Part A: Cultural Descriptions + Part B: Ethnocentrism

Part A: Cultural Descriptions
1. Tradition.
Ceremonies and rituals such as these performed by the Nacirema are only ones that have been passed down from generations and generations before this. By this point, I imagine that everyone knows the exact procedures like the back of their hands from years of practice. The article even talks about how mothers teach their the ways of these rituals to their children at a young age. Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge, defines enculturation as "the process whereby culture is passed on from one generation to the next," (Page 28). The rituals of the Nacirema are perfect examples of that.

2. Insecure.
The article talks about how "the fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly..." (Page 1). The fact that the basis of ones' belief is that they feel they are ugly says a lot about the power that these rituals and beliefs have over them. I personally believe that one's beauty comes from within oneself but these people have been so submerged and know nothing other than their beliefs that they cannot think anything different so they buy into these magical spells and rituals regardless of how painful or ineffective they can be. They need these rituals because they comfort their insecurities.

3. Religion.
There are similarities between what I know of the western world's religious cults and these rituals and beliefs. In the article's explanation of a family's daily routine it says, "Each day every member of the family, in succession, enters the shrine room, bows his head before the charm-box, mingles different sorts of holy water in the font, and proceeds with a brief rite of ablution," (Page 2). This reminds me of the idols and shrines that I know serve as idols to be worshipped in certain religions. People worship idols in the hopes that they will receive some sort of good fortune or prize in return. In the same way, the Nacirema treat their shrines, medicines and even people who hold power in these ceremonies as their gods who will reward the worshippers with good health.


4. Lucre.
Lucre can be defined as money gain in a distasteful way. The article talks about medicine men and herbalists who provide "medical" services to the people for a fee or gift in return. I would consider this to be distasteful because people pay these herbalists and medicine men for their services which are not even medically sound or proven. These services are cheating people out of their money. In fact, a lot of the procedures, especially those that are described as "masochistic" and "barbaric" (Page 3), result in worse conditions and even death.


5. Dependent.
The Nacirema base their entire belief system in these rituals in very extreme ways. If they are willing to practice every day, pay money, engage in ceremonies where they are physically tortured, and more after countless years and not change, they must rely and depend on these beliefs with no room for doubt or concern. I imagine that they would not know how to do with living any other way or it would at least be difficult to adjust. However, this is understandable because it is all these people know and after so many years of dependence, a transition, if even possible in this culture, would be nearly impossible. 


Part B: Ethnocentrism
1. Without knowing that Nacirema was actually American backwards and that this article was describing our own behaviors, I had in mind that I was describing a less socially and technologically advanced, tribal people. With that being the basis of my thought process, I felt my descriptions were appropriate and accurately described how I would feel about their ceremonies and ways of life. As an American, their way of life seemed so extremely different than what I am used to or what I have ever experienced but I tried to use descriptive words with the understanding that the Nacirema had grown to know this lifestyle and it was all that they were used to themselves. 


2. I tried not to judge this culture in choosing words to describe how I feel about their rituals, ceremonies and beliefs. However, after reading the article on ethnocentrism, knowing and understanding more about what it means, I realized that my word choices did exhibit some ethnocentrism on my part. My choices in words such as dependent, insecure and lucre contain bias because I did not even think to fully understand why these people have engaged in ceremonies or ways of life that caused them to become so consumed by their beliefs. There could have been so much that has happened to them as a people and my word choices were biased because I have no experienced anything close to what they might have so my views on dependence, insecurity and money is very different. I do not feel that my choices of tradition and religion were biased because they are facts based upon the actions of Nacirema. The rituals were indeed passed down from generation to generation (tradition) and shrines and people are worshipped like in religion.


3. Another word for "insecurity" that I do not feel contains bias could be "self-image" because that is not saying that they are specifically insecure which is a judgement but that they are concerned with their self-image just like a lot of other people in the world. Another word for "lucre" that I do not feel contains bias could be "exchange" because exchange does not imply that they are earning money in a way that is distasteful like lucre does. It simply means that people are exchanging money for service. Another word for "dependent" that does not contain bias is "faithful" because they have faith that these ceremonies and rituals are going to help them which does not mean that they depend on them to live.


4. It is important to avoid ethnocentric judgement when describing other cultures because my main goal in studying anthropology is to learn about why and how different cultures came to be and learn to respect them for what they are. If my judgements are biased and ethnocentric then I am hindering myself from fully understanding and accepting other cultures because I would be too concerned with my own. I do not think it is possible to completely avoid personal cultural bias as a cultural anthropologist but as the essay said, I do believe there is a way to monitor our reactions, stop ourselves from judgement and bias and then learn to take in what we see from other cultures in a way that is respectable, acceptable and understanding.