- Published: September 27, 2022
- Updated: September 27, 2022
- University / College: University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
- Language: English
- Downloads: 29
Whilereading the Body Ritual among theNacirema I thought to myself, “ I don’t understand any of it!” After readingit a total of 7 times, I was finally able to focus on the bigger picture andgrasps it in great detail.
The concept of the story I may not understandhowever; different cultures do different things. I took the reading and Irelated it to my everyday ritual to get a better understanding of it. What Icame up with was that when I awake in the morning and prepare for my day, I doin a certain order, as most Americans do. This would be considered our ritualand just as strange as the Nacirema culture ritual seems to us, our ritual maybe weird to them. Reading it was such an eye opener for me, because it made merealize that not everyone does things the same or even close to it. In the reading the Nacirema’s areshown to have to fascination with the mouth. They believe that keeping theirmouths clean and visiting the “ holy mouth men” regularly is a way for themmaintain relationships with people.
Their “ mouth men” visits are similar to ourtrips to the dentist. They have temples, or a latispo, in every community to assist all of the people. Theirconcept of it all is the exact concept that us American have, the difference isthe language. “ Mouth men” is what we call the dentist, “ latispso” is what we call the Orthodontist or dentist as well, andthe “ shrine” is what we call bathroom.
Although this reading did not changemy personal views and cultures, it did make me realize that every culture hastheir own tradition that they live by. The more I think about it other’straditions relates to ours, but is just not done the same. As other culturespaint their bodies with tribal patterns, we paint our faces with makeup. Peopleinstantly see the tribal painting and think that’s weird, not realizing that wedo the same thing. This reading allowedme to better understand another culture and understand how similar we all are. Just because one culture does something different than another does or has adifferent name of something, besides what we call it, does not make one weirdor any less.