250 - 300 word essay on one ritual or one or more rituals of American culture.
Try
to write as Miner did in the Nacirema article.
Describe the chosen
topic as an outsider viewing our culture for the first time.
Your task
is to describe one or more American rituals from an outsider's perspective.
Assume you had
no prior knowledge of our culture: what would the actions you observe
lead you to believe about American culture and its values and beliefs.
You can see examples from previous classes here:
Post your response as comments to this post.
Do
your work in another location to insure you don't lose it - when
finished just paste it into the comment box below this post - you can
comment anonymously but make sure to include your first name and last
initial at the end of your post.
DUE Friday 2/6
It was a bizarre place to begin with. People just walking at a fast pace, rushing to random and unknown locations. It’s as if they were summoned to strut down the streets at fast speeds and completely unaware of their surroundings for no apparent reason. People performing rituals, dances and even unnecessary scaring tactics in the public. This is quite bizarre in my view. These rituals seem to be rather odd, as they shout words that seem to rhyme with the last ending syllable of the word that arrived before, and pronounce these words in a poetic like manner to a simple beat in the background. What I have heard from locals is that they call this wrap, but it is rather confusing, what are they even wrapping? Honestly I can't even wrap my head around the subject! This just seems like complete nonsense! I also noticed something quite strange as I was pacing down the long road with people cutting me off left and right, I noticed a green statue like woman standing on the side of a road on a cube shaped rock, holding a torch of some sort. Where I am from no such thing have ever been feasted upon my eyes. This must be a ritual to show that you are worthy of the hunt and are capable of disguise with nature of a huge vast place such as this. This place is just so bizarre to begin with, vehicles left and right, where I am from there is only one car per village and no one even dares to drive one mainly because it is only used in emergency. But here it seems that everyone has an emergency. I’m out of this bizarre kingdom.
ReplyDelete~Kirill i dont remember my number so i guess here ya go ... i think it was either 6 or 7 ...does it matter at this point?
A very important part of Nacerima society is their cultural chants. These chants vary in type, with each type of chant containing different instruments and different tempos. Some of these instruments aren't even instruments at all; they are more of a sound-altering mechanism. No matter what type of chant is being played, though, most contain one of the three basic themes of Nacerima culture: the importance of pro-creation, the joyful act of public gatherings, and the exploitation of a woman's body. However, the Nacerima women do not believe the chants are exploiting their bodies; rather they think they are glorifying women. One type of chant, where men scream and talk very fast with the metallic music-makers playing in the background, are infamous for “glorification.” They continuously shout about a woman's breast and/or bottom, and how they were going to “do” them properly.
ReplyDeleteNew chants come around all year round, with those who create those chants being hailed as heroes to the community. They send out the chants to magic men, who play said chants over and over again on a randomized music playing device. From this device, which the Nacerima use in their transportation, the listeners can decided if they enjoy this chant. If they do, they can buy the song and put it in a magic box. This box is similar to the randomized music playing device, however, they now can both choose the chant they want to listen to and take the device out of their transportation units. To listen with this magic box, the Nacerima tether it to their head, at the ears, and play the chants at increasingly loud volumes. More study is need to further understand how these chants can be played at such a volume and not impair their hearing.
~10
It is astounding to reminisce in the fact that one person’s normal can seem veritably wild, when compared to an outsider’s customs. The Nacirema’s culture certainly isn’t far from eccentric in correlation with what I consider to be commonplace. The sustaining belief appears to be that large portions in food and free refills in restaurants are much accepted, if not even glorified and expected. The food sizes are obscene and the already oversized beverages can be refilled for free! My head almost exploded when I heard about that. Then, they load your glass with ice; you’re not getting the full amount you paid for because the ice takes up half the glass. When dining, I find the waiters/waitresses to be over-eager. They whip away an individual diner’s plate the second it is empty, before everyone else is even finished. In addition, only up to about a max of three courses are served as a typical meal. Dinner appears to be eaten an hour either way of 7pm and tips are almost expected on everything. I don’t know if it is because of social mores and perhaps peer pressure or if it is just a ritual that has become accepted in society and the right thing to do. However, I do know if you don’t tip it is considered rude and a sign you didn’t like their service. Further, I noticed fast food and drive-thrus are everywhere. They are on just about every street corner. Now, what I find truly offensive is this queer ritual of putting condiments on just about everything. Food and dining are just a small part of the atypical Nacirema culture, but I can respect our differences as my culture probably seems just as strange to them.
