Essay

Anthropologists have become so used to seeing different cultures, some extreme that there no that so strange as to surprise them. Perceptions about one’s body have a wide influence on many of Nacirema society and institutions. The problem represented is the issue of culture and from a sociological point of view; culture is based on certain rituals. Every culture provides an acceptable behavior and defines this reality. Authority in such society is chosen by rituals. Like the Nacirema people, the rituals help the members of the society to acknowledge the ritual as the authority and to discover the knowledge about the society. Those who know the truth as defined by their culture follow it consciously. They accept those who carry out the rituals as being on higher hierarchy of power as seen in Nacirema society where magical practitioners and medicine men are placed in a prestigious class (Miner, 1956).

The culture of the society defines the moral yardstick that services as the personal comparison standard. The relationship created while performing the rituals is a reflection of how people are supposed to associate with others or behave around them. Regardless of how uncomfortable the rituals may seem to outsiders, the insiders appreciate and embrace them freely. The daily ceremonies practiced by Nacirema society involve torture and discomfort (Miner, 1956). However, people endure them since they have embraced the results. Any form of deviance among the people would seem as breaking the committal relationship with fellow societal members.

The main point is that every society has practices that hold it together just as the Nacirema people are bound by their rituals. They are part that makes up society and build cohesion within it.

Reference

 Miner, H. (1956). Body Ritual among the Nacirema. American Anthropologist, (3).