Response to the story Body Ritual Among the Nacirema
We brush our teeth for our health.....don't we?
People often feel reluctant to understand different culture. The reason they refuse to accept it is, in many cases, because of a desire for the sense of belonging or a false belief that it establishes superiority or inferiority. However, there is no logical connection between having different culture and the value of it. It is a matter of hidden meanings and messages lying beneath the culture which need to be respected as part of unique identity. The story of Nacirema people’s social practices teaches an important lesson on this subject.
The author describes the social customs of Nacirema as exotic, saying that they show how extreme human behavior can go. However, if observed carefully, one can find out that similarities exist between the practices mentioned in the text and ones that are present in modern society. For example, the medicine men have a 'latipso' where sick patients undergo unpleasant ‘ceremonies’ to recover from illness. It is a place where ‘supplicants’ lie in hard beds, going through discomfort and torture, while hoping to get healthy again. Likewise, people now pay a visit to a hospital whenever they feel that they need treatment or operations. The process is often hard to endure and involves pain, but surgeries are performed using advanced technology from intense study of human body and search for cure. The custom of brushing teeth is another common aspect between the tribe Nacirema and modern society. People in present day consider brushing teeth as something natural and mainly perform it in order to maintain their health. A toothbrush and toothpaste are not magical substances, but manufactured goods that are produced in factories. They know where the products are coming from.
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| Latipso, a place 'where people go to die' for children |
From these types of comparisons, there does not seem to be significant difference between the customs of Nacirema and modern society. It seems the only difference is the point of view towards the practices. The way the author explains the culture of Nacirema is quite primitive as if looking through the eyes of an early human. At the same time, the style of writing is satirical, which delicately achieves the function of criticism. For instance, the author says that Nacirema people have obsession with keeping their mouths clean that they visit holy-mouth-men year after year, despite the fact that teeth continue to decay.
The author’s intention can be identified when readers discover that the tribe name Nacirema is actually ‘American’ written backwards. Every element appearing in the story based on American people’s obsession with healthcare in 1950s. For example, Latipso is ‘ospital’ when written backwards, which represents a hospital as the word clearly suggests. This clever way of creating new words asks a question whether we are putting ourselves in other’s shoes regarding culture. It is impossible to judge another country’s culture since each country developed unique social customs over a long time. They all contain important meanings in their own, and thus should be respected. For instance, Korea is often blamed for eating dog meat since dogs are popular pets. But eating dogs does not make Korean people uncivilized and cruel because it is part of Korean culture.
A country’s beliefs, values, and practices of a culture should be understood from the perspective of the culture itself. This is what cultural relativism tells us, and this is what eradicating prejudices is all about. Having an open mind is therefore important, as it keeps us away from having a biased perspective and encourages international cooperation.
Glad you caught the riddle. Until the middle section it seemed as if you were fooled. Good work.
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