Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

The â€Å"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema† by Horace Miner, is an article that examines the various rituals that manifests within industrialized societies, specifically referencing to the United States. In the article Miner joked about the invasion of privacy and the obsession of becoming immortal. Miner provides gives outstanding evidence that the characteristics or an attitude of the human body has a broad influence on a variety of institutions in the Nacirema society. Throughout the article Miner provides an understanding perspective how Americans do similar rituals in a different point of view. One key word that was emphasized in the article that numerous times was â€Å"ritual† and how it transformed the way we lives. It clearly mentions how our society perceives that idea and whether we act positively or negatively to it. Miner implements a wonderful inscription on the readers thought as how other societies may view our own. After reading the article, I agree with many ideas Miner made about society because of country does use exaggerated body image and misuse the idea of preventive medicine. The natural tendency of the human body and mind has always sparked a great debate. For example, were humans born with good or a bad intention is an ongoing debate. Remarkably, these beliefs are also reflected within a society or cultures even today. A group called Nacirema, located in North America, believed that the human body is ugly and is prone to â€Å"natural tendency† which was debility and disease. Following this â€Å"natural tendency†, the â€Å"holy mouth man† used magical instruments and drilled them into the holes of cavities created by tooth decay. Although this practice was believed to cure the problem it only intensified the infection in the tooth. Also there was a medicine man that treated sick patients which ultimately leaves them in a state where they can never be cured. These practices were performed in Nacirema, which showed their faith towards the natural law of humans. In contrast to the Nacriema’s culture, our modern society has somewhat of different approach to this â€Å"natural tendency†. In general, it is inevitably that all humans will age which means they are more susceptible to becoming ill. Thus, the â€Å"natural tendency† in our modern society does not differ much from the Nacirema culture. Yet, our modern society seems to disapprove the natural tendency. People try to look more youthful by applying cosmetics, treat diseases and vaccines shots regularly. In today’s society the rituals of the Nacirema may seem cruel and inhumane. However the Nacriema culture can be characterized as following the natural tendency, which is the law of the universe. Therefore, based on the analysis of the two distinct perspectives toward our approach to nature, it can be known that cultural relativism is needed when looking at different cultures. Miner’s ironic article, â€Å"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema† is an entertaining social commentary can be argued to be ethnocentric. Miner knowingly chooses the American culture because of their cultural practices (the use of cosmetics and hygiene products). One would expect to hear the practice of our society is technologically primitive and tribal. Miner evokes this approach of thinking to the reader by attempting to unwittingly use our cultural preconceptions against our own customs. Ultimately I believe Miner achieved his goal to force readers to believe that concept. Similarly to every other culture, Americans have plenty of taboo practices that when viewed objectively they appear very illogical and in some cases ridiculous. Upon reaching his revelation, Miner says, â€Å"we should view the traditions of other cultures with an improved understanding. † However, I think it would be foolish to believe that we can ever completely eliminate ourselves of all cultural biases or ethnocentricity. Each individual will always view life at his or her own viewpoint. Perhaps this is what Miner was trying convey to us. Maybe he wanted us to view our culture and determine how we would be viewed in other cultures. The idea does spark great debate for those who conduct intellectual or scientific research. Nonetheless, they are in theory accountable to present their own findings without injecting their own opinions, but conversely this an absolutely unrealistic expectation. Try as they may, as I mentioned earlier; people will see things differently through there own eyes and any beliefs that accompanies their idea. In conclusion, I felt a bit saddened while reading, â€Å"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema† because there are a lot of people who stress so hard on appearance, rather than living life as humble and optimistically as possible. In fact, the whole article made the United States seem a bit sickening morally. If I could pretend that Nacirema was a culture outside of our country, I would never visit that country because of the harsh critics and judgments I would have to endure constantly. Frivolous judgments like how you look, the way you dress and how much wealth you generate. Overall I’ve learned a lot and I didn’t know anything about the Nacirema definitely an article everyone should read.

