When I first read Horace Miner’s paper on Nacirema, I was confused and kind of weirded out by what he was stating. After I started reading the additional link that Dr. Pelle put on the blog site, I actually understood that the whole thing was basically turning American life into this elaborate and strange culture. I felt so stupid that I hadn’t caught onto it the first time. I realized that Nacirema was American spelled backwards as well as the other words that were commonly associated with American culture. The article just reworded our culture to make it sound strange to other people. Sometimes we view other cultures this same way. We look at others as having strange rituals, but actually their rituals could be similar to ours and we wouldn’t even realize it. We are very ethnocentric and view our culture to be better than everyone else’s.
“The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such body, man’s only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of ritual and ceremony” (Miner 2). This is describing how Americans are infatuated with the thought of having the perfect body and their image in culture. In the article they talked about how the Nacirema went the “holy-mouth-man” because they thought, “their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them” (Miner 2). However in reality, we don’t go for those reasons, it’s usually to make sure our teeth are healthy or our teeth hurt. The same goes with the section about hospitals or “latipso”. The way the article is written gives the reader this feeling of strange rituals and actions, but really when worded differently it doesn’t seem all that bad.
In the article about Sara Baartman, the scientists viewed her body as strange and unnatural. They believed that because her body was different that she was a “freak” and should be put on display for people to see and gawk at. It said in the article that it wasn’t unnatural for people of her region to look like that. “Baartman’s physical characteristics, not unusual for Khoisan women, although her features were larger than normal, were “evidence” of this prejudice, and she was treated like a freak exhibit in London” (Baartman 1). This shows how our ethnocentric views skew the truth about other people and other cultures. It’s more important to understand the people and their background before we starting making judgmental opinions about others.
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Allison,
ReplyDeleteI also didn't catch on the first time I read Miner. So don't be hard on yourself. It is a great piece and should prompt a lively discussion!
This still makes me laugh. At least you got the joke before posting! :) I am still laughing at myself!!!
ReplyDeleteI like your points about the piece Nacirema. When I was reading this I too thought the rituals they were describing were extremely strange and I didn’t make the connection at all that they were talking about Americans until it was pointed out to me in class. I found it very interesting how the author could describe things found in our culture but putting a twist on the words to make it seem like something very strange and unnatural to us. I think that you got the same kind of feeling as you were reading also. I also agree that the American society is very ethnocentric meaning that we are the best and that we do not allow for very much variation from our own culture without thinking that there is something abnormal.
ReplyDeleteYour points about Sarah Baartman were also very similar to mine. Because Sarah was unusual to the people she was studied by they classified her as a freak and basically looked at her like there was some kind of problem, going so far as to use her as evidence that whites were superior to blacks. I think this even connects back to your point about how ethnocentrism can sometimes be a problem. Instead of accepting Sarah and embracing here differences she was treated as a freak. I thought your video about the brass shackles tied back to the pieces very well. Something that is so routine and valued in one culture is looked at totally different and gawked at by others.