A comparison : the motives and practices of Western and Maasai culture

The Maasai of East Africa is a nomadic tribe. Their pastoral culture is well known for its unique ritualism. The United States is an industrialized nation where cohesive ritualism is not as well defined. Cultural practices in these two vastly different societies often include the potential for medically deleterious effects. Such medically harmful practices can include facial mutilation, female circumcision, dietary habits, and plastic surgery. This research is designed to define and compare medically deleterious ritual practices among Maasai and United States culture, in order to seek the possibility of similar human reasoning for their continuation. The comparison of reasoning among vastly different cultures may allow for the better understanding of human primary motives and collective meaning