The Body Rituals of the Nacirema - Research Paper Example

? Nacirema Introduction There are a lot of differences between various communities all over the world. However, there are some customs and traditions that are practiced by people all over the word regardless of race, age, and gender. This paper describes ways in which body rituals among the Nacirema helps us to understand our own view of other cultures and how we are viewed by other cultures. This paper also describes the reasons why some of the practices and rituals of other cultures seem odd or foreign to us, how our cultural norms affect our understanding and perceptions of other cultures, the assumptions we make about other cultures, and outlines some of the examples of practices in other cultures that we find odd and hard to understand. Nacirema Nacirema is a community living in North America and is known to conduct weird body rites or ceremonies. These rituals are conducted at everyday basis of their lives. Due to this habit enshrined in their customs and traditions, members of the Nacirema community are necessitated to institute a separate room in their homesteads as it will enable them to conduct their body rituals clandestinely within the comfort of their houses. Each room for conducting the rituals has a designated container that is meant for storage of magical equipments and concoctions. These are believed to be of significance for existence and well being of individuals. Available sources posit that the Nacirema possess a lot of magical equipments and concoctions that sometimes render them difficult to comprehend the aim of some of them (Minner, 2002). They are only kept for the conviction and credence that they will provide safety for the members of the family. According to Brent and Lewis (2013), “Among the daily rituals is revolting, which is the practice of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into their mouth, along with magical powders, then moving the bundle around in a series of highly formalized gestures” (60). Another example is where the men are involved in body rituals whereby they abrade and slash their faces with the use of pointed and razor-sharp objects. Females on the other hand swelters their heads in diminutive ovens for a specific time period. These occurrences help us understand our own view of other cultures and how we are viewed by other culture. It is evident that a lot of customs and traditions practiced by various communities at times emerge as uninformed, irrational, and disgusting or unpleasant to other cultures. Since time immemorial, there have been debates and discussions on the ways and manners in which groups of people should view and comprehend other people’s customs and traditions. It is important to consider the fact our fascination and interest in our customs and traditions results to us viewing it as normal. When people are too much fascinated with their customs and traditions, they view it as the true and correct manner of living that should be a force to reckon with. Nanda & Warms (2007) asserts that individual members of a certain community with distinct customs and traditions, we are prone to examine and scrutinize our customs in comparison with the traditions of other communities or societies. In doing so, individuals fall short of identifying and comprehending the importance of actions and deeds as well as constituents of other customs and traditions. Why some cultures look odd In many cases, some customs and traditions practiced by various communities may seem odd to us. For instance, some customs and traditions in Africa appear odd to Americans. This is because, being a developed nation with civilized ways of life, we forget that our ways of life are different from other nations or societies. Since America is regarded as the most powerful nation in the world, we assume that other people from other countries must emulate us. Though to some extent some of our ways of life have greatly influenced others, it is difficult for some communities to completely do away with their conventional practices. Therefore, since we are so used by our own custom and traditions, we forget that other people and communities have their own. Being in this era of technological advancements, some customs are considered outdated. Most of us were born in urbanized places hence coming across some wiled cultures such as those practiced by the Nacirema is shocking and hard to comprehend. There are various ways in which our cultural norms affect our understanding and perception of other cultures. One of the most distinct cultural norms affecting various cultures is the inability to associate and connect as a result of differences in our languages. Due to this barrier n communication, it is very hard for us to learn and comprehend customs and traditions practiced by other communities in other parts of the world. There are particular abilities concerned with the comprehension of morals, opinions, as well as manners of conduct founded on the standards created by the individual’s way of life. The inability of individuals to comprehend the ways in which they acquired their distinct mind-sets and morals and the understanding that every custom or tradition possess distinct groups and categories of moral standards, acuity, and conduct doles out as the origin of gained knowledge on the norms of other communities (Miller, 2000). Therefore, ways of conduct that are considered normal and within the expectations of the society in America may be immoral in other parts of the world. In the modern world, many people especially from the developed countries have failed to comprehend the dissimilarity or variations between cultures. According to Komblum (2011), we make assumptions about other cultures each and every day. We make these assumptions through our observations. In a cultural perspective, we believe in our way of life and hence fail to regard other cultures as important. Instead of giving others cultures the respect they deserve, we always assume that they are immoral and stupid. Therefore, we assume that they are not worth our time. There are many customs and traditions practiced by other communities that we find odd and hard to understand. These may include the type and techniques of consuming food, individual cleanliness, body piercings, clothing, songs, and dances. Conclusion The body rituals of the Nacirema have greatly informed the occurrences that help us recognize, appreciate, and comprehend our own observation of other cultures and how we are viewed by other culture. These body rituals have informed us that a lot of customs and traditions practiced by various communities at times emerge as uninformed, irrational, and disgusting or unpleasant to other cultures. Some cultures may appear odd from us because being from a developed nation with civilized ways of life; we at times fail to remember that our ways of life are dissimilar and different from those in other nations or societies. Since America is regarded as the most powerful nation in the world, we assume that other people from other countries must emulate us and therefore share our culture. References Brent, E., & Lewis, J. S. (2013). Learn Sociology. Burlington, USA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Komblum, W. (2011).Sociology in a Changing World. London, UK: Cengage Learning. Miller, V. (2000). The Guidebook for International Trainers in Business and Industry. Lincoln, USA: iUniverse. Miner, H. (2002). Body Ritual Among the Nacirema. New York, USA: Ardent Media Incorporated. Nanda, S., & Warms, R. L. (2007). Cultural Anthropology. Belmont, USA: Thomson Higher Education. Read More