Body Ritual Among The Nacirema By Horace Miner Summary

In Horace Miner's Body Ritual among the Nacirema, Miner depicted the Nacirema as a culture obsessed with rituals who focused on the human body as a whole. Miner (1956, p.503) stated that the fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that it's natural tendency is to debility and disease. This paper aims to show the main points of the article, how it is different and similar to todays modern society, and how it shows the culture of consumption and American liberal economics. Upon reading the article, one would think that the rituals being done daily would be gruesome and morbid. In my opinion, Miner did this in order to show how much an outsiders perspective can affect ones perception of a

They are similar in such a way that in every culture, each one has a certain routine that is followed by all of its members belonging in the society. Their daily routines such as sanitation as cited in Miner's Body Ritual among the Nacirema, is something considered as “holy” or done in secrecy which is something done by majority of their society. Every society is similar in a way that majority of them follow the same routines in their day to day lives. Another similarity can be the use of medicine. Up until this day, the use of herbal and generic medicines still exists. It also has been further improved by the use of technology. When it comes to the differences one would be very clear, nothing is exactly similar to another. In today's generation, people live in diverse and different societies with different cultures. These little things make them distinct from others and also sets an identity for them. Miner also showed the culture of the Nacirema to be very dependent on their rituals and 'magical' beliefs. In today's modern societies, people are not only dependent on rituals but also on other major factors such as politics, education, and religion which are part of the pillars of

According to Clugston (2007) consumption is a self-induced and societal disorder-- a societal addiction. Every American is addicted to excessive consumption; we are all living beyond our means – most of us individually. Seeing how the Nacirema focuses so much on their physical appearance, it shows how too self-absorbed they are and how they are never contented with what they have. Sorman (2011) defined liberal economics as a body of thought based on Adam Smith's ideas about the forces of supply and demand in the marketplace, emphasizing the social and economic benefits when individuals pursue their own self-interest. Liberal economics can be directly related in such a way that in the culture of the Americans, they would buy products which are meant for self enhancement and for the betterment of their well being like make-up, toothpaste, facial cleansers, etc. Because of that, more products are being sold thus increasing the economy. Another way on how liberal economics is directly related would be how most of their decisions are made individually rather than as a collective group. This is because they are more focused on themselves, rather than the group as a whole. They put their needs first before