Conceptualizing Nacirema Culture

Conceptualizing Nacirema Culture

In "Body Ritual among the Nacirema", Horace Miner (1956) described Nacirema as a Native American tribe between Canada and Mexico, focusing on the society's beliefs, rituals, and culture. Members of this tribe perform many rites regularly, including mouth torture, face lacerating, head baking, and body altering. They use strange objects such as magic potions, holy waters, and sacred vessels in their body- focused rituals. At first, I was surprised by the culture's unusual and extreme habits; however, I began to notice many aspects comparable to American traditions and norms. Nacirema, a fictitious name for deceptive purposes, is American spelled backwards. His unbiased, descriptive technique allows me to fully grasp the concept of cultural relativism. Seeing our culture from a different perspective encouraged me to question my own customs, values, and beliefs.

By utilizing the sociological imagination, Miner challenged himself to observe as if he had no experience with American culture. He gained insight by observing the daily rituals of people and noting their interactions within the community; He gathered information through qualitative research. While executing this method, Miner (1956) noticed that the Nacirema culture focused much activity on "...the human body, the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people" (p. 503), inferring that physical appearance is very important to Nacirema culture. The "...many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live" are found in the "chest" mounted on the wall of the "shrine" (p. 504). I believe Miner is speaking of medicines, anti-wrinkle creams, antibiotic ointment, make-up, and other items generally found in our bathrooms' medicine cabinet. Some people spend over an hour on improving their aesthetics every day, staring in the mirror while applying makeup and fixing their hair. It seems as though there is currently a medicine for every ailment. The "medicine men" decide which "curative potion" is proper, and the medicine men proceed to write a note in a secret language to the "herbalist", who actually provides the requested "charm" (p. 504). This is similar to the relationship one has with their doctor and pharmacist. In sloppy, almost illegible handwriting, a doctor writes a prescription, which the pharmacist fills. We provide "gifts" or pay money for both the doctor visit and medicine (p. 504). Americans depend on medicine to prevent illness, aging, and disease; however, it is perplexing that people continue to take medicines despite their many side effects, some of which are even counterproductive. American medicine is a money-driven industry; sometimes deathly ill people are refused care because they cannot afford it, unable to "give a rich gift to the custodian" (p. 505). Medicine is expected to quickly fix health issues which may be more easily cured or prevented with simple diet and exercise. Americans tend to look for the easiest solution, rather than fix it themselves. For example, my father was a diabetic for five years, taking prescriptions to lower his blood sugar. He no longer has high blood sugar, because he eliminated bread, flour, sugar, and other detrimental ingredients from his diet. Our bodies are more capable than many of us want to believe. For some, medicine is the easiest route to wellness, because