Body Ritual among the Nacirema

First off, I’d like to say that it seems to me every culture started out much like the Nacirema still are today; brutal worshippers. For some unknown reason, people tend to think that in order to please they must first harm… and that everything comes at a price. The Nacirema are a fine example of just that. They celebrate in the traditional ways they have always supported; if anything they’ve gotten worse at it. They brutalize each other in order to ‘heal’ and except this pain as a necessity to live. Even when it’s possible they may die from it. While most people these days would find this way of life quite barbaric, we have to keep in mind that at one point we were all like this. This is called cultural universals, common practices and beliefs that all societies have had (1). The real question is: why? For this, I’m afraid no one has the answer. However, we can dig deeper into the rituals of the Nacirema and try to see the reasoning behind it.

The Nacirema are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles (2). While most of their time is spent economically as most people would; a portion of it is spent performing what they consider body rituals. They truly believe that without these rituals they would not survive long. They continue to perform them even though, it seems, most times their rituals are only making them worse. Every household has at least one shrine and the ones with more than one are usually the higher up people; the rich people. They are dedicated to their rituals and must visit their personal family shrine at least once a day. The main part of their shrine is a charm box which they keep all of the medicines they have ever used in, never to be used again for fear of what they may do. They believe the charm box itself will protect them by being there with all of its magical trinkets inside. If they are sick they visit the medicine man and herbalist with gifts for each. If they are sick to the point of dying then they visit the temple with a couple gifts; one for going in and one for going out. Without the gifts the medicine man, herbalist and temple people will not except you and will refuse to help. The medicine men, herbalists and temple people all have a separate language in order to perform these rituals, we would call this and argot (4).

The Nacirema are always covering their body completely, even from their life partners. The only time they show skin is when they visit the temple and are forced to strip naked at the door. The only time a woman may see her husband naked, or vice versa, is when they are entering the temple to heal. Women are subject to change; the Nacirema people have a fascination with ‘just the right size’ of breasts. Women are constantly making either their breast bigger or smaller to fit the clans view of perfect.  While for men it seems they are fine as they are. At times, the ‘perfect woman’ is born and she can make a living by traveling to nearby towns and accepting payment for being looked at. All excretory practices are done in the privacy of your own home, save when you are visiting the temple. Even bathing is an act you must do in secrecy. Conception is uncommon in the clan because they have certain times when the people are allowed to have intercourse and even then they have magical rituals they use to make sure the women don’t get pregnant. When a woman does become pregnant she must wear clothing so as to hide her stomach and when giving birth she has to do it alone. Casual logic is introduced here, the relationship between a condition or variable and a particular consequence (3). There’s no telling what the consequences would be if the Nacirema people were to stray even just a bit from the ‘norm’.  Ethnocentrism comes into effect here. Ethnocentrism is the tendency to assume that one’s culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to others (1).

The Nacirema are a society that hasn’t changed much over the years. We don’t know where they originally came from, but they take their rituals seriously and may not understand how we survive without them. Cultural relativism, viewing people’s behavior from the perspective of their own culture, is introduced here (1). If we were to view them from our perspective I suppose we would conclude that their way of life is quite barbaric and shouldn’t exist anymore. However, if they were to view our way of life they would see as quite un-spiritual and lacking in every way. In order to consider both perspectives you have to keep an open mind. Personally, I wouldn’t want to live their life. But, if I were born into it I wouldn’t know any different and this life may seem ridiculous to me. Who you are and your views on life depend on how you were raised and where you come from. 

No matter how we look at it, the Nacirema are quite different than how we are now. But, if we to look at past civilizations we would find we are quite alike. We may view their lifestyle choices as barbaric and evil. But, they may view us the same way. If you are really getting into it, you will find that we all practiced the same way at one point or another. We all believed in magic and thought of the human body as a vessel that needed to be cleansed. We may have done it in different ways, but nonetheless we did it. We can’t judge this culture of people just because they kept up with their original views, whereas, we changed and forgot ours. In their eyes, we may have betrayed our very essence by forgetting who we were in the beginning and how we believed. We only know how we behaved back then by looking at artifacts. They know who they were, and who they are, by passing on their lessons from generation to generation. We may not understand it anymore, just as they don’t understand us. We thought it was time for a change and in many ways it has greatly helped us. But, in the process of changing… what is it that we have truly lost? Who are we really? These are questions people ask themselves on a daily basis but never think deeper than just their personal lives. It’s possible that by neglecting these acts ourselves and forgetting our original ways that we lost our way somewhere; that we lost who we were meant to be. In my opinion, we should not look down on the Nacirema people because of their ‘barbaric’ ways but, instead, celebrate the fact that at least some of us kept up with the way all people thought at one point in time. We may never know the reason behind this thinking. It’s possible it’s a natural instinct built inside us. Just as it’s possible it was something that should have never happened. Open minded views will get us through life and help us to appreciate what we know. It should also give us the inspiration to dig deeper into ourselves and our past and figure out just who it is we are.

                                                                                               

(1)   Richard, S. (2012). Formulating the Hypothesis. Sociology, 54.  

(2)   Horace, M. (2009). Body Ritual among the Nacirema. American Anthropologist, 1.

(3)   Richard, S. (2012). Formulating the Hypothesis. Sociology, 30.  

(4)   Richard, S. (2012). Cultural Variation. Sociology, 59.