Nacirema and America

The way Miner portrays the American culture is incredibly innovative and mind-changing. It calls out a lot of the things people in American society do or take part in. Especially when it talks about how the Nacirema people believe their bodies are ugly and the measures they go to to change themselves. I believe our society is especially concerned with this topic in particular and even I have found myself buying into this idea. With our obsession with fashion and beauty magazines, celebrities and information about their lifestyles, extreme surgeries to change our appearances, and the way people hurt their bodies in order to make them more “beautiful.” Everything in our society revolves around the way we look and we make that our self value. How much money or effort we put in affects the way we feel, the way we see ourselves, and the way others judge us.

I think a big part of it is the fear that people have about being judged. They’re afraid of being thought of in a bad way so they do these crazy, extreme things that even hurt ourselves just so that they will look better. The way people judge others these days is an incredibly powerful tool. With the social media we have today people are putting their self worth on how many likes they get on Instagram or Facebook. It’s not about who they are. It’s about what they look like and how they present themselves.

Even though this article was written in the 1950s it’s very relatable and really applies to our culture today. Our culture strives for a deeper meaning and I think a lot of people are trying to raise our standards and break this stereotype that our country has acquired. These people in the public eye are trying to teach especially the younger generation not to grow up and believe these ways. But, it’s not enough with the amount of appearance obsession we have being thrown in the younger generation’s face. Whether it be television, the internet, social media, etc. I think an article like this could really open the eyes of a lot of people and show us what our culture is really like and has become. Something like this is really important for people to know about and try to make a change about it.