Nacerima
The Nacerima are a group of people with very interesting practices and traditions. They can be described in many ways. based on a reading from Horace Miner I would describe them as ritualistic, superstitious, barbaric, secretive, and forcibly shameful.
Firstly they are intensely ritualistic. The basic functions of their bodies are completely controlled by their culture. For instance, using the restroom only at home and nowhere else because they ritualize these interactions or are maybe even ashamed of them. They are also extremely strict and repetitive which is ritualistic. Doing things such as using holy water on a daily basis and consuming boar hairs. This plays into their superstition.
Superstition is in every culture but I would say it is not widely practiced by all in every culture. From the reading by Horace Miner, it seems that the community as a whole completely participates in different forms of superstitions. To the point where they don't even know why they have or do certain things. This is seen in the charms, shrines, and dental torture as I am going to refer to it. These charms used in the home are meant to bless the house and are so common that there is normally a box filled with used charms and so many that they homeowners do not know what they were used for. The shrines all around their house also immediately bring to mind a sense of superstition or spirituality. Then there is the brutal dental torture. In order to maintain oral hygiene a "holy-mouth-man" drills holes into a patient's mouth and fills the holes with magical powder. This powder is supposed to maintain their hygiene. That in itself is barbaric and seemingly crude.
The barbarity of these people is interesting because of the commonness of it all. They seem so used to the idea of the violence of dental torture and their latipso ceremonies. Although the term barbaric is not a label meant to dismiss their beliefs I believe in the culture that I have grown up in that term would be the most fitting. During their latipso ceremonies, both men and women are stripped naked and forced to do things that make them uncomfortable and are completely uncalled for in their culture. This is almost reminiscent of a frat house allowing pledges into their groups. Though they may be more secretive than most frats.
The Nacerima are certainly secretive. Traditions being passed down from adult to child and only allowed during a certain special time of their lives is quite controlled and secretive. As well as not speaking with traditions outside with each other or other random people that are interested.
Lastly, they seem to be ashamed or forcibly shameful. This is seen in the miracle of birth. At least that's what it would be referred to in most places in the US. In the Nacerima culture women are ashamed of their births and hide their pregnancies. Before their pregnancies, other bodily functions or actions such as intercourse and being naked in general are not encouraged to any extent. This has a deep feeling of repression which might be a better descriptor than "forcibly ashamed". With all being said they have a very interesting culture.
Now looking at my previous post and knowing that the "Nacerima" are Americans I don't necessarily feel that my choice of words are completely accurate. I do still completely agree with the barbarity of the dentist though. Other than that I don't believe they are accurate descriptors. This definitely doesn't feel accurate to the American culture but that may be the way that an outsider who has not been near views us. It feels unbelievable to read those words about Americans because it feels very untrue and maybe exaggerated. Even so there was so ethnocentrism displayed in my previous labels of my own culture.
The ethnocentrism displayed was definitely in the barbarity. When someone describes going to the dentist; all of the years of schooling and practice make the idea of drilling a hole into teeth sound more intricate and fine. But looking at it as described by Horace Miner feels very different and unlike what is thought to be a dentist or doctor. I believe that other than barbaric and forcibly shameful, the words I had chosen were free from bias. Ritualistic, superstitious, and secretive were unbiased. These were words in my opinion that were more concerned with the interest of the culture and not passing judgment as many cultures are those ways. Forcibly shameful could be considered as biased as in the US I think a staple is being yourself whole at this point. Barbaric is another that could be biased because in the US we are seen as a first-world country so we can not possibly be barbaric in those ways.
Another way to say barbaric and shameful might be repressed and rough. Repressed might be a better word because being forced to be shameful has the direct assumption of being forced. Repressed can mean having hidden emotions or wants which is less aggressive. Rough is easily less biased than barbaric as barbaric has a negative connotation where as rough can easily be unpolished.
Being unbiased is an essential part of any scientific process. It allows us to follow the scientific method first and foremost. It also promotes understanding and respect instead of moral right and wrong. I also assume that this would encourage interactions between two different cultures and make cooperation easier. I do believe that overtime one can overcome these biases. This is a matter of exposure to different stimuli to not be surprised or feel the need to judge when seeing something different than what is "normal" to them. There may be times when a very new and intense situation pops up that may cause a person to feel some bias but if they are seasoned they should be able to overcome those feelings to look at what is before them subjectively.
