What does Body Ritual among the Nacirema teach us about ethnocentrism and cultural relativism? The Nacirema believe that by not performing the rituals of the mouth, their jaws would shrink, their gums bleed and everyone they love would leave them. Supposedly, the Nacirema people
use odd and mechanical gestures to move around a stick with hog hair on it throughout their mouth
.
What does Body Ritual Among the Nacirema teach us?
Is Nacirema cultural relativism?
What can we learn from the Nacirema?
Who are the Nacirema How would you briefly describe their cultural views about the human body?
The Nacirema are a peculiar culture in North America. According to Horace Miner’s account of them in his 1956 article “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”, one of their main characteristics is
a highly negative sentiment towards the human body which is considered by them to be ugly and sick
.
He wanted
to prove to other anthropologists that to other cultures the American culture could be viewed as unusual
. In Miner’s document, “Body Rituals among the Nacirema,” he spoke of what would be considered strange rituals performed by the people of the tribe.
What point do you think Miner was trying to make about ethnocentrism?
Horace Miner used Ethnocentrism because
he called the tribe barbaric and inhumane when describing the way they performed the rituals
. In order to be able to understand a different culture and their ways there must be no judging and an open mind must be kept.
What is one of the main points of Horace Miner’s article Body Ritual Among the Nacirema quizlet?
Terms in this set (14)
What is one of the main points of Horace Miner’s article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”?
It is easy to take one’s own culture for granted.
Why is the article Body Ritual Among the Nacirema useful to sociologists?
The article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” is useful to sociologists because:
it challenges people’s inability to observe their own cultures
.
How would you describe the Nacirema culture?
Nacirema culture is characterized by
a highly developed market economy, which has evolved in a rich natural habitat
. While much of the people’s time is devoted to economic pursuits, a considerable portion of their day is spent in ritual activity.
What is the basic focus of the Nacirema society?
Nacirema culture is devoted to economic pursuits and ritual activity. The focus of this activity is
the human body, the appearance and health of which are major concerns for the people
. Many of the Nacirema’s traditions are based on preserving bodily health and youth.
What is culturally relativistic?
Cultural relativism is
the view that ethical and social standards reflect the cultural context from which they are derived
. Cultural relativists uphold that cultures differ fundamentally from one another, and so do the moral frameworks that structure relations within different societies.
What does Nacirema stand for?
Nacirema (
“American” spelled backwards
) is a term used in anthropology and sociology in relation to aspects of the behavior and society of citizens of the United States of America.
Is Body Ritual Among the Nacirema satire?
The Satire of the Modern American Society in Horace Miner’s Essay Body Ritual among the Nacirema
. In Horace Miners essay Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, he uses an interesting way of describing some rituals that Americans do.
How does Miner’s description of the Nacirema affect our ability to identify them?
What are the techniques – – Miner uses to describe the Nacirema, and how does his description of the Nacirema affect our ability to identify them?
Miner uses extremely illustrated and analytical language
to describe the Nacirema.
How do Nacirema feel about the human body?
What is your overall impression of the culture of the Nacirema After reading the article?
What does the article Body Ritual Among the Nacirema demonstrate who are the nacirema?
What is the nacirema article about?
In the paper, Miner describes the Nacirema,
a little-known tribe living in North America
. The way in which he writes about the curious practices that this group performs distances readers from the fact that the North American group described actually corresponds to modern-day Americans of the mid-1950s.
Who was the audience in Body Ritual Among the Nacirema?
Is ethnocentrism still happening in the present time?
While many people may recognize ethnocentricity as problematic, they may not realize it occurs everywhere, both at local and political levels. Sure, it’s easy to point the finger at the likes of colonial men and women who oppressed slaves, but
ethnocentrism still exists today
.
Who are the Nacirema people quizlet?
What is one of the main points of Horace Miner’s article Body Ritual among the Nacirema Inquizitive?
What is one of the main points that Horace Miner’s article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” demonstrates? –
culture not only includes signs, gestures, and language, but also values and norms.
“Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” is important because it demonstrates the problem of representation in ethnography. The purpose of article is
to raise the question of how can we study a different culture from the outside and how can we understand our own culture from within
.
Which statement best characterizes the concept of cultural relativism?
Which of the following best describes cultural relativism?
The view that what’s right/wrong is what your culture approves/disapproves of, and there’s no universal or fundamental moral truth beyond that.
What are you practicing if you are understanding another culture in terms of that culture’s own norms and values without reference to any other culture’s standards?
Why is it often hard to recognize that our perspectives values and beliefs are learned rather than innate?
Why is it hard to recognize that the values and beliefs of ones own culture are learned rather than innate?
We learn values and beliefs slowly and incrementally
. Which concept is the tendency to use your own groups way of doing things as the yardstick for judging others?
What is a function of symbolic culture?
Is Nacirema cultural relativism?
What can we learn from the Nacirema?
Observations that deliver insight that help transform products and services require
objectivity, removal of bias, curiosity, and an understanding of context
. The ‘Body Ritual Among the Nacirema’ is an academic article from 1956 describing the rituals of a ‘North American group’ .
Who are the Nacirema How would you briefly describe their cultural views about the human body?
What do you think the most important Nacirema cultural values are?
The most important values of the Nacirema are
teeth, breast, and appearance
. Members of the society exemplify their wealth and power by how many shrines they have.
What were children afraid of in Body Ritual Among the Nacirema?
Despite the allegiance, most of the Nacirema people have a terrific fear of the
mouth men
despite the bi-yearly visits they make. Without the visits to the holy-mouth-men, the Nacirema believe that their gums will bleed and teeth will rot, causing them to become social outcasts of their communities.
What is cultural relativism and ethnocentrism?
Ethnocentrism views one’s own culture as the standard for comparison, whereas cultural relativism asserts that a culture is best understood through its own people
. Examine the different worldviews that each of these concepts promotes.
How does cultural relativism relate to ethnocentrism?
Ethnocentrism involves looking at another culture from the perspective of one’s own culture, while
cultural relativism involves looking at another culture by its own perspective instead of one’s own culture
.
