Introduction
Cultural practices vary greatly depending on geographical position. The advent of the technological age has shaped the world into one large community, allowing people across the globe to experience and critique new cultures. While the Nacimeran people share some similarities with conventional communities, the people’s focus on the human body and resultant rituals reveal a complex and highly specialized culture.
The Nacimera Culture
The Nacimera culture is fascinating; however, its rituals are highly peculiar. Members of the culture detest their bodies to unbelievable degrees, and their efforts to ensure purification sometimes lead to more harm. Notably, the use of magical charms and a charm box reveals the religiosity of the Nacimera people and their complex faith system (Miner, 1956). Nonetheless, their practitioners’ specialization and roles share some similarities with western cultural doctors.
The Nacimera’s mouth-rite ritual seems outrageous and outright dangerous. This practice aligns with the Nacimeran’s body image issues and occurs yearly. The society members go to a holy-mouth-man who uses his paraphernalia to exorcise evils from the mouth. Miner reports that the holy-mouth-man enlarges cavities that show signs of decay before stuffing roots to clean the mouth (1956). Additionally, if there are no holes, he creates some using his tools in a sadistic show of experience. In Western cultures, these practices are unhealthy and add to the problem instead of negating it.
Nacimera rituals seem uncouth; however, there are subtle similarities with traditional cultures. The people’s faith system is no less peculiar than prevalent religions within the United States. Nonetheless, Nacimeran rituals have a negative body image that is detrimental to societal and mental openness. Furthermore, instilling shyness regarding one’s nakedness and subjecting culture members to psychological shock when they visit the temple displays a hypocritical mindset (Miner, 1956). However, I, too, visit the dentist yearly much as the Ncimerans go to the holy-mouth-man. Furthermore, I regularly see a “listener “or a psychiatrist express my childhood traumas. In these last two respects, the Nacimeran culture does not deviate from the norm.
The observational method describes an anthropologist’s means of getting data by observing and reporting on what they see. Miner’s analysis of Nacimera culture accurately represents the observational method, mainly because he pays attention to the body ritual expressed by the society members. Furthermore, his analysis is free of bias and presents the facts in a coherent and visually relatable method. Moreover, the author’s breakdown of the specialists involved with the rituals is systematic in a manner that reflects the time and effort spent within the Nacimera community.
In terms of reaction, the Nacimera would appreciate the accuracy with which Miner depicts their cultural practices and rites. Various specialists within the community and Miner carefully took the time to lend each their importance and role definition (1956). Moreover, the author minimized his personal bias and communicated the importance and relevance of each horrifying or surprising behavior. The sum totals of the author’s observations are diligent, and the Nacimera people would react proudly to seeing the details of their culture written and passed down through posterity.
All cultures have their unique benefits and disadvantages. Ethnocentrism opposes this sentiment and defines how people judge other cultures based on their standards (Miller-Bellor & Giuliani, 2016). Essentially, people view their culture as superior and others as inferior based on their practices. The term relates to the Nacimera precisely due to the barbarity of their customs. It is relatively easy to judge how deeply they detest the deterioration of the human body; nonetheless, the Nacimera place importance on what emanates from the moth and its relation to moral integrity. Perceiving the advantages of the Nacimera culture eliminates a myopic and ethnocentric type of view.
Conclusion
In summation, the Nacimera people have unique cultural practices that center on body harm to achieve cleanliness. The sadistic and masochistic approach to wellness is a crucial difference compared to western cultures. However, the specialization of the role of the medicine man, listener, and holy-mouth-man do not differentiate much from widely accepted cultures. Adopting a culturally relativistic mindset assists in genuinely appreciating all world cultures and gleaning beneficial practices that can better all communities.
References
Miller-Bellor, C., & Giuliani, D. (2016). Culture. Local to Global: The Sociological Journey. Web.
Miner, H. (1956). Body Ritual Among the Nacirema. Societal Culture and Management, 1(3), 503–507. Web.