Body Ritual Among the Nacirema What was Horace Miner attempting to illustrate with this article?

Answer 1

In the beginning, Horace Miner gives the anthropologist has become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different people behave in similar situations. He describes about the extreme rituals that people hold in America which he introduces his topic, ritual activity, "the focus" of which is the human body, the appearance and health of which looms as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people. It brings out the idea that what they are doing is only to improve that looks which are actually unnecessary such as the use of unnecessary plastic surgery. And also is deeper than a clever critique of the absurdities of the American culture. Although the writer does not use the word America at all, we can tell from the content and the examples that it is reflecting the Americans.

Miner goes on to give capsule descriptions of the shrine in which " private and secret" cleansing and makeup rituals take place, the " box and chest" containing " charms and magical potions" located in the shrine, the fonts with holy water used in the rituals, and how the contents of the boxes are filled.

He mentions the holy-month-men, and refers to health and romantic concerns with the mouth. He writes at length about visits to the holy-mouth-men, arguing that their sadism curiously contrasts with the general masochism of the people. As additional examples of masochism, he refers to men rubbing their faces with sharp scrapers and women baking their heads in small ovens. After he describes the Nacirema and theories about the influences of early memories and parents especially mothers. And also he mentions treatments of body fat and thinness breast size, excretion, intercourse and reproduction.

In the other side, he outlines glimpses of other aspects of American life: social divisions by wealth; asymmetries among the social roles of medical practitioners; his emphasis on the rather than family body rituals that suggests a form of individualism; sexism inferred from the treatment.

Finally, the best way from our high places of safety in the developed civilization, it is easy to see all the crudity and irrelevance of magic. Without it, no men have advanced to the higher stages of civilization.

Posted on October 14, 2008 3:25 AM | Permalink

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