ReplyDelete-9 (Rachel)
The Reality of the Nacirema
ReplyDeleteAll the people here don’t want to look like themselves. In order to be accepted, so to speak, you must be someone else. Altering your body is a daily ritual peformed by both men and women. For females there is a burning ceremony. Burning hair and is not uncommon, the more damage the better. Slashing of the legs with an unblunt object is another tradition with the females. Special occasions require painting of the face to strip themselves of imperfections. Decoration of the face happen every ante meridiem for the ladies so they can attract mates. The females care so much about their allure that they have needles prodded into them for injections. Also they can drain your body of its natural insulation to be acceptable. With insulation you cannot be beautiful. Being your self is over rated, and being superficial is superior.
The males of the Nacirema culture must be sculpted. If you cannot see muscles and creases it’s a problem. Scoring of the face and neck is conventional to the men. Staining skin is a procedure done with rays that penetrate the epidermis. Doing so causes deadly diseases. Bumps and sores surface and can take over your body without you even being aware. But for a Nacirema this is a risk they’re all willing to take. Anything meant to enhance their appearance will be done no matter the cost. Acquiring lavish materials is preformed to show your status. Being superficial is how to be customary. Material goods are very important. Obtaining materials is normal. Throwing away allowance occurs so often because the Nacirema believe the more the better. Presentation is key. Practicality is no longer practiced.
~~ #8
Nacirema is home to many extreme rituals and customs. One odd one being those they worship and the way they worship. The way the worship is odd due to the fact that to learn about these ‘icons’ they stare at rectangular lamps. These lamps showing these people through their success and failure. The people of Nacirema thrive and worship more when there is more pain and suffering. Smiling and laughing at these people who are facing hardships mental and physical. Another way of odd worship is the way they incorporate these people into their attire. Shoes, shirts, socks and just about anything else you can think of relates back to those they worship. The even crazier thing about these people is the people they worship themselves! It is a wonder how these people have become “icons” in the people of Nacirema’s eyes. Most getting famous through their parents, or even through acting foolishly and irresponsibly. The people of Nacirema value this greatly as they pay for thousands of dollars to learn more about these people.
ReplyDelete-2
The job of an anthropologist is to be familiar of the different ways people behave and react to similar situations that they may face throughout the course of their daily lifestyle. One of the rituals that that was observed in the article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” was the duty of the medicine men. The medicine men are one of the most powerful people in the tribe. These powerful men may have one or more shrines inside their homes devoted to cleanse the body of disease. These shrines are more wealthy then other rooms and are walled with stone. In the walls of these rooms is a box or chest of potions that contain magical potions with necessary native beliefs. These potions are secured by a variety of specialized practitioners who are rewarded with substantial gifts from the medicine men. But, the medicine men do not provide the tribe with the necessary medicine for their clients. Instead, they decide on what ingredients their clients need to help cure them for whatever disease they may have. After deciding on what ingredients their user needs the medicine man writes them done in a secret and very ancient language. The only people that understand this secret and ancient language are the medicine men themselves and the herbalist who are given a gift in return for the charm. This may be similar to the duties of a doctor. They recommend the proper medicine that a person might need to help cure their sickness and the patient must go out and find the medicine and get the medicine they need by trading other items in a similar value.
ReplyDelete#5(Parth)
The Nacirema: Sports Rituals
ReplyDeleteThe Nacirema are a group of people who may seem strange to some other cultures. Not only are they vain and focus on the human body a considerable amount, but they are also obsessed with sports.
