Life Among The Nacirema

Of course one's beauty is determined by how their body image is perceived by others. The Nacirema take this one step further. As Miner said: "The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly." A main philosophy of the Nacirema is that the human body is debilitated and unsightly. They believe that it has a tendency to become abnormal and diseased if the correct rituals are not preformed daily.

The Nacirema are convinced that man is trapped inside of the suffering material body and each person must free themselves with the ceremonial traditions. These include elaborate daily rituals that the person must perform, for instance the rituals of the shrine room. (Which I will dis

Competition is also highly valued in Nacirema civilization. Winners are given respect and have better quality of life and live in a higher class then others. Competition is especially emphasized during the rights of passage (or the transition time between childhood and adulthood) Most people are sent to a training group to learn their new human rights and duties before receiving their rights of passage.

The leaders systematically deprive the members from providing for their own well being. They citizens find it nearly impossible to deal with the stresses of day to day life on their own because they are so dependent on the tribal leaders to help them with decisions. Most people are not self-sufficient and rely completely on others for their existence. This could be a major source of stress.

Another of the customs of the Nacirema includes trips to the Great Temple or latipsoh, which is run by the Medicine Man. When people become sick they are sent there to have evil sprits ritually caste out with latipsoh ceremonies. Many people who go to the latipsoh to be healed actually die during the curing ceremonies. Children plead not to be taken to the latipsoh before their indoctrination is complete. One Nacireman girl is quoted in saying “They always hurt me there.” and “That’s where people go to die.” However adults not feel obligation to go but also anticipate their visits.

Some topics in this essay:
SIDS Parents, Water Temple, Arawak Antilles, Nacirema Asu, day day, Horace Miner, North American, rituals person, day day basis, magical rituals, lower class, human body, day basis, adulthood people, curing ceremony, lived lives, evil spirits,