Download body ritual among the nacirema analysis and more Essays (university) Anthropology and Sociology in PDF only on Docsity!
See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
A Response to Horace Miner's 'Body Ritual Among the Nacirema'
Conference Paper · March 2015 DOI: 10.13140/2.1.1455. CITATIONS 0 READS 3, 2 authors , including: Se Carter Full Sail Real World Education 10 PUBLICATIONS 0 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Se Carter on 05 March 2015. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.
A response to Horace Miner’s
“Body Ritual Among the
Nacirema”
Seniqua Carter
I think it is fair to comment how the writer assumes that these people are aware and highly sensitive to the idea of bewitching and the need for various practitioners, such as ‘ holy-‐mouth-‐men’ , ‘ vestal maidens’ , and ‘ witch doctors’-‐ also known as a ‘listener’. In reference to the latipso , Miner records: “The fact that these temple ceremonies may not cure, and may even kill the neophyte, in no way decreases the people’s faith in the medicine men.” The anthropologist concludes, “…Mention must be made of certain practices,” because upon review, these practices demonstrate the Naciremas to be a “magic-‐ ridden people.” He finds it difficult to make sense of how they have managed to survive their self-‐imposed burdens. However, respectfully, the writer acknowledges meaning and value to their lifestyle, noting that through crude and irrelevant magic, the early man has been able to face more developed stages of civilization, having become haphazardly competent to master practical challenges. This particular anthropologist had observed the Naciremas in the late 1950’s. The Naciremas that Miner accounts compare to Americans both during that decade and today, in my opinion. The modern health care system in the United States also requires “substantial gifts” in order for people to be treated for physical traumas and chronic disease. The shrines that are mentioned in Miner’s essay are eerily similar to our “shrines” of technology. I see the temples of the ‘latipso’ with uncanny resemblance to our hospitals. The common sense of superficial appearances that are so popular in today’s culture seems to match the ritualistic approaches that the Naciremas took to, perhaps irrationally, enhance their own. For example, Miner says that “there are ritual fasts to make fat people thin and ceremonial feasts to make thin people fat. Still other rites are used to make women’s breasts large if they are small, and smaller if they are large. General dissatisfaction with breast shape is symbolized in the fact that the ideal form is virtually outside the range of human variation.” I can find many examples that Miner uses in his essay to compare to modern American culture. Practices such as shaving, going to the dentist, seeing a mental health practitioner, even going to a strip club, and the idea that children view hospitals as a place “where you go to die”, (as Miner bluntly states,) are all things that are normal for American culture and can be compared to Miner’s unfamiliar descriptions of the Nacirema. Indirectly evident as well are instances in our society marked as the celebration of holidays, eating disorders and plastic surgery. As a reader and critical thinker, I could infer that the Nacirema and the American are one in the same. This school of thought may indicate that Miner’s evaluation is reasonable, yet less informed or “un-‐indoctrinated”. Miner’s standpoint isn’t taught to appreciate the common practices of American culture in the same
way that the Nacirema commits; nevertheless his criticism is still sensible. I can agree with Miner’s ideas about the people being submissively “bewitched” by the influences of the shrines if I were to equate the Nacirema to the American. However, I can also agree that it was very relevant to quote Malinowaki in regards to the evolution of civilization through the influence of “magic”, because the bewildering effects usefully lead to more progressive patterns and behaviors in the modern age. I think Miner’s unique perspective is an eye-‐opener to how other cultures might distinguish us. It can be quite difficult to recognize our “normal” behaviors as completely healthy and non-‐masochistic. The cultural conduct from the 1950s is present in modern customs, but with more substantial effects from technology and education. After an analysis, if I were asked to reach a conclusion about Miner’s ideas of the Nacirema, (being that they’re conduct is so close to the American,) I would prefer to reserve judgment. I can’t say that the Nacirema culture is bizarre if I don’t resolve the American culture in the same way. Although I am befuddled by what is considered customary in our culture, and would probably make the assumption that these people must hate themselves-‐ I would feel obligated to include myself as a member of American society, even if I may sometimes regret to involve myself on a daily basis. I resolve to believe that the culture of the Nacirema must continually change, as does that of the American. I believe that the patterns of behavior in each of the cultures are unsurprisingly set up for changing circumstances; and the same can be said about their history. View publication statsView publication stats