There are a few sports that the Nacirema people enjoy. One of the main sports is called llabesab, and it is a sport involving a wooden stick and a ball made of rubber, wool, and leather. The sport is played by two opposing teams, and the game is broken into nine segments. The object of the game is for one team to get more points at the end of the nine segments than the other team. In order to accomplish this, the players will run around the field in a circle in an undignified manner, sliding into puddles of mud when necessary. One player at a time must attempt to swing the wooden stick at this tiny ball, which is thrown at him by an opposing player. This ball, which is about the size of one’s fist, is attempted to be caught by the team opposing the batter. Each opposing player has a large cow skin glove on one of his hands. The ultimate goal is to make it safely with three stops around the field to enable your team to score a run without the other team catching your ball. Ten players guard the field, one in an armored suit fit for battle.
Large crowds gather to watch these men, and rivalries often occur. The crowds are just as competitive as the players, if not more. Fights break out, people get hurt, and blood is shed. All of this for grown men trying to tag each other with a small round ball, or making it around the field safely.
Entry 12
While visiting the Nacirema group, I observed this unusual ritual of staring at a box with changing pictures. They call this device a “television.” The inhabitants of this tribe seem to support people drinking lots of alcohol and sleeping with many partners. The Nacireman tribe calls this reality TV. To me, sitting in a hut and staring at other people’s lives makes no sense. I would rather go out and enjoy my own life. Also this business of making money off of people doing what is morally wrong to many is strange to me. People all discuss and bond over celebrities’ erratic acts of taking their clothes off on bar tables. These civilians praise this wrong behavior.
ReplyDeleteThe culture revolves around watching people’s every step. Individuals are paid millions to party or help people find love. The more crazy and dramatic the behavior, the more viewers the show has, and the more money the show makes. These strangers become famous throughout the tribe for inappropriate actions, which then influence the whole society. We treat other people’s humiliations as our own entertainment. We find joy not in helping others, but in watching their failings and problems. I later found out that these reality shows are less “reality” and more script. Scenes are deliberately planned out for our entertainment. Whether the scene shows alcoholic partying of jersey natives, dramatic fighting of housewives, matchmaking of millionaires, or painful stunts full of ridiculousness the general public is willing to waste away hours of their irreplaceable life to watch a lie. This to me seems peculiar.
~3
The Nacirema have bazaar ways to show competition. They play all sorts of games with each other to see who is better. It doesn’t matter to them if the game doesn’t mean anything other than luck or if it needs dedication to win with. They usually group themselves geographically, but sometimes they disregard this and the onlookers show their displeasure. The onlookers are where the competition really shows. You see the competition more from them than from the players themselves. They paint on their chests and chant to show their pleasure and displeasure over how the games go. These people care so much about showing their colors, they fight over their “groups” they argue who is better and who will defeat who. They go as far as to travel miles and miles to watch these games first person; they then play back these games move by move, play by play, to anyone that will listen. They brag to those who support the loser, and use their information to make each other jealous of seeing the games. The games they play seem uncivil. One particular sport is all about trying to keep your opponent from moving forward, that doesn’t seem to different until you add the point that to do this they use force to tackle them to the ground. This kind of game sometimes results in injures that can be life threatening, sometimes preventing the individual to lose the ability to move for the rest of their lives. This way of showing competition may be seen as uncivil and unnatural, but their culture allows pain and injury to be the forward way of showing competition.
ReplyDelete#1
The Labtoof Ritual of the Nacirema
ReplyDeleteThe Nacirema are a highly industrious people, frequently laboring for more than 80 hours each week (an average far higher than that observed in any hunter-gatherer society). Despite this, every sixth and seventh day is considered a holy day reserved for ritual activities. Many Nacirmea attend religious ceremonies at a temple, though the symbols and customs observed at these temples vary widely. However, a far higher percentage of the Nacirema engage in a much more peculiar ritual during these weekly days of rest. The labtoof ceremonies involve a series of highly complex and intricately choreographed competitions between different regions of Nacirema territory. Each region is represented by one or more teams who wear ritual dress and headgear emblazoned with totemic images of animals and other more bizarre symbols. These feats of strength are staged exclusively by boys and young men.
The games take place in colossal coliseums and are witnessed live by tens of thousands of people who are so obsessed that they are willing to pay dearly just for the opportunity to attend. They are also seen by millions more in their homes through magical devices that transmit sound and images. At theses festivals the people in attendance dress in the distinctive colors of their respective regions. In a pathetic effort to more closely identify with their home territory, some Nacirema go to such extreme lengths as to apply brightly colored paint to their faces and children’s’ faces. The festivals are all-day affairs as spectators arrive hours before the ceremonies only to feast on fatty foods and imbibe intoxicating beverages.
