When reading about the Nacirema, I find it very unusual that they view their bodies as ugly and almost not worthy enough to live in. It struck me very odd that these put themselves through intense pain and torture to rid themselves of the evil they believe is there. It is significant that the children who are not completely trained in the rituals yet think that going to the medicine man is practically a death sentence. Women putting their heads in an over is definitely something I would see as extreme in ritual belief. It is also unusual that reproducing and childbirth is almost avoided in this culture, instead of being eager to bring children up in their rituals. Their behavior makes sense in context to their beliefs in magic and rituals. Without these beliefs, none of their daily practices would make any sense.
It is not so unusual to me that these people have shrines in their homes, many religions worship statues or figures. The holy-mouth man is also not that odd, people in out society go to the dentist all the time. The big difference is that our dentists do not do harm or drill holes when unnecessary. Medicine men and witch doctors are not unheard of. The fact that these people are economically motivated shows in a way that they have the same concerns of people in our culture. Daily rituals is something that many cultures do, whether is religious or not.
It is difficult to describe a cultural so different from our without a bias because some of their rituals would definitely be interpreted as cruel and barbaric. The only way a person could understand what they do is to completely understand the culture in its entirety.
About Me
- Madeline Gunter
- I enjoy reading books, researching the golden ratio and Fibonacci sequence, and learning about the Renaissance.
Great comments- I can see your attempt to compare and contrast the two. The Nacirema are, in fact, us (American). :) Surprised? If you read it again, you will see that by making us seem exotic, we are tricked into thinking these are some other strange people. This demonstrates the importance of the anthropologist's way of communicating about a people, and the reader's assumptions.
ReplyDeleteConsider the physical suffering people in our society bring themselves through plastic surgery and so forth. We are taught that our bodies, if they are natural, are not very nice at all- we need perfumes, dyes, tanning, expensive clothes, makeup, etc. and sometimes surgery and braces (now, there is torture! LOL) to be more attractive to others.
Just an example! :)
As an aside, have you researched the Mandelbrot sets and the graphics that come out of them? You might find that interesting...