The “shrine room” Miner describes is
the bathroom
and the box with magical potions is the medicine cabinet. This discription of that are common to the American culture are depicted throughout the article to add effect.
What culture is Miner describing?
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.
What is the main point of body Ritual among the Nacirema?
According to Miner, the Nacirema culture presents a highly developed market economy but with a main focus on ritual activity which
focuses on the human body and its appearance of health
. The Nacirema believe the body to be ugly and detestable and seek to avoid its uncleanliness through ritual and ceremony.
What is the secret of Nacirema?
What is the secret of the nacirema? The Nacirema have
special medicine-men which hold secret knowledge of special substances
. These medicine men also function in a central temple in which people undergo brutal practices aimed at “curing” them from illness.
Where are the nacirema located?
The Nacirema are a group of people who live in
the territory north of the Tarahuamare people of Mexico
. No one knows much about their origin, but traditional legends say they came from the east.
Why is Nacirema American spelled backwards?
The Nacirema were a fascinating people, prone to strange customs: Intercourse is taboo as a topic and scheduled as an act. … Miner’s account of the Nacirema—American spelled backwards—was instead
a pointed criticism of anthropologists’ tendency to hype up the perceived weirdness of other cultures
.
What is the basic focus of 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 are the nacirema obsessed with?
As Miner explains in the article, the Nacirema are obsessed with
the body
, which they believe is intrinsically ugly and prone to debility and disease.
What does the story about the nacirema teach us?
This
story is trying to get us to look at our own culture from the outside sine we are always thinking we are normal but other cultures are very strange
. When in reality, we are just as strange as other cultures are to us.
Why is the mouth so important to the nacirema?
The Most important values of the Nacirema are to give to their shrines, and to see holy-mouth-mens atleast twice a year, despite the pain that it brings. The mouth is so important to these people, because
their mouth apparently has a supernatural influence on social relationships
.
What made it hard to identify who the nacirema are?
The word Nacirema is the word american spelled backwards. It is a term used in sociology to describe the behaviors and cultures of american people. What made it hard to identify who they are?
Their cultural believes were complicated and poorly understood by many.
What is the Latipso in Nacirema culture?
The latipso – in every community, there is a temple called the latipso
where the Naciremas believe they will be healed
. … Intercourse – this is a very taboo subject in the Nacirema culture. It is a scheduled event, and, sometimes, magical materials are even used to prevent pregnancy.
What are Nacirema values?
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 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’ .
What is the point of the nacirema article?
“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
.