The labtoof ritual demonstrates that the Nacirema are highly sexist, easily impressed with bright colors and feats of athleticism, and prone to hero-worship on a scale rarely if ever seen in other cultures. The Nacirema obviously value competition, athleticism, and bravery but clearly do not place a high premium on intelligence or safety; most labtoof players have developed their physical talents at the expense of their mental acuity and continue to damage their brains by engaging in this ritual activity – injuries as severe as complete paralysis are not unheard of.
In a society located on our map there exist a group of people that play a rather peculiar game.
ReplyDeleteThey play it in groups ten or over people on two teams. One team holds a dead pig in their hand that has been thoroughly drained of blood and skinned. One man stands in the center holding the dead pig and calling out what would seem like nonsense to outsiders before they all scatter. The man holding the pig runs to either side of their opened area. He dances around the area until another on his side opens their arms and, just like that, the pig carcass is sent into the air.
The others not participating wait with baited breath. They wear rather odd headgear and bright colors some even having changed the color of their hair for such an occasion. They call out to their disliked team in hope of distracting them or cheering their favorite on. None of which ever hear their calls.
As the game starts the circle around them becomes louder and the two teams scatter the field full of alien like markings and the pig carcass is thrown into the air to another. If the man is unlucky he will catch the ball but moments later be body slammed into by his opponents, failing his team.
If the man with open arms is lucky, he will catch the ball and precede to the opposite side of his field successfully scoring another touchdown for his team.
~#11
While visiting the Naciremas people, I noticed these odd black and brown creatures that wandered on four furry legs, accompanying the Naciremas where ever they went. These wild beasts, so to speak, seemed to be tamed by the Naciremas, whom used ropes attached to choking-devices around the beasts’ necks. This puzzled me quite so to a point where I inquired a native about them. The native had told me that these beasts originally were once wild, however, the Naciremas people were kind and nice and offered to care for them. In exchange, the Naciremas utilized the creatures hunting and gathering abilities to their own advantage. Soon the remarkable relationship between the two grew strong enough that the Naciremas dominated over the species. Soon the natives starting mating two different beasts together and the results were extraordinary; because of the mating of the different breeds, there appeared to be a limitless variation in physical features, such as height, color, structure, and abilities. As mentioned before the relationship or the bond between these two species grew so close-knit that the natives became the dominant species and cared for the beasts by providing the necessities upon which they appear to live; it seems to be that the beasts require similar essentials that the natives do; energy, hydration, and shelter. And being that these creatures need the same the resources for their species survival as the natives do, the Naciremas have thought about studying the creatures further to be practitioners of magic for the ill and injured, as well as being some sort of holy-man for the deceased. Strange this is indeed. It seems apparent that similar magic applied to the natives can be applied to the beasts and be just as affective. One day I should come back and study more about these strange beasts.
ReplyDelete~A1-#71
I was fascinated as I traveled with the Nacirema people into their world. I was so shocked to see a life so different from mine, but I did expect a drastic difference, but seeing is believing. Unlike the society I grew up in the Nacirema people passionately believe in their culture and the rituals that accompany with it. They were raised as young children to believe that their bodies are atrocious and severely vulnerable to disease. In order to cleanse their bodies every household has a shrine in it, the higher you are in society, the amount of shrines increase. Some of these houses are in shantytowns, and every room is underdeveloped, but the shrine room is always kept in pristine condition. The room would contain a box that would contain magic potions and multiple charms and underneath the box would be a font. Every day every family member would enter the shrine and cleanse their whole or part of their body with holy water. If they did not do this they believed they were outcasts in their society. Many of these people would work a hard long day of labor and instead of enjoying their time they would dedicate their time to their rituals. Even though we are all people on the same planet looking at the same sky, our culture and society are so dramatically different that to some people, the Nacirema seem like an alien species. I hope to visit the Nacirema soon again in the near future to observe even greater detail and hope to understand their way of life even better.
