Body Ritual Among The Nacirema Analysis

“Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner was a very interesting read. It took me a while to actually, fully understand the meaning of the article. The first time that I read through the article I was dumbfounded on how strange the rituals described in the article were. I genuinely thought that the author was describing a very primitive culture found in a remote area of the Americas and did not have the slightest clue that the author was talking about the American culture found in the United States. Originally, the article made me wonder how, in such an advanced world, there could still be such a primitive culture as the one described in the article. The article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner opened my eyes to how another person may look at the American culture and how strange it may seem to them.

Many parts of the article were well designed to make me truly think about how someone who does not understand the way of life, particularly how Americans take care of their bodies, could see the rituals as strange and even somewhat barbaric. For example, the article states, “ This part of the ritual involves scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument” (Miner 505). In this section, the author is describing the habits of men and he describes the simple act of shaving as a very graphic and gruesome event that involves a man cutting and mangling his face. However, to someone who does not understand

the shaving habits of Americans, this can be seen as the truth. By using an instrument with a blade on it, it can be seen that American men are ripping and cutting at their faces. The article describes many other aspects of the health system that can be seen a odd and strange.
Horace Miner portrayed the health system as primitive and crude. His description of the dental practice makes the ritual of going to the dentist seem like it is the most bizarre thing in the world. In describing how many Americans get their cavities filled, Miner states, “The holy-mouth-man opens the client’s mouth and, using the above mentioned tools, enlarges any holes which decay may have created in their teeth. Magical materials are put into these holes” (Miner 505). This description presents how strange getting a cavity filled actually is. Another aspect of the health system that the author explains as odd are our hospitals. Miner describes doctors in a peculiar manner and states, “The medicine men have in imposing temple or latipso in every community of any size” (Miner 505). This characterization of the health system makes going to the hospital seem like a religious practice. Miner is very clever in his naming of the hospital. If the reader were to take the word “hospital” and spell the letter backwards leaving off the “h”, one would get the author’s word for hospital, being “latipso”. Simply changing a couple of words and renaming some of the American practices, makes the American people seem barbaric. It makes the reader think about what they know about American culture and truly how strange many of the practices may seem to another person. Even nurses are depicted in a curious manner when they are described as, “vestal maidens who move sedately about the temple chambers in distinctive costume and headdress” (Miner 505). When the reader thinks about a headdress and a costume their first thought is probably of ancient garb that the Aztec or Inca people would have worn. The reader then understands how silly and odd an American nurse may look to someone who is not familiar with the American health system. The article truly makes the reader imagine the strangeness of American culture.
Horace Miner makes the American people seem primitive and outlandish.

He describes the American health system and many aspects of the an American’s personal health as inhuman and uncivilized. Simply changing the way a word is spelled makes this culture seem far away and distant but in reality it is the culture in which we live every day. The article, “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner makes the readers think about what they know to be true and evaluate how strange the many aspects of their lives

are.