Guadalupe Gutierrez
Professor Huld
Anthropology 102
The Nacirema
I have never heard of the Nacirema until now. Learning about them was both interesting and appalling. What I learned about them is that they really care about their appearance or obsessed about their appearance. The Nacirema’s culture is based on their belief and value of the human body. They believe that the human body is weak and prune to diseases. The only way to make their appearance better is by them doing rituals. I think that their rituals are kind of bizarre because they spend a really considerable amount of time on them. They have “shrines” at their house which are bathrooms, they believe that the more shrines the better. The shrines are a place where they purify themselves
In their house, they have a private shrine where they pray daily. They believe this will cleanse and prevent whatever is lurking in the human body. Inside their shrine is a chest, which they believe possess magical powers, these powers are produced by the medicine man. The medicine man is of very high stature among the Nacirema.
These temples were dedicated to an individual deity or in some case several deities that was represented in the form of a statue. Worshippers were forbidden from entering these sacred temples and the only people who were allowed to enter were priests. The priests would perform various rituals and sacrifices to on an altar located outside of the temple in order to please the god or goddess associated with the temple. The way the priests would know if these rituals and sacrifices have worked would have been through divination. One of the methods that the priest would have used to determine if the deity was satisfied was by watching how an animal ate.
The general aspect of which presented similarities to the systems of Greece and Egypt. Original influences, however, were strong, and they are especially discernible in the institutions of ritualistic cannibalism and human sacrifice,” stated Lewis Spence in chapter 2. They all looked up to one god. Just like Christians we look up to one god and we do all that we can to be accepted by god. To me it seems like they are very religious and do a lot of rituals.
I was very scared after reading Miner’s article because of the descriptive details he used. If I had to practice those rituals I would be contemplating my life because it would be better than having to go through pain. Throughout Miner’s article, he describes Nacirema culture as both a material and nonmaterial culture. An example that shows that the Nacirema is a material culture is the fact that all the households that are of the Nacirema culture have shrines, and out of all the rooms in the houses, the shrines are the wealthiest rooms. Miner described that the families who are poorer put pottery plaques on the walls of their shrines to make them look a lot richer and imitate the richer families.
Horace Miner in 1956 wrote the satire piece, "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" describing the natural human in the 1950s as a tribe that were obsessed with what their bodies looked like going to the what seems as the extremes for perfection. Two of these satires were the "shrines" which in short are bathrooms and describes going to the bathroom as, "the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries. " The underlying belief to why the bathroom is kept a secret to others it’s a way that a human can get the "disease" and ugliness out of them without facing anyone. Miner talks about the medicine cabinet behind a mirror describing it as box or chest built into the wall.
There were many ancient civilizations that conveyed their religious beliefs, spirituality, and worldviews through their architecture, decorations, and other artistic mediums. The three cultures that stand out the most in regards to their beliefs being conveyed through architecture and art are Cahokia, Nubia, and India. Cahokia was a Mississippian civilization located in what is modern day North America. One of the unique cultural aspects within their government, known as the chiefdom, was the way in which the ruler of Cahokia was treated in regards to their gods. In a chiefdom, the ruler is hereditary and the chiefdom is based on a gift-giving and communal culture.
It was easy to judge the Nacirema people, but when you realize you are the Nacirema, suddenly things are not as clear. Conclusion In conclusion, Shakespeare in the Bush and Body Ritual among the Nacirema are two pieces that truly reveal the ethnocentrism within the American culture. Americans tend to do things and believe they are supreme because it is what they have been taught since a young age.
Nacirema Body Ritual The Nacirema culture was a nation that originated by the culture hero, Notgnihsaw. Their culture was characterized by a rich natural habitat. Now while they spent some time working on economic pursuits, majority of their day is spent in ritual activity. They believe that the human body is ugly and that it has a tendency to debility and disease and that the only way to protect themselves is through ritual and ceremony.
The Emic method gives a clear and accurate understanding of a culture due to the in-depth interview conducted by the anthropologist. But because there was a lack of information, confusion and strange descriptions of a non-exotic culture there is no way that this “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” used the Emic method. Because of this it supports the fact that this essay was a Etic inspired
At the temple, people would sing hymns, make prayers and make sacrifices and offerings to the gods. Art and
Nevertheless, the culture develops from the rich natural habitat known as the natural resources to develop the economy. The main concern of the people of Nacirema, is the human body and their health. The
Through partaking in interaction rituals, individuals become members of something greater than themselves. This feeling of being apart of something greater than oneself provides a moral community for the individuals, which then guides individuals in their beliefs and behaviors. It is similar to a never-ending circle; as individuals see the emotionally charged environment that this religion provides, they want to be a part of it, so they partake in unusual rituals, which furthers their engagement and emotional connectedness to their community. It almost reminds me a bit of an addiction. This community turns objects, such as poison and snakes as sacred, which in turn creates a sacred and profane world.
They name Nacirema spelled backwards is American. They really aren’t another culture. They are the American culture, made to seem extreme because that is how they seem to other places. The crazy acts are what people in America go through everyday, but they are not considered crazy until they are seen from another
“Tale From the Jungle: Margaret Mead”, youtube videos, which was introduced by Professor Ana, humanities professor, are a six long clip video documentaries of the first anthropology’s discoveries ever brought to public, the Samoan civilization. This ‘Samoan civilization’ anthropology discovery was discovered by Mead Margaret, an American female anthropologist, and later by Derek Freeman, an Australian anthologist. According to Mead Margaret, an American female anthropologist, she believes that humans are influenced by nurture. On the other side, Derek Freeman, an Australian anthologist, opposes Mead Margaret’s idea. He believes that humans are influenced by nature.
They don’t, in other words, know what they’re doing. Their behavior is not part of some larger concept (Park 2013). Culture can be described as a full range of learning human behavior patterns acquired over a period of time by living and reliving them until they become a part of our human life to a point that they influence the man-made things around us. Culture helps with the study of a society. By studying a people’s culture anthropologist are able to deeper understand a person and their past better as just studying their buildings or ruins is not enough to truly paint a fair picture of both their past and present ages.