The first time I read about the
Nacirema was when I was 14 years old. I will write about my initial reaction to
the article, because after you are let in on the secret your perspective on the
Nacirema obviously changes.
After finding out that Nacirema is just American spelled backwards, I was
shocked to go back and re-read the article. I saw that it was clearly talking
about Americans, and described things we did as rituals, instead of giving them
the proper names we know the activities by.
I thought it was interesting
that after reading the word ritual I automatically put the Nacirema into a stereotype that the tribe had derived from Africa. Really, we all do rituals, but
just don't call them by that name instead calling them habits or necessities.
The next question my teacher, at the time, brought to attention is; if an outside culture came
to America, is what the article described what they would see and think of our
culture? - Probably.
Each culture is unique and
amazingly intricate and intertwined, so for any one culture to look into
another there has to be an understanding that the norm is going to be
different. The article highlights that just because a culture has odd rituals
does not mean that the society is archaic, but it is simply one to its own.
Also, we can never look at another culture and expect to see our own or hold it
to our culture's expectations, because no one culture has the same morals or
behaviors. The Nacirema can teach everyone that you should never judge a
culture by just looking at what they do, but that you should always try to
delve into the actions and understand what you are observing.
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