Topic > The concept of cultural relativism - 698

Miner stated that “looking from afar and above, from our high places of safety in developed civilization, it is easy to see all the crudeness and irrelevance of magic. But without his power and guidance primitive man could not have overcome his practical difficulties as he did, nor could he have advanced to higher stages of civilization” (1956, p.507). This tells us that if we can see and understand everything that happens around us then we can advance, but if we don't we can never advance in our life. This article aims to talk about the relationship of bodily ritual among the Nacirema with the concepts of cultural relativism and cultural invisibility, with post-materialism and consumer culture. Cultural relativism is a concept that refers to the fact that what is considered true, valued, or expected in one social system may not be true in another (Sociology. About.com, n.d.). While cultural invisibility is defined as “Invisibles,” those cultural and social groups whose contours are difficult to identify (Gheller & Carrer, 2013). These two concepts are related to the article “the body ritual between Nacirema” because it may or may not be understood by other people, it may be accepted by people or not, and it may be known by people as a fact or simply an invented concept. . There are many things in our society that are accepted and known by people, but there are some things that are present in our society but are unknown to everyone. The body ritual among the Nacirema is a culture that is only true in the Nacirema society, or if we want to put it the other way around, Americans attach so much importance to their physical appearance, their hygiene and health. For the Nacirema these rituals are accepted by everyone in society, making... middle of the paper... peace. Overall, this article by Miner, "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" is about people's semi-obsession with their physical appearance, hygiene and health which when seen by others they find strange and seems alien to them, but in reality if we analyze it deeper we can see that these rituals are basically the natural practices of a person who cares so much about their hygiene, health and appearance. Because they care so much, these rituals have become part of their culture and are passed down from generation to generation. Since they do this regularly, they tend to consume more products in this regard. These rituals make them a society, this becomes their common factor in every family. This is just one of the strangest things I have read, but we have to think outside the box to understand the concept of Nacirema and think of it as a normal ritual.