When I first started reading this essay I found it really interesting, I was really excited to learn about all of the weird stuff that goes on in different cultures. However, by the time I turned the page I started to recognize the gist of the story... when it got to the part about men scraping their faces with blades, I realized that yes, its true- My 8th grade social studies teacher had read this to us in her attempts to teach us about ethnocentrism. So I kind of knew the point of this before I got finished... which sorta spoiled the fun of reading it, I'm not gonna lie. This paper is an essay which is meant to make us shocked by the rituals of this strange country... however, when you take a closer look, you realize that all of these things are rituals that we practice in America. For example... The first thing it said, about the people thinking the body is ugly and diseased, and how every day they have a privite ritual in a shrine, usually all alone- This is just what we do every morning... we go to the bathroom, brush our hair, if youre a girl youll maybe put on some makeup, or do a little pluck job on the eyebrows if theyre getting a little out of control. We take our medicine, brush our teeth, and then leave the "shrine" to continue our day. The rest of the Items listed that were supposed to shock us are as follows ( I think): Medicine Men - Doctors Holy-Mouth-Man - Dentists Bathing and exctratory acts that are performed only in a secret shrine - The Bathroom Hog hairs and potions in the mouth - toothbrush and toothpaste "Listner" - Psychologist or couselor Men scraping their faces - shaving Women baking their heads 4 times a year - getting a permanent in their hair
and of course skinny people may want to get bigger, and big people want to get skinnier... our culture is obsessed with breasts, and sometimes women with big ones become strippers where people can stare at them for money. This is pretty cool, I guess. Sincerely, Ashley Pitkin