ReplyDelete13
Nacirema has many cultural aspects that others would find to be very strange. One of the passions of this culture, football, can seem like one of the strangest to an outsider. A description from an outsider seeing this game for the first time is below.
ReplyDeleteThe men in tights rush up and down the wide expanse of grass surrounded by walls, under the bright lights. The crazed humans piled into the tall wooden benches surrounding the men scream; in fear, frustration, joy. The men chase each other with reckless abandon. Each has just one goal in mind, to gain control of the dead animal and toss it through the big T. Following this, they do an overly dramatic dance of joy and congratulate each other with knuckle pounding, head butting, and slapping each other on the shoulder and back. Each toss through the T gains them 6 “points” and they have the opportunity to kick it through the T for one additional point.
The large green field on which they play is covered with evenly spaced lines, each marked with a number in increments of 5. On the lines at the side of the field stand young pretty girls in extraordinarily short skirts and revealing tops cheer, scream, and dance for the men playing the bizarre game. Half way through the game, there is something called “half-time” during which there is a show, where a band typically performs.
This strange game also has very many rules that most of its own viewers don’t even understand. There are things called “downs” and “time-outs”, where they game is stopped when it is completely unnecessary. All in all, this thing called “football” is very strange, and you could only find something like this in the Nacirema culture.
-Entry 6
Wrinkled green paper seems to rule this culture like a king would rule a monarchy. These people would do anything to get ahold of it. It is strange to me that something so simple could determine a person’s worth. It seems that the more money someone possesses, the more socially superior they are viewed. This seems to go against everything I believed this society stood for. I’ve heard of this so-called “Nacireman Dream,” where they claim to value hard work and dedication. Seems like a forgotten dream to me. Men in suits rush around the floor of a product-less market, screaming at numbers and tapping their nervous feet. Their fate depends on these numbers, and they shake their heads angrily as red arrows light up the walls around them. Outside, a man is wrapped in a tattered and thin blanket, shivering in the snow as he shakes an empty Starbucks cup. He sighs and looks back at the building teeming with the bright red arrows and agitated men. For he was once a suit - clad entrepreneur, who suffered from the choice that every businessman faces. This man refused to lie, to cheat, or to steal. He tried to play the game the fair way: but he lost. He lost everything. His former coworkers sneer as they pass him on their way to work. They feel dominant to him. They have more money than him, which in the Nacirema culture is the way to determine the strong from the weak.
ReplyDelete#15
The Nacirema culture is one of the most strange and obscure I have ever observed. The people have some of the most bizarre rituals, many of these they follow every single day at around the same time and are performed by almost every single one of the Nacirema people. In order to start their day of peculiar rituals the Nacirema people all perform the ritual of waking themselves up in the morning.
ReplyDeleteThe people of these tribes start each day waking from sleep with the help of what they call an “mrala kcolc”. This “mrala kcolc” is used by the people to wake themselves up at the time of their choosing by making a specified alarming sound in order to wake the person up, at the time chosen the apparatus plays the chosen alarming sound. They then proceed quickly to a room they call a kitchen, to embark on another even more peculiar ritual. This next morning ritual they call “eeffoc”, for this ritual most of the people above the age of fifteen, both male and female, drink a black bitter smelling liquid that comes out of a machine hot when water and “eeffoc” grounds are added, this they believe will help them in order to rid themselves of their morning drowsiness. The black bitter smelling liquid usually is accompanied by an array of different items in order to make it taste better, many add a sweetening product they call “sugar” and some kind of lightening product ranging in names from “milk” to “half and half”. Many of the people have taken on the motto of “don’t talk to me until I’ve had my eeffoc” and “my day doesn’t start until I’ve had my eeffoc”.
The people of this odd place seem to be addicted to the “eeffoc” ritual. Most have at least two cups of the liquid per day and many leave their houses and go to stores they call coffee shops as social outings in which the drink this liquid with other members of the tribe while they spend time together. For the Nacirema tribe “eeffoc” is an intricate part of their culture used for the morning functional purposes and then as a way to converse with other members of the tribe in a social way.
