Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

Abstract

This paper explores the culture of an Indian family throughout an observation. Throughout the paper, many topics of the culture will be discussed. This paper is focused on the group’s interactions and views on society. Readings from “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” and “Ethnocentrism” were used to support the views on the studied group of people. This paper will also seek to get to know about this Indian culture and rituals throughout a special event. Through learning and acknowledging of the assorted variety of cultures in society we will be able to know the importance of being tolerant to those different from our own culture and allow us to be less closeminded.

Keywords: Indian, Culture, Hinduism, wedding

Introduction

I am personally interested in learning about this group of people because I enjoy learning about new cultures and how they differentiate from mine. I am fortunate to work at a company that I get to work with different cultures and nationalities.

I work at an event center that hosts weddings and events. In my shifts I do everything from setting up tables to helping the bride get ready. During one of my shifts I observed a family that particularly interested me because it wasn’t something, I was familiar with and was interested in learning more about it. During this eight hour shift I was able to observe many things that struck my interest including their clothing, food, and their wedding ceremonies and rituals.

Halfway through the shift I noticed women with colorful clothing, a selection of very different food from my culture and a ceremony setup that I haven’t seen before which then really begun to strike my interest.

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During the time of serving, communicating and observing this group of Indian friends and family I was able grasp a lot of new information about this culture. For this particular job having to work with groups of various cultures and religions I have been able to understand and become more tolerate to the diversity of different families in our society. Working with different people and cultures will help with the understanding in future careers and situations. Being able to learn about another culture will allow me to see why they do the things they do as well as its easier to understand them. Being able to observe this family and other cultures in general is important to the key of respect, acknowledgment and appreciation for our rich diversity of cultures within society through tolerance.

Review of literature page

While examining this Indian group I noticed a strong structural- functionalist theory. This culture has a strong dedication to their faith, family and rituals to promote a stability in their daily life. During the wedding they had a various amount of symbolic rituals that connected to their culture. Their clothing is expressed through saris with vibrant color , the brides hand and feet are covered with traditional henna paint , in the ceremony a fire is burnt in the middle of the Mandap as well as is started with a prayer to Ganesha is to just to name a few rituals I observed throughout the ceremony. In the reading “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner it supports the structural-functionalist theory in the ways of how the rituals in the society support their stability.

Both the Indian Culture and the Nacirema culture have a strong ritual belief. They both have a focus on the human body, their appearance and health throughout these daily rituals. In the reading “Ethnocentrism” by author Ken Barger relates to the ways of how people in the structural functionalist can view themselves or others. This term can be defined as the evaluation of other cultures based on our own limited experience. It shows how one family can have such strong beliefs and can be close minded or bias to other cultures. This can support how the structural functionalist and the ethnocentrism can support one another because they both have a durable state of values and beliefs in their daily life. I also support that it’s a problem because we tend to judge people based on their differences and with the lack of our understanding.

Discussion page

When observing this Indian group, I saw many different symbols, practices, clothing and food. To begin there was many symbolic items starting with the very vibrant clothing. This clothing is referred to as saris in which the bride wears red while all the guests wore a sari of their choice. In the ceremony, white and black were avoided because they were associated with death and bad luck. I also noticed that the bride wore a necklace called the Mangla Sutra which is thought to symbolize wealth and good fortune. One of their beliefs was starting with a prayer to Ganesha at the beginning of the ceremony to pave a way to the couples married life.

While talking to one of the guests I learned that at the end of the wedding the reason they throw rice is to symbolize fertility, prosperity and happiness. A norm at an Indian wedding last three days but the one I observed had multiple ceremonies which lasted a few hours. During these ceremonies I noticed there was a fire in a firepit in which I later found out that the fire was a norm in the middle of the Mandap. I then began to notice that their values were very traditional with a little moderation. They follow majority of their cultures wedding rituals but not all things were followed because of the adaption to our country.

After the ceremony was finished, I became more curious on their religion and ethnicity. I spoke with a guest for a while, asking a few questions and came to the conclusion that they were Indian and Pakistani. The bride was in her twenties while the groom was in his early thirties while most of the wedding party had various ages. Most of the religions were Hindi and there wasn’t any conflict or shock with other religion during the event. While observing the guests I noticed that they most of them arrived in nice cars and were well presented which allowed me to presume that they were upper middle class in society. Though the wedding was very traditional I felt that when observing the guests social and political views were similar to our culture and our views on society. Not only is their religion Hinduism but as well as their subculture which is their way of life and a code of behavior.

The structural functional perspective can best be used to describe this group of people based on their interactions and view of society. They work with faith, education, rituals and the economy to promote stability throughout their life in the complex system. Viewing this group there was strong rituals, strong family value, and most seemed very educated. After the ceremony was finished, I noticed that their food was a little different from my culture. I noticed that there was no pork or red meat with selections of chicken or fish. As their sides they had either vegetable or rice which looked very spicy. For their desert they had rice pudding which is something I hadn’t seen before.

Concussion

In conclusion, I benefited from observing this family because it has allowed me to be less close minded to just my culture and religion and to be able to learn more about other culture different from mind. This observation experience has allowed me to learn more about other cultures and habits that I could use in my later career in the medical field. Working with many different people of different cultures would be something that I experience in my everyday life. I realized that many people I met that day even had many different views and religions I was very pleased to meet those people and have the experience I did.

Reference

1. Barger, K. (2019). ETHNOCENTRISM. Retrieved February 24, 2020, from https://anthkb.sitehost.iu.edu/ethnocen.htm
2. Miner, H. (1956). “Body Ritual among the Nacirema.” American Anthropologist, 58(3), 503–507.