Not the Average American Criticism

This past week we read "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" by Horace Miner. She cleverly disguised American culture in an Indian tribe in order to satirize and poke fun at American practices and tendencies. She makes fun of every house's "personal shrine", the medicine men, and oral health in order to highlight and make fun of these daily practices that we, as Americans, place so much emphasis on. Why does she do this? I cannot understand what is so funny about brushing out teeth or using the bathroom to get ready for the day. She writes about it like she is above the daily morning rituals almost every American practices. I could understand her satirizing Americans rolling around in big suvs, eating McDonalds, and shooting guns. But something like dutifully maintaining your body doesn't seem like the greatest thing to make fun of. This attack on oral hygiene causes one to speculate why Miner does so. Could it be that she doesn't believe it is necessary to visit the dentist or brush her teeth? or maybe they are so perfect she thinks they don't need to be cleaned. Whatever reason, it is odd as most Americans take care of their teeth and consider it a basic health priority and it is not even a known stereotype that Americans are obsessed with their teeth so I think that Horace Miner kind of missed the mark on this one.