Discussion: Choose One Of The Following Two Options To Addre

Discussion 1choose One Of The Following Two Options To Address In This

Choose one of the following two options to address in this discussion. Be sure that your initial post meets the full length requirement of 300 words, and that you incorporate at least two of this week’s required resources in your post, one of which should be the textbook. Include citations and a full reference to your chosen sources. (See the Required Resources page for all references in APA format).

Option 1: Review the Corporate Anthropology: Michael Henderson at TEDxAuckland (Links to an external site.) links to an external site. video and read "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" (Links to an external site.) links to an external site. . Pretend that you are an anthropologist.

Describe a typical day in the life of the Nacirema (remember that the Nacirema are Americans—Miner is describing us from an etic perspective). Describe your modern tribe (the people you spend most of your time with). What might someone from another culture find unusual about your daily routine, workplace (if relevant), and setting? How would a cultural outsider see your life? Is there anything she or he might find unusual or interesting that you see as normal and everyday?

Paper For Above instruction

As an anthropologist examining American society through the etic perspective, particularly in light of Horace Miner's seminal article "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema," it becomes evident that many everyday practices are imbued with cultural significance that outsiders may initially find bizarre or inexplicable. The Nacirema, a term Miner used to depict Americans, engage in rituals that revolve around the body, health, and appearance, practices that often seem peculiar when viewed from an external cultural lens. These rituals include visiting shrines (doctor’s offices), elaborate routines of beauty and hygiene, and rituals of consumption that serve to maintain health and social standing. From an outsider’s perspective, such practices might appear excessive, superstitious, or obsessive narcissism, but within American culture, they represent normalcy, health consciousness, and social belonging.

Similarly, my modern tribe consists of colleagues at a corporate office, where daily routines revolve around meetings, email communication, project deadlines, and social interactions that reinforce workplace hierarchy and camaraderie. These routines include morning greetings, scheduled breaks, frequent coffee rituals, and formal or informal meetings for collaboration. An outsider from a different culture might find it unusual that adults gather daily to discuss work objectives with seemingly little regard for personal time, or that the workplace environment is heavily structured with routines that emphasize productivity and professionalism. They might also observe the emphasis on punctuality and the formality of communication as distinct from their own cultural practices.

From a cultural outsider’s perspective, the American workplace and daily routines could be perceived as highly organized, driven, and perhaps superficially focused on individual achievement. Conversely, what I see as normal—such as the routines of preparing for work, commuting, and engaging in structured professional interactions—are, in fact, complex social rituals forming the fabric of everyday life. These rituals serve to reinforce social norms, achieve personal success, and maintain group cohesion within American society. Recognizing this allows us to understand that what appears mundane or normative externally is embedded with cultural meanings valued internally, demonstrating the importance of an anthropological lens for appreciating seemingly everyday rituals.

References

• Miner, H. (1956). Body Ritual among the Nacirema. American Anthropologist, 58(3), 503-507.
• Henderson, M. (2014). Corporate Anthropology: Understanding Business Cultures. TEDxAuckland. https://www.tedxauckland.com
• Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books.
• Salzman, P. (2018). Cultural Anthropology and the Study of Everyday Life. Routledge.
• Erickson, P. A., & Murphy, G. (2017). read Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World. Routledge.
• Friedman, J. (2017). The Cultural Process: Selected Essays. Transaction Publishers.
• Conklin, B. A. (2013). An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Wiley Blackwell.
• Kottak, C. P. (2014). Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Leone, M. (2014). Understanding Culture and Society. Sage Publications.
• Hunt, S. (2019). The Anthropology of Everyday Life. Cambridge University Press.