Week One Assignment

PART A

The article written titled "Body Ritual of the Nacerima" is written by Horace Miner. He perfectly describes the way of the Nacerima culture. If I had to describe this population in 5 words they would be: 

Unique

I would describe this culture as unique because you don't hear about any groups or cultures who have these specific traditions and methods. Some of these can be related to our own cultures but never taken to the extent that is described so that is unique on its own. 

Brutal

I would also describe the practices specifically as brutal. It is not to disrespect or pass judgement towards the culture and its practices but these practices do result in death or serious injury which I would describe as brutal. There are other cultures who have brutal practices such as sacrifice but this one definitely does its brutality in a unique way. 

Integrity

This would be my own interpretation on the practice but I also feel like there is a sense of integrity to these rituals. They have an obsession with the mouth and have doctors that are called "holy-mouth-men." These men are said to remove evil and that the mouth has a supernatural influence on their bodies and relationships. While this is my own interpretation but I can't help but relate this to lying. Lying in our own and many other cultures is seen as an evil thing which is why we have confessions, prayer and other methods to "rid" this evil. I feel like this ideology can be related to this practice as well of ridding evil that affects our relationships. 

Shocking

I would also describe this cultural practices as shocking. If I didn't read further into their beliefs and understand what they believe, I would have thought the worst of this culture. The idea of the brutal matters that they perform this rituals and that people die due to this does have some shock factor, especially to those who are firstly learning about this culture. 

Interesting

No matter what your beliefs about this culture are, there is no way to deny that it's not interesting. Many people love learning new things and I feel like this is included. While it may be brutal and shocking, their reasons for doing this are compelling when you place yourself in their culture. I think when you read and understand why people believe what they are doing is the right way, it makes you question what others may think of your own beliefs. I think opening your mind to new ideas and cultures is interesting enough, especially when it has some shock value such as this one. 

PART B

As an American who grew up in Middle Eastern culture, I feel like my words could be seen as rude but it was not meant with that intent. From my own culture, as a child people would view my cultural food and practices as weird so when I use words such as shocking or brutal, I use it from the strict definitions or how I imagine others would react to learning about these practices. Despite me having my own experience of my culture being judged, I do however still feel like I was being ethnocentric by using words that have negative connotations. I think that no matter what culture you are from, you always tend to be biased from a lack of full understanding. While the words explain why they do things they do, understanding is very different and full understanding without being ethnocentric can only come from being within the culture itself. I think the words I used that are ethnocentric are brutal and shocking. The reason I think those words are ethnocentric is because to those in that culture, they don't feel the same way and view their culture as such. I think I could possibly replace brutal with painful because these rituals can be painful. I think I can replace shocking with unaccustomed. It's important to discuss culture free from judgements because when there is judgement, there is no understanding even as much as you try to. I do however think it is impossible to be free from bias but even with this exercise, sometimes it takes looking back to fix and find better words to explain the culture rather than your first impression. I think however anthropologists should be working towards understanding rather than just describing. Describing is open up to interpretation and judgement but however when you understand something, it's a lot easier to explain so others could understand too.