Kaitlyn G
The Nacirema are very strange people. When I first arrived to their culture I was very intrigued and also frightened. Many things they do have no purpose. One of these rituals is called “morp” When a person is a certain age, they go to morp. Typically, morp is a ritual where people go with another person and they dance, talk with other people, and drink a red substance. This red substance is sweet and as thin as water. Typically, a male asks a female. These males go through great measures to ask this special female to a single night of morp. They write out messages to their special person. The male wears his most expensive dress robes and the female wear the most expensive clothes they can find. Many of these clothes that females wear are bright colors. Usually pink. The men wear the same color flower or fabric somewhere on their robes. When the two finally arrive at the morp, they dance a very strange dance. The group of others that are at morp, they move their arms in many different ways, first in front of them, then on their chest, then on their head, after this they then put their hands on their waist and shake their behinds. They call this dance the Macarena and they do this while a jumble of nonexistent words plays from a box with many shapes they call, snottub. At some point in the night, they play a mix of words played to a weird instrument. This is generally a very slow pace. The male and the female dance together, swaying back and forth. This usually last between 3 and 5 minutes. When they end of the party is near, the people that are not on the step vote the person they want to win. 3 males and females who are nominated walk up onto a step and another person announces which one is the king and queen. Many people fight over the hat that they are given. It is usually a substance they call plastic.
ReplyDeleteThe other two people that do not win the hat, get very upset and can possibly weep. After this strange festivity is over, many people go home, but the ones that don’t, go to strange places that often have huts that many people can stay at, at one time. These people go with groups and stay at places that have water and wooden boards which have mobiles that travel along them. After 2 days, they return home and go about their lives. I believe the Nacirema is still a very strange culture and I don’t want to stay here any longer than I must.
Mallory S
Upon observation, the Nacirema people may seem quite strange at the first glance. These people have developed a multitude of rituals that are out of the ordinary. One of these rituals includes the use of domesticated wolves. Here, many people own different kinds of wolves that they take for walks and watch them defecate. These people have adopted wild animals and use them for their own advantage. Some may even fit in small bags that women of a higher class carry around. This tradition is wild, yet innovative.
ReplyDeleteDepending on which socio-economic class a citizen is in, you can see what they value. Most of the time, the state of wealth is determined by what some may consider unnecessary luxury. People in a low class will only have what they need, such as machines for simple functions. Higher class people may require “unnecessary luxuries”, such as machines that not only do the job, but look good doing it. The community is strange because values differ so evidently throughout each group of people.
The Nacirema people have quite the strange way to torture the uneducated. They send the young to facilities in which they are forced to sit and learn against their wills. They claim that it will shape them for the future, but upon my observation, it only makes one’s goal in life hazy. It is overwhelming for the children, but the teachers take pleasure in this torture. Misconceptions are formed within the community to decide what would be the most ethical thing to do for the children. Parents even spend money to torture their offspring for what they perceive as the greater good.
Based on what I have observed, I can only see that the Nacirema can be strange in what they value. Some enjoy watching domesticated wolves do what is natural. Values differ between one’s place in the community. And “education” is a complex word for torture.
Tyler B
Perhaps one of the strangest rituals the Nacirema practice is the methods to get food. All members of these tribes have a small ice cave in their homes. When one is hungry they must move a large slab of stone to access it. The inside is cold and dimly lit by a single candle and holds copious amounts of food hidden within it. They stand there for mere seconds or even five minutes surveying the supply. Once they find something they desire they take it out put the stone back in place, probably as to protect the food from scavengers and animals. Than they take out what looks like colorful square prey. The next part is truly gruesome because with their bare hands the person either peels a thin layer of skin from the top of the beast. Or reaches inside the dead beast and pulls out the entrails. Which ever they do they than place their food on to a circular leaf and place it in a strange magic box. They than have to coax the box to perform it's heating magic with a series of taps and touches. They leave the box for a while, probably because the magic being performed is sacred, till it starts making a strange high pitched squeal. In which case they remove the leaf with the food with tons of smoke emerging from the ritual. After taking it out they set it down in front of them and take at least a minute to pray and thank the box for the food before finally consuming it.
ReplyDelete67
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