Horace Miner Body Ritual Among The Nacirema

Two values central two hegemonic America, as discussed in the readings and lectures, are society’s obsession with self-image and their need to conform to society.

Obsession with self-image in American culture was best presented in Horace Miner’s essay, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” which used satire to illustrate American society through an outside viewpoint. Miner asserted through his essay that American people spend a large amount of time and money on improving the human body due to the fact that they are never truly satisfied with themselves. He claims a fundamental belief among these people is that the human body is “ugly”. Therefore, in order to maintain their body and appearance, people make frequent visits to doctors and dentists

(or “medicine men” and “holy mouth men” as Miner refers to it). This obsession with maintaining a certain self-image could be from the fear of being judged by society. In order to appear presentable at all times some people spend hours getting ready in the morning before they leave the house. Miner describes this morning routine as “ritual activity”. Without fixing themselves, it’s rare most people proceed through their day. At most the hair must be tamed, teeth cleaned, and clothed with a presentable outfit. While Miner’s essay gave a good depiction of self-image in American culture, it did not go into detail on why people are not fully satisfied with the way they are or why it’s an essential belief in the culture that the human body is ugly.
In 21st century America, people still obsess over self-image more so than in the past.

Now people take more time to groom and pamper themselves outside of their homes. Some spending hundreds of dollars on hair styles, pedicures, manicures, and many other cosmetic procedures. Overall, self-image has become more of a relevant problem considering how society has advanced. For instance, social media gives a platform to expose people to millions of others around the world. So, if you choose to let yourself go even for a day, you might become the talk of the day to the world. Social media also paints a certain idea of perfection by constantly hyping trends of current fashion and looks. Women are encouraged to follow the “Barbie doll” look while men should be the typical “macho man”. Therefore, insecurities among the society has created an obsession with

self-image.
Along with the belief that people need to maintain a certain self-image, American society also creates the need to conform to changes in society.

Lowell and Ellen Holmes’s essay, “The American Culture Configuration”, asserts that people care to much about what their peers think of them. Americans are more concerned over the new/popular ways and trends over originality. For instance, the well-off pretend to be “common” in order to blend in while the common attend lavish events to seem well-off. The essay also mentions that people which are “self-reliant” are individually free as they have power over their own lives. This idea of self-reliance shows up again in Ralph W. Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance”, which intended to encourage others people to have their own thoughts and learn to follow them instead of conforming to “books and traditions”. Because if everyone chooses to conform then there will be no change. Though due to the pressures of society, people lack individuality and choose to

conform.
Conformity is still a relevant practice in society. Just as discussed above, people conform to current trends and have a constant need to fix themselves to fit the image the culture created. While this is a healthy obsession or not, in my opinion it is definitely a practice that will be around till the end of humankind. Considering people are always going to be judgmental. Regardless if a person makes countless changes to themselves, society will always find something wrong. Obsession with self-image and the need for conformity in hegemonic America are values here to stay.