Outside reading-Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

By Kate McClintock

I am currently taking the anthropology class entitled Fear and Magic and this reading comes from the course materials in that class. I chose to write about this article because it exemplifies American life in a way that Americans normally do not perceive themselves. The article goes through ritual processes that sound somewhat familiar to us as Americans, yet the way it is written makes it sound strange and foreign. For example, the article describes a process where a person goes into a small locked room with a box built into the wall filled with remedies and cures...so many of these cures are stocked here that sometimes the person forgets what their uses are. The article then goes into depth about a ritualistic process where a bundle of hairs is thrust into the mouth and moved around in a jagged motion. This process is done to prevent evil spirits from corrupting the breath of the person. After reading through the article one is quick to judge this culture as strange and foreign. However, when reexamining the article it is seen that this strange culture is none other than American society. The box of remedies is a medicine cabinet and the bundle of hairs is a tooth brush. This portrayal of our society makes us truly realize that we should not be so quick to judge other societies. It also makes the reader realize that every society, whether it be oral traditions or even our traditions contain ritual practice in everyday society.