Part A Cultural Descriptions
Descriptive words: Fascinated, Shocking, Chillingly, Disturbing, Interesting
I chose the word fascinated because while reading the article there were some parts of it that really got my attention and made me curios about it. For example I never knew about the body ritual of Nacirema and after reading about it and understanding what it is, it fascinated me and really caught my eye. One of the texts in the article that caught my eye was when it says, "The focus of this activity is the human body, The appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people". After reading that I understood what Nacirema body rituals were and it gave me an idea of what they do. I feel like this word fascinated can relate to any new reader for this article because after reading it, it truly can give you that feeling.
The word shocking is another great way to put this article because of some of the details that Horace Miner gets into. I was shocked from reading in the article where it says, "Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, and their lovers reject them." This really shows how meaningful these rituals can be for this culture. Them believing that there teeth would fall out is what's shocking to me because who knows if it really is true. It had me wondering more about what this culture believes.
I also chose the word chillingly because some of the article surprisingly gave me chills from just reading how they suspected mothers cursing their children. In the article it says, "Mothers are particularly suspected of putting a curse on children while teaching them the secret body rituals." Chillingly is a great word for that text because I can't imagine being a child in this culture and your mother is teaching you body rituals that other people would suspect being cursed while learning this. I feel like any other reader can get chills from just reading some parts of this article. Another great example is when it says, "The patients simply tells the "listener" all his trouble and fears, beginning with the earliest difficulties he can remember." That to me sounds like something from a horror movie on how a demon would try to use your weaknesses to take over you.
I feel like some readers can find this article disturbing in some ways, which is why I chose it as one of the descriptive words. In the article one of the texts says, "Female clients, on the other hand, find their naked bodies are subjected to the scrutiny, manipulation and prodding of the medicine men." I feel like texts like this can be disturbing to some people because of how the female clients are when it comes to this body ritual. Another good example for finding some of the article disturbing would be, "The holy-mouth-men opens the client's mouth and, using the above mentioned tools, enlarges any holes of decay may have created in the teeth." I found this disturbing because to me it sounds painful and like something I would never want to experience.
The last descriptive word that I chose for this article is interesting, and I feel like it is a perfect word to describe the body rituals of Nacirema. I overall found it interesting because I never knew that these rituals existed and really opened my eye to what else is out there in these culture and the many things they believe. The one text in the article that I found the most interesting was, "This witch-doctor has the power to exorcise the devils that lodge in the heads of people who have been bewitched." This was interesting to me because I've never heard of a witch-doctor before, especially one that tries to get the demons that are lodged into peoples heads. Interesting was a great of putting this article and can't wait to read more like this one.
Part B Cultural Descriptions
Coming from a Mexican culture I could say experiencing the American culture is a lot more different from what I am used to. For example we celebrate a lot more holidays than what the average American would in their culture and if some of them are relative to what we celebrate, we still celebrate them differently. I feel like two out of the five descriptive words that I chose could relate to my experience towards the American culture, those words would be fascinated and interesting. I have always found American culture holidays fascinating and interesting because it was a new experience for me. I feel like the word that exhibits ethnocentrism would be disturbing because it sounds more like it would have the most judgement towards Nacirema. The words fascinated and interesting are definitely free of bias because they show the most positive meaning towards anything, especially when it comes to a culture. Unlike the words shocking, chillingly, and disturbing they sound more unbiased because if using words like these towards the American culture they would give not so positive energy for some people. Some alternate words for fascinated and interesting are excited and curious. I feel that these words would show the same meaning when using them as descriptive words towards a culture because I'm sure when a lot of people learn something about a culture they excited or end up being curious.
I feel that it is most important to avoid ethnocentric judgments towards another persons culture because you may think that there just words but in reality they could be offending someone or making them feel uncomfortable towards something they believe in. It is important to be describing some ones culture with manners because not only would you be offending someone I'm sure if that person did the same to anyone else they wouldn't like it as well. I think it would be hard to avoid personal cultural bias as a cultural anthropologists because when raised in your own culture it is hard to not think about it when learning about new cultures especially when because in your mind you'll think that the people in these different cultures are believing in something wrong. I feel like anthropologists should be explaining and understanding it because a lot of people in this world believe that you have to be raised into that culture to understand it and not have someone else tell you about it and describe it when they could be probably telling you something completely different.
For some reason, my original comment from Wednesday has disappeared. Posting it again to test the commenting system and for complete records.
ReplyDeleteScoring only for submission after Part A. All five words recorded.
I should be posting as L Rodriguez.
DeleteHi Isaac,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about your observations. Some of the words you used to describe the Nacerima people caught my attention. Calling it disturbing was an interesting because it shocked me a little but after reading your explanation, it made sense. When reading the description of how they go to a "listener" or "holy-mouth-men" for their ailments, there is a sense of mysticism that surrounds these acts. And how women are treated compared to men when they go to the latipso is a thing of concern, as well. I can understand how someone would be shocked after reading about this culture.
I think it's interesting that you come from a Mexican culture and experiencing American culture, you see things from a different lens. Did you come from Mexico or were you raised in the United States but had ties to your Mexican heritage? How does living within a subculture effect how you see the greater culture you're within, both positively and negatively?
Part B Review:
ReplyDeleteThe guidelines provide four different prompts for you to respond to and consider and required more than a single sentence to answer. I suggest that when creating these assignments, following the formatting of the guidelines and separate out your response to each prompt. Compressed together as they are here, I have difficulty parsing out your answers to each question.
1. Opening observation: What you actually did for Part A was not to describe the *culture* Miner was describing but to describe YOUR REACTION to the culture. Check out the words and your descriptions... in every case, you are describing your own feelings about the culture, not the culture itself. In a sense, this is a perfect example of bias arising from Miner's article... instead of focusing on understanding the culture, you instead focused on your own feelings about the culture. I'm not criticizing here... it is worth recognizing when we need to step out of ourselves and away from our own biases.
Another point I want to make: I appreciate your explanation of your Mexican nationality, but the topic of this article is hygiene and dental/medical care. I recognize that there are many differences between American and Mexican culture, but is that true for hygiene and dental medical care? The bias arising here isn't because you were born in Mexico. Any bias you are displaying here likely arose because Miner's article was *intentionally* biased, which caused you to choose biased words.
2. Make sure you understand that bias can be negative OR positive. Just because a description is positive doesn't mean bias doesn't exist.
All five of your words show bias in that they are describing your reaction to this culture, not the culture itself.
3. It is difficult to choose unbiased words, isn't it? :-) Once you become aware of your bias, you become aware of the specific meaning of the words you choose and it encourages you to choose words or phrases that mean exactly what you say so it can't be misinterpreted.
4. " It is important to be describing some ones culture with manners"
This isn't an issue of being polite. The important thing to consider is whether a description is *accurate*. The presence of bias will mean that the description is NOT accurate because it is describing the perception of the describer, not the reality of those practicing the culture.
"I think it would be hard to avoid personal cultural bias as a cultural anthropologists because when raised in your own culture it is hard to not think about it when learning about new cultures"
Good point, but it is actually easier to avoid bias if you DO think about your own culture and recognize the bias that does exist. It's when you ignore the bias that it gets to sneak into your work as an anthropologist.
"I feel like anthropologists should be explaining and understanding"
I agree. "Description" is a superficial image of a culture and is at risk of being subjective. "Understanding" requires a deeper, more complex grasp of cultural practices, the "hows" and the "whys" that remove subjectivity and the bias that can accompany it.