lmcgee738 — 2024-08-29 04:20:22 UTC

I am fascinated by the Nacirema people.I notice that their name is American spelt backwards. In our text on page 88, it says the focus of activity is the human body, the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in ethos of the people. Their homes have at least one shrine. Miner begins by talking about the Nacirema's daily oral rituals, in which they clean their teeth in a holy shrine (the bathroom) using a variety of implements and magical concoctions (toothbrushes and toothpaste). This routine task is humorously portrayed in the essay as a complicated and enigmatic ritual. Miner also highlights another ritual, which is the visit to the holy-mouth-men, the Nacirema word for dentists. The holy mouth men suggest the extreme lengths people will go to in order to achieve beauty and conformity to social standards by performing costly and painful procedures on patients to improve the appearance of their teeth. This parody of dental procedures ridicules the overemphasis on the physical appearance that permeates American culture. It is amazing what individuals will do to look good. Many people spend tens of thousand dollars to have procedures to make them look good.

There are some similarities to the Catholic religion. There is-a hierarchy the medicine man. We have the Pop, then there are the holy mouth men. We have priests and deacons, bishops, and cardinals. The Nacirema use holy water and so do Catholics. I am very interested in this subject and will do some research on this topic.

My luminous padlet by Latanya Mcgee