael L. Smith SOCI 111 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
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INTRODUCTION After reading Laura Bohannan’s Shakespeare in the Bush and Horace Miner’s Body Ritual Among the Nacirema‚ a common theme presents itself between the two articles. Ethnocentrism‚ particularly within the U.S.‚ is elucidated through the actions of Bohannan while in West Africa‚ and the reaction of any American reading Miner’s piece about the “magical” Nacirema culture. In Bohannan’s piece‚ she struggles to prove that Hamlet is a universal story that any culture can easily understand. She
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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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Cultural Perspectives of Dress JOURNAL ENTRY CHAPTER 1 1.6 Body Ritual among the Nacirema Horace Miner‚ University of Michigan In the article‚ the author introduces us alleging that the anthropologist is familiar with so many different behaviors that it is hard to believe he can be shocked by some exotic culture. However‚ he specifies later that the piece is just about how far humans can reach regarding their demeanors and rites. Along the article‚ Miner describes the habits – I might just
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point has‚ in fact‚ been expressed with respect to clan organization by Murdock (1949: 71).[2] In this light‚ the magical beliefs and practices of the Nacirema present such unusual aspects that it seems desirable to describe them as an example of the extremes to which human behavior can go. Professor Linton [3] first brought the ritual of the Nacirema to the attention of anthropologists twenty years ago (1936: 326)‚ but the culture of this people is still very poorly understood. They are a North American
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in writing this article was not to show the “Nacirema” as an example of how extreme human behavior can become‚ but how an outside perspective can affect your perception of an alien culture. If one were to look at the “Nacirema’s” cultural behaviors regarding physical appearance and health without any insight or knowledge of the specific beliefs or values of that culture‚ they might seem bizarre and even incomprehensible. By showing behaviors and “rituals” performed by this unknown tribe‚ Miner allowed
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Chapter 2: Culture and Society. This was also when the class read the article Body Ritual Among the Nacirema by Horace Miner. This whole week was so intriguing and diverse‚ one in particular term made a large impression on me‚ and this was “rituals” as explained by Barken (p. 36) This term and act initially brought a sense of familiarity among all cultures‚ ethnicity groups‚ and societies‚ because each one of us performs a ritual daily‚ weekly‚ monthly‚ and yearly. These may vary from extreme acts‚ or
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