Five Descriptions of the Nacerima Culture

Desperate- This can be seen in the extreme lengths these people went to as part of their belief that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. They were willing to go to such lengths as scraping and lacerating the surface of their faces as part of a daily body ritual. They were so desperate to follow the rules and rituals of their culture and religion that they went to unhealthy and often unsafe lengths to achieve what they thought was right.

Fearful- This also seems to be a very fearful people. They were so worried about following the rituals that the holy-mouth-men or medicine man prescribed that they would pay money over and over again to make sure they did everything right.  They were fearful of teeth falling out and their mouths falling apart so they would pay money to the holy-mouth-man to make sure that did not happen. And not only did they pay money, they had to have an excruciating operation done to make sure their mouth remained “whole.” And this was all because they were afraid of what would happen if they did not. They even put a bundle of hog hairs in their mouths along with magical powders just to make sure they took care of their mouths. They were scared into action by what the medicine or mouth man told them to do.

Trapped- It does not appear that these people are at all able to “get out” of this way of living. They were born into it and they will stay in this culture until they die. The way of living is imbedded into the children’s minds even before they are old enough to know what they have been born into. It is even said that the mothers are suspected of putting curses upon their own children. If this people has been taught this way of life ever since they were born, it is very unlikely that they will ever see the need to break free  of it. Especially if this way of life is all they are ever taught and if everyone around them is following the same pattern of life.

Greedy – This is seen mainly in the actions of the medicine men and the holy-mouth-men. One example is the charms and magical potions kept in chests that the people thought they needed to live. The Medicine men would prescribe them to the people but not without receiving a substantial gift.  Then after the medicine man told the people what they needed they then had to go to the herbalist who also needed to be paid before they gave them the charm. One has to wonder if these medicine men and herbalist really believed what they gave out was working or if they were just using their influence to scare the people and make money. Either way, the greediness of this people is clearly seen as payment is mentioned many times as something that was needed before the people got what they thought they needed.  

Discontent- Discontentment seems to be another characteristic that describes this culture. This is clearly seen in the way the women were dissatisfied with the size of their breasts and with the ritual fasts and feast they had to make people skinnier or fatter. They clearly were not ok with just being themselves but were always trying to change their bodies. Even the article states that, “The ideal form is virtually outside the range of human variation.”  They knew that they could never reach the ideal and yet they kept trying to get there.

As an American I feel that the words I chose to describe my culture, other than the word trapped,  are very accurate. Even though I am an American, I have not let myself think that America is the perfect country with no issues or problems. Yes, America is a great place to live, but at the same time I believe that many Americans are desperate, discontent, greedy and fearful. They are desperate to be like everyone else and to fit in. They are fearful of not being able to fit in and of not being “perfect” on the outside. They are discontent with the money they have, and with the way they look and are always seeking ways to improve their status in life or appearance. This also leads into Americans being greedy. Many people will do whatever it takes to make more money, even if it means pushing other people out of the way or hurting relationships. Their greed completely takes over and nothing else matters.

I do believe though that a lot of the words I used to describe the “Nacirema” culture are biased.  First, desperate comes completely from the culture I live in. I saw this culture as desperate because of the way  I have been raised to be content with the body I have been given and not to just do things, because my culture tells me to do it. This also shows why the word discontent is also biased, because to these people, it is a way of life to change their bodies and the rituals to become fatter or skinnier is something they do because they are told to, not because they necessarily want to or need to change. I believe that trapped is also biased because of my view of the world today. Reading about the “Nacirema” people all I saw was a people who could not get out of the way of life they were born into, but why would they want to get out of it if it is the only thing they knew. Obviously, this word is biased.  I believe that greedy would not necessarily be seen as biased in this culture. The “medicine men” and “holy mouth men’s” greed is clearly seen by the way they make the people pay for each one of their services. I do not believe that fearful is unbiased because all culture in some way have fear involved. People are scared into doing things which will then feed the greediness of those doing the scaring. They will pay money or give of their bodies  or possessions to be rid of the “fear” put upon them.

Another word that might be able to be used in the place of desperate, is passionate. I feel that this is an unbiased word because anyone can be passionate about something they care about, weather that something is good or bad, it doesn’t matter. The “Nacirema” culture was so passionate about the way they looked on the outside that they went to great lengths to try and achieve a different look even if their passion for something different caused them to be unsafe. A word that could possibly be used in the place of discontent, is ritualistic. This word seems very different but the things that made me describe this culture as discontent were some of the things that they had rituals for. I’m specifically talking about trying to make a person skinnier or fatter. They did not necessarily try and change because they always wanted something different but because they were told they needed something different and the way they achieved the difference was many time through rituals. This is clearly a culture full of ritualism. I think that ritualistic and traditional are also words that could be used in place of trapped. Instead of thinking of the people as trapped inside a world they are not able to escape from, they are adhering to rituals and traditions they and their ancestors have held to for centuries. They do not mind being in this culture because that is all they have ever known and will ever know.  They are used to their traditions and they are comfortable there.

I believe it is very important to avoid as much cultural bias as possible when describing other cultures. Even though it seems I struggled in this assignment with using words that were biased, it has helped me to see the importance of keeping ones opinion out of the picture as much as possible when describing other cultures. I think it is important to try and keep your opinion out as much as possible when discussing other cultures. Just because you think something is wrong and most people in you culture see it as wrong, someone in another culture might see that same thing as completely ok. You also take the risk of hurting possible friendships and alliances with people from other cultures if you are not careful about the way you communicate with them. If you are careless and do not think about the fact not that everyone has the same opinion as you, you can cause massive problems that could have been avoided if you had simply removed your personal opinion and biases. I do not think that it is ever possible to completely remove your cultural bias as a Cultural Anthropologist. You may be able to remove most of it and try and be as unbiased as possible, but in the end, the culture you were raised in has formed and shaped you into the person you are today and try as you may, you can never fully remove your opinion of the way the world works. It is like having on glasses that you can never take off. You will forever see the world through the lens of your culture.