Horace Miner's Body Ritual Among The Nacirema

Words: 148
Pages: 1
Open Document
In Horace Miner’s Body Ritual Among the Nacirema he describes what seems to be a little known uncivilized tribe in North America. He writes in detail about the unusual rituals and customs of the tribespeople. The strange practices of these people include shrines, charms, magical potions and powders, medicine men, holy-mouth-men, mouth rite, latipso’s, vestal maidens, and listener’s. Upon reading Miner’s analysis, I was startled that there were still societies that were so underdeveloped and acted so unnaturally. They were sill partaking in bizarre supernatural traditions and some of their common rituals were very unpleasant, even torturous. It wasn’t until I read of the holy-mouth-man that I began to see the similarities between this strange
Show More

Related Documents: Horace Miner's Body Ritual Among The Nacirema

Anthropology Analysis of "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" Essay

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…

Words 986 - Pages 4

Essay about Body Rituals Among the Nacirema

“Body Rituals Among the Nacirema, “ by Horace Miner, is an essay written about the Nacirema, or American people, from an outsider’s perspective. Miner gives an insight on the Nacireman people, which he describes in his essay as an unknown tribe, and the completing of the Nacireman’s magical beliefs and practices, which involve daily, involuntary body rituals that cause much pain and discomfort. Miner shows how an outsider’s perspective can affect the way a culture is seen. In his essay, Miner uses…

Words 917 - Pages 4

Essay on Body Rituals Of The Nacirema

Cultural Anthropology Estelle Kennelly Body Rituals of the Nacirema Analysis Horace Miners article Body Ritual among the Nacirema offers great insight into the relevance of Anthropology to modern society by way of satire. The article characterizes the Nacirema people of North America, “discovered” by Miner, and their perceived obsession with the human body. The author claimed to analyze rites and rituals among the Nacirema people. Upon realizing that the word Nacirema read backwards is American, it was easy to deduct…

Words 414 - Pages 2

BODY RITUAL AMONG THE NACIREMA Essay

Nathan Gracie Due: February 11, 2015 BODY RITUAL AMONG THE NACIREMA In the article the Nacirema, the people are summarized as a culture obsessed with rituals regarding the human body. Their belief appeared to be that the human body is ugly and that its “natural tendency is to debility and disease.” When I first read the article I looked at this group of people as a group of very self-conscious individuals. I thought of all their daily rituals as being pointless and a waste of their time…

Words 552 - Pages 3

Body Ritualism Among The Nacirema Analysis

Horace Miner’s satirical article, “Body Ritualism Among the Nacirema” is a very entertaining look piece about ethnocentrism and social commentary. Miner describes American cultural practices from the view of a primitive culture. By doing this the author is forcing us to change perspective. We realize that like every other culture, Americans have numerous habits and rituals that would appear ridiculous to another society. Miner is telling us to view other cultures with more understanding and objectivity…

Words 151 - Pages 1

Body Ritualism Among The Nacirema Analysis

Horace Miner’s satirical article, “Body Ritualism Among the Nacirema” is a very entertaining look at a “tribe” located between the cree of Canada and yaqui of Mexico. The author describes the typical Western ideal for oral cleanliness, as well as providing an outside view on hospital care and on psychiatry. The Nacirema are described as having a highly developed market economy that has evolved within a rich natural habit. The dichotomy is that although there are no such people as the Nacirema, scholars…

Words 286 - Pages 2

Essay on Culture and Miner

culture that goes by the name “The Naciermas” are magic ridden people that believe in perfection of the body but in fact they represent American culture as a whole (Miner 171). The idea behind using the term “Nacierma” originated from American Anthropologist Horace Miner’s article “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”. He wanted to show Americans can be abnormal yet hiding the fact the name “Nacirema” is American in reverse. Americans are as awkward as any other culture due to their practices on presentation…

Words 616 - Pages 3

Horace Miner's Article Summary

Miner’s Article Review Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two cultures with no similarities. Ethnocentrism is the evaluation of other cultures according to their standards. Those of ethnocentrism believe they are better than other cultures. Cultural relativism is the principle of regarding the values, beliefs, and practices of other cultures. Cultural relativism also believes other cultures should be accepted for who they are. When reading the article Body Ritual among the Nacirema by Horace…

Words 496 - Pages 2