Body Ritual of the Nacerima

superficial: It seems that the two main concerns of the culture are economic value and physical appearance. The article expands on the latter; many different rituals and tools that the culture uses for physical appearance are described. For example, a "shrine" is described to be used in every household; a shrine where tools are kept to uphold one's health, such as a charm-box that holds the medicine of the people or the font that is used to wash one's face and hands.

insecure: According to the article, the Nacerimas believe their bodies to be naturally ugly and they must go through many different means to achieve a socially acceptable body. Going through many variations in the article to keep up a desirable body, it is evident that the Nacerima culture is ultimately insecure in their natural state. They go as far as to have a basic ritual in keeping a healthy mouth.

strict: After reading over every ritual and tradition the Nacerima goes through, it is easily seen to be a rather strict culture. With so many different rules and values on the human body, it would be hard for any person to keep up with the cultures demands. Also, the article points out how a sick client can only seek help if they have a big reward for the custodian; if they fail to have a rich gift, they will not have help, and may have dire consequences in their health.

lost/misunderstood: Many of the reasons of why this culture is so shallow cannot be understood in a logical way. Theories can be presented as to why the Nacerimas have become so caught up in physical health and appearance, but one main reason will most likely not be concluded. Although their rituals may seem to be utterly ridiculous, it is hard to stray away from any tradition once it has been established, even if the reason for the establishment is not clear. The Nacerima culture is just another culture  lost in its' traditions, unsure of the point behind them.

obsessive: Through my past conclusions, it is obvious to see that this culture is quite obsessive. Although halfway through the article one can conclude that this is a satiric piece on American culture, I believe the term obsessive is easily a term used to describe Americans everyday. Americans are obsessed with idealistic values and strict in achieving these values such as a perfectly sound body, exponential salaries, popularity in social class, etc. However all these values are superficial and shallow; once a person achieves any of these values, they can easily see how unfulfilling they are and how insecurity begins to pour in and how truly lost a person becomes.

1) As an American, I feel my choice of descriptive words are accurate, the American Culture is indeed superficial, insecure, strict (in keeping up their physical appearance), misunderstood, and obsessive. I think these words are synonymous with many other adjectives that could be used to describe Americans such as shallow, lonely, etc.

2) Yes, my word choices do exhibit ethnocentrism, as any of my words choices would have because I based my conclusions on how my own culture would view the Nacerima culture. I made assumptions that the people of the culture were insecure and shallow because if any person in my culture were to spend so much time and money on their own bodies, they would be considered shallow and insecure. However, I believe the words lost or misunderstood were less biased because if anyone were to pin adjectives on another culture, it would only be because they are understood differently from another cultural standpoint, therefore almost any culture could be misunderstood. Obsessive, strict, insecure, and superficial are all biased descriptions given to the culture due to how my own culture would view them.

3) I could replace the words obsessive, strict, or even superficial with orderly, traditional, etc. Although any description would be biased, these words would be a lot less biased because they are descriptive in a factual sense of how they deal with everyday life, how they are traditional and orderly with their traditions, rather than describing how the culture may be in my opinion.

4) It is important to describe another culture in a manner as free from cultural bias as possible because any culture can be viewed as bizarre and eccentric from another culture's standpoint, therefore the less culturally biased a person is, the more valid their opinions are. I do not think it is possible to completely avoid personal cultural bias as a Cultural Anthropologist because everyone was raised in a certain culture and everyone has an initial perspective on things; cultural bias does not have to do with having open mind, but more having to do with a foundation on which a person bases their opinion off of. In fact, I believe cultural bias is so impossible to avoid that the term should not be called cultural bias, but something more along the lines of cultural foundation or cultural standard.