Looking at Naciremas

Naciremas. People misled by the promise of ‘magic’. Their culture full of secrecy. Maybe, a sheer madness. Those were the first accounts I made when I read the writing. As the opening sentence indicated, Nacirema culture did seem like ‘an example of the extreme to which human behavior can go’. Their obsession with the body rituals, devaluation of their human bodies, ‘magical portion’ all seemed to have crossed the line of reasonable understanding. There were some elements that gave the sense of horror and shock when I was reading the essay. For instance, it seemed the interaction between the medicine men and people were sheer exploitation of human beings. With my mind full of clever things I learned from schools, I was outraged to see such undermining of human values which were well-written down in Droits de l’homme. Also, how mythical belief of Nacirema led them to be categorized as undeveloped, primitive human kinds. They were simply illogical, insane, and non-sensial in my sense. However, starting to interpret think in accordance with ‘cultural relativism’ which was one of the most emphasized value in social studies class, I started to think differently. I even tried to be generous about the culture by thinking those ‘primitive’ culture was one of the phases it had to go through in order to be a more ‘developed’ and civilized one.

Breaking the Nacirema code...

Now, imagine the shock and humiliation I went through when I found out Nacirema was backwardly spelt word for American. Different elements in the essay had certain ideas or objects they represented. For example, the ‘holy-mouth-ritual’ stood for brushing one’s teeth, and the ‘magic potion’ stood for medicines. After having realized how the interpretation I made were absurd ones, I came to look at the observations I made more closely. The interpretations-whether they were positive ones or not- were made as a person living in 21^st century. They were mostly based on what I had learnt, seen, and heard from my surroundings. It was natural to interpret things from where I stood. It even seemed like I was having a condescending attitude toward Naciremas and their culture. The great twist in the essay made me realize how I was interpreting objects around me according to where I was, who I was.

The writing’s underlying idea related to that attitude was Americans’ obsession toward ‘cleanness’. The idea of cleanness represents both the abstract state of being clean and free from dirt, and the process of achieving and maintaining that state. In order to get profound meaning of cleanness, we need to look more closely into what it can stand for in one’s society. Being clean implies that one is in a healthier and more beautiful state. To be in that state, one needs to have an ability to maintain one’s cleanness. However, individuals’ ability to maintain the quality differs as where one stands in the society differ. Take as an example a contrast between those living in poverty and others living in more prosperous state. The latter have more chance of living in cleaner state and environment. In that very aspect, cleanness can stand for one’s social status. The social status brings about differences in people’s perspectives. Because of the difference, variations in understandings of different culture, groups, races, and genders result.

For further observations about cleanness in the context of ‘American value’, check out the book “ChasingDirt: The American Pursuit of Cleanliness” written by Suellen Hoy and the article ‘Cleanliness as an American Cultural Value’.

People all stand in different platforms called ‘stances’. Those platforms vary in shapes and heights. They form according to their surroundings. When people look at one another standing on the platforms, they are able to look as far as the stances allow them. It applies the same with observations we make on things which are not within our niche. As a human being living in certain era, one’s thoughts, in actuality, are colored with the same one that characterizes the era. No matter what kind of intrinsic characteristics ones have, they are not free from where we come from, which essentially is who we are. The writing on holy body rituals of Nacirema, opinions I formed about it, and stark realization of the real meaning of the writing provided me an opportunity to look at my opinions more objectively. One thing was certain. I would never be free of the bonds that tide me, sometimes called ‘identity’, essentially the age I live in.