what point was horace miner was trying to make

Nacirema, that "exotic", far-off place where people exercise "foreign" things is one of the all-time ways to help students look at American civilization as an observer rather than equally the standard by which all other cultures should exist compared. The paper, written by University of Chicago trained anthropologist Horace Miner was originally published in 1956. It examines the body rituals and practices of US culture the way anthropologists used to "other" cultures in seemingly distant lands that seemed unusual, if not "weird".

For example, Miner writes "The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a oral cavity-rite. Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious most care of the mouth, this rite involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolting. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small package of hog hairs into the oral cavity, along with certain magical powders, and and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures."

Now without the photo below (merely possibly skewed by the photo above) and in the context of the remainder of the newspaper, many students do not recognize this every bit our daily habit of brushing our teeth. When described the way the Miner does, information technology sounds strange and maybe fifty-fifty a chip gross.

What one culture does and believes to be normal, others may see as unusual. Remembering that practices are driven past the culture someone is situated in, including our very own practices, is key to avoiding ethnocentrism – the mistaken belief that your civilization is the standard by which others should exist compared. The photograph beneath shows unlike tools for cleaning 1's teeth – yes, even the sticks.

In some of my classes, as function of a newspaper exploring the concepts and influence of culture, I enquire students to explore a ritual within their ain culture but from an outsider's view – every bit if they were witnessing the practise for the first fourth dimension and trying to understand information technology. The following is an excerpt from one of the excellent papers I received from a pupil, Emily Ong (used with her permission). She does a neat job of describing the US rituals of the Christian holiday, Christmas.

"Holidays are integral parts of unlike cultures and by looking at them through the eyes of an outsider, we tin can meet how culture influences perspective. For example, nosotros tin look at Christmas from the perspective of someone who is not a part of American civilization. I can imagine that person'due south evaluation would be something like the post-obit: During this holiday chosen Christmas, families take great intendance to ensure that they decorate their houses and diverse shrubs with wires. These wires are fastened to a side of the house and only come on at night. When they exercise, the house and shrubs look very vivid, and non a single house on the street is without these wires. These Americans, thus, are all quite concerned with the overall presentation of their houses: they brand sure other people run into and admire them. I could near call them obsessed, as some houses accept giant men, white bears, and blackness and white birds puffed full of air in front of their houses. Such houses, I accept observed, draw people'southward eyes as they pass by.

Families besides make sure they get a agree of a rather sizable greenish tree, just they go outside of their property to detect such a tree. The ones immediately exterior their business firm are apparently not fit. They desire a different one, which holds more importance. In addition, for some reason, the tree must be a rather large tree with lots of leaf. The minor and thin trees with exposed branches are ofttimes not given a second look and are left with the person selling the trees.

One time the family unit has picked out their rather plump tree, they have to go through the challenging and exhausting task of bringing it back to their domicile. They have to lift it up and tie it to the acme of their vehicle, and then drive very slowly so the tree will not autumn off the auto. Once they go home, they take to elevator information technology in one case once more off the car and into their house. Sometimes it doesn't fit very easily through the entrance to their firm, and many members of the family have to aid become the tree through the doorway. Once the tree is inside, for some reason they put information technology in the centre of the room, and go along to decorate it with various gaudy assurance and gems on strings. They also put some wires around it, which when attached to the wall, make the tree look very bright. The virtually peculiar human activity, yet, has yet to be done. A star, or in some cases an angel or other figurine is put on top of the tree, and it seems to exist an honor for the person who is allowed to put it in that location. They must exist of some bully importance or accept some great wisdom, which allows them the honor of completing this task. Once they practise, anybody admires the tree even more. The tree also seems to serve as some kind of offer place because people gradually place decorated boxes effectually the tree in the days leading up to Christmas. People likewise cease and like to get together effectually the tree and gaze at it.

An odd ritual occurs the night right before Christmas: children hang socks higher up a structure that houses a fire although they wait far too large to be anyone'south sock. And so they go out hard biscuits shaped like men and a loving cup of milk out adjacent to the tree. I do not understand the importance of this, every bit usually the father of the family just eats the biscuits and drinks the milk anyway, and it is always late at dark when he does this too. Does the eating of the homo-shaped biscuits represent some cede? This I do not know. Anyway, in the morning, more boxes appear, and children act very wild, almost savage-like. They rip up all of the paper covering the boxes, and leave a mess on the floor. It seems that the boxes were for them all along, not another beingness or deity. That is curious. Why did they not simply requite them to the people in the first identify? What is even more than confusing is that these items in the boxes are oftentimes not kept. They are taken to a store where, when presented with a sideslip of newspaper, tin be exchanged for currency. Why is then much problem taken to offering the items to people, wrapped and put under this gaudy tree only to be given away? The material items that are kept, though, seem to consume all the time of the children. One child was given a circumvolve with a hole in it, which was in a rectangular case, and he put this circle into a box and proceeded to stare at the screen and hold a device fastened to the box past a wire. He clearly idea that was more of import than spending time with his family unit or friends. In fact, most of these Americans I have observed highly treasure their fabric items from under the tree every bit they pay more attending to them than to fellow Americans.

What's more is that once Christmas is over, all of the gaudy gems and balls on the tree have to be removed and the tree must exist moved out of the house. Information technology is then much work to go a hold of the tree and to decorate it, and it seems very important, even so at the cease of the day many of the trees are thrown away. And so much difficult work gone to waste. The only normal part of the holiday seems to exist the family gathering for dinner on Christmas day. Everything else, I do not sympathise."

Through this exercise, students hopefully see both their own and other cultures in a new light – one that understands how we are all so embedded in a culture that information technology is difficult not to come across dramatically different rituals as "exotic" or "weird". By looking at our own cultures as outsiders we can see that we are under the aforementioned influence of the ability of culture as others are.

Teach well, it matters.

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Source: https://thesocietypages.org/toolbox/nacirema/