Body Rituals: Option 2 Using Miner’s Body ritual among the Nacirema (1956), insights on cultural differences are brought to light and magnified. By viewing the United States (U.S.) culture as an imaginary group explained by a cultural foreigner, the essay conveys how other cultures may see our lifestyle and some of its strangeness. From this, we can extrapolate on how our view of different cultures may be biased or obscured because it is so counter-culture to our own. Because of the ease and comical nature of the writing style, the ability to understand and perceive other cultures is eased by using the writers local language.
The Tribe Miner did an outstanding job in describing the Europeans who settled in the U.S. as viewed from a First …show more content…
do not have to look at different countries to see a difference in different cultures though. It can be taken from Essentials of Sociology where Helslin (2014) talks about a party that happens in New Orleans, Louisiana every year; this party is called Mardi Gras. During this time of the year, many social norms are set aside. Public nudity is brushed aside, open drunkenness is overlooked, and currency exchange in the form of beads for flashes of women’s breasts, are all normal for these two weeks. However, in any different city or state at any other time, these public acts are strongly opposed by the population at large. These acts go against the typical U.S.’s values, which are more conservative in nature. American’s even look at Mardi Gras as a culture shock, as many of the activities go against the social norms that they were brought up with, and times, even go against social taboos.
Discussion
The essay Body ritual among the Nacirema provides bountiful insight on how cultures view each other. From the foreign concepts that are being explained to cultural relativism that is expounded upon, it provides a narrative that can be correlated for understanding. By combining our own cultural customs with the explanation from a foreign viewer, Henslin provides a striking and compelling synopsis of how cultures view other cultures; that which is not ours, is strange and
The Tribe Miner did an outstanding job in describing the Europeans who settled in the U.S. as viewed from a First …show more content…
do not have to look at different countries to see a difference in different cultures though. It can be taken from Essentials of Sociology where Helslin (2014) talks about a party that happens in New Orleans, Louisiana every year; this party is called Mardi Gras. During this time of the year, many social norms are set aside. Public nudity is brushed aside, open drunkenness is overlooked, and currency exchange in the form of beads for flashes of women’s breasts, are all normal for these two weeks. However, in any different city or state at any other time, these public acts are strongly opposed by the population at large. These acts go against the typical U.S.’s values, which are more conservative in nature. American’s even look at Mardi Gras as a culture shock, as many of the activities go against the social norms that they were brought up with, and times, even go against social taboos.
Discussion
The essay Body ritual among the Nacirema provides bountiful insight on how cultures view each other. From the foreign concepts that are being explained to cultural relativism that is expounded upon, it provides a narrative that can be correlated for understanding. By combining our own cultural customs with the explanation from a foreign viewer, Henslin provides a striking and compelling synopsis of how cultures view other cultures; that which is not ours, is strange and