Ina May Gaskin on Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta Reflection Ina May Gaskin talks about the birth matters that how the natural childbirths are far more worthy than the medicalization processes. She takes apart the technologies used for the labor, such as inductions or C-section and others. She says that many people argue that technology is better than the nature. More importance is given to the technology instead of nature. However, let’s consider some law of nature that anything which is natural can cause less complications compared to the complications caused by the technology.…
Initially, after reading about Nacirema, I felt shocked by the rituals and ceremonies the people did, because of the magic driven forces that are the norms of the society. The diction used in the article emphasizes the ceremonies and rituals, because of the many steps. Nonetheless, I could not surpass the wickedness of Nacirema, with the emphasis of the shrine and potions, the article illustrates Nacirema as a place, no one wants to live in, but actually exist. However, I believe that the author is smart for naming the society Nacirema as American spelt backwards because it allows the reader to understand, the importance of the ceremonies and rituals in to the society, that shape the human being. However, I question why certain cultures do…
S"The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne Fadiman. Compare and contrast traditional Hmong birthing practices with those in the United States. When comparing and contrasting the United States’ birthing practices to the Hmong ways, one will discover a significant variation between the list of similarities and the list of differences. The term “midwife” has the same meaning in both cultures, which is one who examines, assists, and evaluates pregnant women.…
“Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner gives us a very a interesting look into the lives of the Nacirema. My first impression while reading this paper was ok these people are weird because they think everyone is ugly. But as I continued on I found these people to be very interesting. Their body rituals and their beliefs about illness made me think that they are very religious because they use religious to treat many problems. After reading this paper I realized that if I think these people are weird just by reading about the way they live their lives then they probably think the same thing for us.…
This literature review will explain how “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” relates to ethnocentrism. Nacirema Culture A Review of the Literature “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by (Miner, June 1956) describes Nacirema as a little-known tribe living in North America between Mexico and Canada. Nacirema culture is characterized by a highly developed market economy which has evolved in a rich natural habitat. When first reading the paper it was a slight culture shock but after further reading I realized the paper was actually describing modern-day Americans.…
This semester, I attended an event called True Tales from County Hospitals at the Ray Stark Theater. I had the opportunity to watch a documentary called No Mas Bebés and met the director. No Mas Bebés is a documentary that follows Madrigal vs. Quilligan lawsuit filed against L.A County hospital for sterilizing women without informed consent. Here is the background story. During the 1960s, hospitals were taking actions to reduce human population growth.…
After Miner’s etic observations, the Nacirema’s culture seems bizarre, however upon further evaluation the culture becomes oddly familiar. The Nacirema’s core belief is that all aspects of the human body are weak and ugly and therefore they seek help of cultural symbols to fix their predicament. Miner’s observations are completely objective, so objective that anyone reading may not notice that Miner is describing Americans. He’s not observing a mysterious tribe in North America, he’s observing…
The etic perspective will help interpret my own culture from an outsider’s point of view. An article that helps as a guide to understanding culture from different perspectives is the article Body Ritual Among the Nacirema by Miner (1956). In this article, he describes the culture and practices of the Nacirema, which is American spelled backwards. While reading this article some might notice that the practices sound familiar but may not be able to put a finger on why. Looking at culture from an etic perspective provides understanding and shows how caught up one can be with thinking that their culture is the norm.…
As a country we should be addressing our culture and prejudice against our indigenous Australians. Picture this. You are an indigenous Australian.…
In relation to sociology, every society form rituals and ceremonies based on the beliefs. This is clearly portrayed in the writing as the Nacirema society focuses on the human body, appearance, and health, which resulted to the body rituals they perform every day. For instance, they see the ‘holy-mouth-men’ and perform rituals such as using a small bundle of hog hairs and scraping the face. Although this may seem normal to Americans, it isn’t for some culture. Being born outside of America, I could stand attest of this statement.…
Some of these rituals include a daily mouth-rite, visits to the holy mouth men, and visits to the latipso if they are sick. Through this essay, the author uses repetition to help get his point across. He uses the word Nacirema to help readers distinguish the culture that these people are from. He also uses this word a large amount of times to help familiarize the readers with it and also help them figure out that Nacirema is actually American spelled backwards.…
This book review is going to be looking the work of Catherine Bell in her book ‘Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice’. In this book, Bell looks at people’s curiosity with rituals and the pre-existing notions of rituals. Bell hashes out the argument on connections that make a discourse on ritual to compel cultural activity studies. Bell acknowledges that there hasn’t really been any analysis of the term ritual that has presented forward one definitive definition, that shows its role in the way people think around religion and culture. Bell across her book argues her thesis that ritual doesn’t control individuals or societies with no consensus.…
Woman at Point Zero Reflection How was your understanding of cultural and contextual considerations of the work developed through the presentation? The presentation based on El Saadawi 's book Woman at Point Zero reveals the painful process of female circumcision and the important role this procedure plays in Egyptian culture. There are four different types of female circumcision. In the four different types the clitoris and the labia are removed partially or totally.…
The tribal people of the society were so deep rooted superstitious that they were not ready to marry a girl who has not went through circumcision and have proved her a real woman. The example of it is depicted through Waiyaki whose love for Nyambura was not fulfilled as she was not circumcised and also was criticized for this by the natives. The circumcision was done by local surgeon. In which first bath is taken in cold water of Honia.…
This can be termed as the need to eradicate violence was ignited by the realization by the Women’s Country members that their present state was precipitated by the violent past of their culture, as such for the sake of self-preservation and the preservation of future generations. This is further initiated through selective bleeding. This can be realized as a civic engagement as it instills notions in the participants that selective breeding could raise a desired society at their will. It is so as it also targets a group of people namely the women. This can also be evidenced by the way the women ensure that they controlled sexual contact with the male fraternity.…