Atoms of metals and LIDAR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Atoms of metals and LIDAR - Essay Example pag). LIDAR is a remote sensing technology that can measure distances or properties of a material by laser illumination (Sanderson n. pag.). Origin of metal atoms in the atmosphere Normally, meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere between 11 to 72 kilometres per second. Friction between the meteor and air molecules in the upper atmosphere generates enough heat to disintegrate it to particles less than 1mm in diameter. These particles are deposited at an altitude of 70 to 140 km in the upper atmosphere (Von Zahn, Hoffner and McNeil, 149). McNeil, Lai and Murad acknowledged the fact that meteoric material is the most significant source of metal atoms in the upper atmosphere. However, the amount of metal atoms in the atmosphere differs from the amount present in the meteor itself. This is attributed to the process known as differential ablation. Differential ablation suggests that more volatile metals vaporize earlier than less volatile metal components in a meteorite. Comparison between sodium, magnesium, and calcium ablation revealed that sodium is the most volatile of the three elements. Thus, sodium ablates at a much higher altitude. On the other hand, calcium ablates at a much lower altitude. Therefore, the rate of conversion of elemental calcium into compounds in the lower atmosphere is the primary cause of calcium ion depletion (10899-10911). Aside from sodium, metallic atoms of potassium, lithium, calcium and iron make up the rest of the metal atom layer in the mesosphere. The discovery of other metal constituents started in 1973. Potassium ions detected through the use of ruby-laser-pumped dye laser components calibrated at 769.9 and 766.5 nanometres. Lithium ions were identified using a flashlamp-pumped dye laser calibrated at 670.8 nanometres with 800 millijoules output pulse energy. Calcium was detected with a dye laser calibrated at 422.7 nanometres (Abo 315). Thin layers of sodium, calcium and iron have been detected by LIDAR in the upper atmo sphere. These layers range from 100 metres to several kilometres thick and usually superimpose on a background layer 10 kilometres thick. Despite efforts to ascertain the origins of sporadic layers, no single scientific explanation was accepted (Clemesha 725). Chemical role of metal atoms in the atmosphere The formation of metal layers in the upper atmosphere has been instrumental in several vital atmospheric processes. Rapp and Thomas have confirmed the role of mesospheric metal layers in the formation of noctilucent clouds through the nucleation of ice particles in the upper atmosphere (715-744). Murphy, Thomson and Mahoney investigated the composition of aerosol particles in the stratosphere and discovered the existence of meteoric particles in stratospheric aerosol. Thus a link was suggested between mesospheric metal particles and the condensation of stratospheric sulphate aerosols (1664-1669). Atmospheric observation over the South Pole was initiated through LIDAR to measure th e seasonal variations of the mesospheric sodium and iron layer. The polar annual mean abundance is almost equal to mid-latitude readings while the mean centroid height is 100 metres higher for sodium and 450 metres higher for

Sexual Fetishes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sexual Fetishes - Research Paper Example They are difficult to treat, partially because the individual may not want to give up the fetish, partially because the fetish is becoming more socially acceptable and they do not really harm anybody, and partially because there has not been an adequate treatment created (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders). However, sexual fetishism is only one type of fetish – the term fetishism can extend to any kind of object that is used for worship, such as religious objects or commodities (Dant, 1996, p. 5). According to Kafka (2009) the DSM-III does not account for individuals who have a fetish with certain body parts that are living, such as feet or hands. The hair and nails are considered to be non-living, which is why they were accorded a part of the DSM diagnosis for sexual fetishes and things like a fetish for hands and feet were not (Kafka, 2009). They were, however, later included in the DSM-III-R as being considered to be part of partialism, which was considered to be Paraphilia Not Otherwise Specified (Kafka, 2009). The DSM-III-R expanded the definition of sexual fetishism from the DSM-III, stating that sexual fetishism is defined as â€Å"a) over a period of at least six months, recurrent sexual urges and sexually arousing fantasies involving the use of nonliving objects by themselves; b) the person has acted on these urges, or is markedly distressed by them; and c) the fetishes are not only articles of clothing used in cross-dressing, or devices designed for the purpose of tactile genital stimulation† (DSM-III-R 302.81). However, the DSM-III-R no longer mentioned body parts or products, such as hair and nails, but, rather, common objects such as stockings, bras, women’s underpants, boots, shoes and other wearing apparel. These definitions, including classifying being sexually aroused by body parts such as feet and hands as partialism, or paraphilia not otherwise specified, have persisted in the DSM-IV and the DSM-IV TR (Kafka, 2009). Kafka (2009) discussed whether there should be a separate distinction between partialism and fetishism. Kafka concluded that the definition of fetishism be expanded to include partialism under the rubric of fetishism, as opposed to leaving the definition of partialism as being considered a paraphilia not otherwise specified (Kafka, 2009). One of the reasons why there is a separate category is that there is a necessity, for one to be diagnosed with any type of fetishism, that the individual cannot be sexually aroused unless he or she is in the presence of the particular inanimate object, or that this inanimate object is the primary way that the individual is sexually aroused. If the definition were expanded to include body parts, such as hands and feet, then fetishism loses its very definition, as the majority of people have hands and feet, so it goes without saying that hands and feet will be present in the vast majority of sexual situations(Kafka, 2009). Therefore, fetishism becomes blur red if hands and feet are included in the definition – if a person has a â€Å"fetish† with body parts that are present in most people, then that object will almost always be present, so there is no way of telling if the individual would be sexually aroused if the object such as the hands or feet are not present. On the other hand, when speaking of a true fetish, such as