What does the story about Nacirema teach us?
Nacirema is American spelled backwards. Horace Miner uses a unique approach to help us (Americans) realize different things about our culture. 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.
Who is Nacirema summary?
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 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’ .
Is Nacirema civilized?
Nacirema culture is a very civilized culture. The way they do, their things portray a very civilized society whose patients go to the hospitals to be treated by the special health professionals such as doctors, dentists, psychologists, and nurses. They also use clean treated water and detergents in daily cleanness.
What really is the Latipso?
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 is the secret of 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.
What are the most important values of the Nacirema?
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.
Why is the mouth so important to the Nacirema?
2. 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 are 3/4 rituals that the Nacirema perform?
Some of the popular aspects of Nacirema culture include: medicine men and women (doctors, psychiatrists, and pharmacists), a charm-box (medicine cabinet), the mouth-rite ritual (brushing teeth), and a cultural hero known as Notgnihsaw (Washington spelled backwards).
What should I read in class about the Nacirema?
Have students predict what they might read about and/or learn from a reading titled “Body Rituals Among the Nacirema”. Have the class read the short story “Body Rituals Among the Nacirema”. (Note: Do NOT tell students that it is a somewhat fictional account.)
Where did the people of the Nacirema come from?
Little is known of their origin, although tradition states that they came from the east. 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 are the rituals of the Nacirema family?
While each family has at least one such shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries.
Why do the Nacirema have fascination with the mouth?
The Nacirema have an unrealistic horror of and fascination with the mouth, the condition of which is believed to have a supernatural influence on all social relationships. Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, and their friends desert them.