This first comment is just for Part A. I've reviewed and recorded your Part A submission for credit.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you are having trouble with your text color? There is a way to control it without having to use the highlighting function. Here are instructions:
Here are instructions on how to fix this problem on your blog:
1. In the upper right corner of your blog (when you are signed in), click on "Design", which takes you to your blog dashboard.
2. It should open up under "Theme". If not, click on "Theme" in the navigation on the left.
3. From the middle of the screen, click on "Customize".
4. Scroll down the left-hand navigation to "Advanced" and click on it.
5. At the top of that section, there is a pull down menu (notice the little arrow for changing the selection). Make sure it is toggled to "Page Text".
6. Go to "Text Color" and choose a MUCH LIGHTER color from your selection there.
7. IMPORTANT: Once you have selected your color, you MUST click the little "save" icon in the bottom right corner to save your changes (looks like an old-fashioned floppy disc, which makes no sense to me.)
I hope that helps.
Missing Part B submission.
ReplyDeletehello Curator,
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was well written, however I have to disagree with the ending paragraph, I may have taken away the wrong message for the assignment but I think they tried to convey that we are all bias as it almost impossible to remove yourself from a view point almost inherently making it ethnocentric. That we as you say can lose bias over time but we can't remove it but try to account for it in our own and others work.
Part B comment: I'll start by listing your choice of words from Part A.
ReplyDeleteRitualistic
Superstition (This is a noun... how about "superstitious"?)
Barbarity (Another noun... how about "barbarous"?)
Secretive
Shameful
1. "This definitely doesn't feel accurate to the American culture but that may be the way that an outsider who has not been near views us."
Okay, but Miner is discussing a very narrow window of our culture, namely health care/self care practices, so consider your words in that light. I chuckled that you consider dentistry "barbarous" but consider the practice 200 years ago at the advent of this country... teeth pulled without the aid of novacaine? ;-) Going to the dentist today may not be a lot of fun, but I suggest it is no longer "barbarous" at the very least.
But how did you feel about how Minor described these aspects of our culture? Was he accurate? Was it a bit irritating that he clearly didn't really understand the behaviors he was seeking to describe? The idea here is to get the feeling of how other cultures might feel when we waltz in and try to describe THEM.
2. "Ritualistic, superstitious, and secretive were unbiased."
I agree with "secretive" and suggest that when it comes to our personal health care issues, we are definitely secretive. But "superstitious"? That seems to have some bias originating from Miner's inaccurate telling of the behaviors. The impact of bias isn't just judgment or negative connotations inaccurately assigned to behaviors. It is also about misrepresenting a behavior and misleading people about it's practice and it's intended goal. Do we brush out teeth or go to the hospital because we are superstitious? Or because medical science indicates those are behaviors that will help us?
"Ritualistic" is a little different. I think brushing out teeth has become a "ritual", but only because it is good for our health. It is ingrained into our behaviors from childhood and has become habit. But "ritualistic" implies some type or spiritual/religious connotation, i.e., continuing an actions for reasons of belief, not for reason or logic. Is it really applicable here?
3. "Another way to say barbaric and shameful might be repressed and rough"
Sure, but "repressed" carries with it its own negative bias. Do we go to the dentist because we are "repressed"? Or because we want to take care of our teeth? If an adjective doesn't accurately describe a practice, an error in bias has occurred somewhere along the line, either in your interpretation or because Miner was intentionally biased in his telling.
Part of what I want you to understand here is that you chose these words based upon a biased narrative...Horace Minor's narrative was designed to be a biased outsider's view of this culture, so nearly all words you choose are going to perpetuate that bias. It might be better to recognize that this attempt to define a culture with individual words isn't possible in the first place. It is a futile and biased practice and doesn't reflect what anthropologists are trying to do in their jobs. As an anthropologist, your job is to not describe from an outsider's perspective but to understand a culture.. and that means starting to see it as insiders do.
4. "I do believe that overtime one can overcome these biases. "
You have far more faith in humanity than I do! Humans (including anthropologists) are fallible and subject to the whims of their emotions. They make mistakes. Not to say that they can't improve their ability to avoid bias, but I would not expect anyone to be a robot and completely avoid their bias.
While Anthropologists can strive to avoid bias and practice this skill, I suggest it is just as important to be aware that our biases are deeply ingrained in our psyche and are likely impossible to avoid completely. Better to be aware of this and be receptive to those who point it out when it happens. This is one of the reasons anthropologists collaborate with others... so that they can watch out for each other's bias seeping into their work.