Cultures from countries of all around the world understood the importance of the transitional mark of adolescence to manhood. Rites of passage in some cultures are significant in which males are recognized as men after undergoing certain procedures and are conveyed differently; thus it helps them identify who they are in their family and their positions in their societies, as well as what the corresponding responsibilities are.
Throughout the human history, there have been a diversity of male initiation rituals from different places in the world that although most of them which come from undeveloped societies appear to be offensive and barbaric through the lens of Western culture, they should be respected and therefore harnessed to maintain the world of cultural abundance.
Some torturous male rites of passage of the Native societies emphasize the capability of survival and the significant natural power of a man when dealing with the surroundings in a world of non-technology. The environment they live in is nature: trees, soil, grass, wild flowers and wild animals. In order to survive for generations in such condition, male adolescents – future husbands and potential leaders of the community – are forced to overcome the toughest experience that the initiation rituals cause to them.
The Maasai people inhabit in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania and this area is only deserts and scrub. For this reason, young males have to prove their manliness as soon as possible, starting
I never realized before this class that these changes in my life were rites of passage every time that I was getting older as a person.Rites of passage have been in my life ever since I was born until now because as a child I transitioned from a fetus to a fully born baby,every single birthday that I ever had and continue to have,and even in the future when I get married or even when I die.All of my rites of passage were celebrated with a form of celebration as every birthday was celebrated with a birthday party, my graduation for both middle school and high school as I went through the ceremonies and parties afterward,and for my religious moments when I would have a celebratory mass and a celebration with gifts after each of all my events.Rites
“Rites of passage” is a term often used in anthropology to refer to specific ceremonies that mark a personal or collective change in the identity of a person. “The term rite of passage was first used in anthropology to encapsulate rituals that symbolize the transition of an individual or a group from one status to another, or to denote the passage of calendrical time”. (Tzanelli, 2010) Rites of passage have been a major part of almost all educational, social and spiritual groups. They have been observed immensely in native tribal-traditional societies, which account for ninety nine percent of human history. All around the world, societies implement unique rituals and events to signify a transition of a person from one social identity to another. (Frey, 2013). Rites of passage ceremonies and rituals take place throughout an individual’s whole life cycle starting
The Apache and Lakota rite of passages have their similarities and differences in the sense of their practices. For example, the Apache rite of passage for the young women is more physical than the Lakota rite of passage. The Apache rite of passage is represented in a video while the Lakota rite of passage is represented in a book therefor, the audience may find some advantages and disadvantages when learning about each rite of passage.
3. Characterize the initiation ritual. How do you think it compares to the “real” ritual – if such a ritual exists?
Rituals around the world all teach valuable lessons that help initiates see the value and importance of life. Each culture has different rituals that provide experiences for their youth to learn these valuable lessons of life. Many coming of age rituals are intense procedures. The Amazon's Satere Mawé youth enter adulthood through the bullet-ant glove initiation, teaching courage and endurance, and the crocodile scaring ritual that the men from the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea participate in teaches them pain and accomplishment.
Settled in Kenya and Tanzania, the Maasai enjoy a simple life with an abundance of culture. With roots in pastoralism, the Maasai live an intriguing life with traditions unlike any in the world. Language, marriage, societal statuses, the economy, religion, and health are fundamental in appreciating all that the Maasai have to offer. The warriors of the savannas’ red clothing signify power, and with that comes a powerful amount of knowledge that is still being learned.
In today’s society, masculinity has changed throughout time. Fast forward one hundred years ago, masculinity is defined as being strong and having a good paying job. But as the world is changing so is the representation of manliness. You don’t have to show your dominance over men or women today, but you should support your family nowadays and we have all been brainwashed by the thought of masculinity from our ancestors. As men our reputation is always being valued but now it isn’t so much about our reputation but about caring for one another and especially for our families. Perspective of manhood is also a significant factor in portraying what masculinity is in the eyes of other people. Masculinity has been shown through money, appearance, and providing protection for your family members but as we shift into the modern world, masculinity is not seen as displaying the most discipline but caring for one another by taking out some of your time to help one another. Throughout the paper, I will be writing about my interviews from a broad spectrum of ages from one of my younger sisters to my dad with not friends not at Seb’s in between so I can get what it really means to be a man from all ages.
In conclusion I would like to point out that, Ellin (2008) explained that when Horace Miner in 1956, was using hyperbole as well as rhetorical misreading to defamiliarized his own culture in this essay Body ritual among the Nacirema. “Nacirema is American spelled backwards”. He exposed an obsession with the body that contributed to masochistic tendencies including annual visit to ‘holy men (dentist); and weekly head-baking by women (using hair dryers); lacerating the face with sharp instrument by men (shaving); and he discusses the ritual fast to make fat people thin” (“Life support: Nacirema redux”). Through this entire scenario, my perspective is that Miner was not prepared for change, growth nor evolution.
Watching the news is a rite of passage for any newly crowned adult. It’s a sign to you and everyone you know that you’re a grown up god dammit, you keep up with what’s going on in the world. Because of the news you can name like 75% of the presidential candidates, you’re aware of every tragedy going on overseas, and each day at work you get to ask someone if they heard about the *insert feel good story here* that you saw the previous night. The news is making you such a well-rounded and mature human being.
A recent rite of passage I went through was graduating from nursing school and becoming a RN. To complete this rite of passage I had to complete all the pre-requisites for nursing school which took me 4 years. Then I did the nursing program which was 2 years. To celebrate finishing the nursing program I attended a pinning ceremony which is a ritual where the nursing graduates get a pin that represents the completion of the education required to sit for the nursing boards. This pinning ceremony was more important than walking at graduation. The majority of my classes did not attend the graduation ceremony but all attended the pinning. Once I took the nursing license test I got a card that says registered nurse. I was finally able to call myself
Statistics show that approximately 3.3 million of American citizens graduated high school this past year, exemplifying how common the rite of passage really is (“Fast Facts”). The large number of students that graduated also shows that in America we put strong values on education. In 2014, when I was 18, I joined the statistics as being a citizen of the United States that graduated High school and earned my diploma. Therefore, I participated in the ceremony of highs school graduation, which took place at Stabler Arena. In attendance for the ceremony were fellow graduates, parents of graduates, and a select group of teachers and other administration from the school. High school graduation is classified as a rite to adulthood because it signified
Within the human lifespan, there are milestones setups that are in increments based on how many times we have revolved around the Sun. The ride around the Sun starts the day we are born, and each time we have made a full revolution we celebrate a birthday. Interestingly enough, cultures around the world have decided that after so many birthdays, a child has reached "the coming of age" and is celebrated through some type of ritual. I quote "the coming of age" because it is practiced differently from culture to culture. However, the underlying similarity is that it marks the time in which a child has reached a milestone in life that a society now views them as an adult. For this paper, I will investigate three coming of age rituals for females: the Bat Mitzvah, the Quinceanera, and the Sunrise Ceremony.
If we will look closer to the initiation rituals for example, in Africa, we will see that most of them have a traditional script. The final goal of initiation is always the same - by a peculiar
One of these rituals shows just how women hold more power in Wogeo than in other parts of the word, the incising of the penis. All the males of Wogeo practice artificial menstruation to mimic the natural menstruation of women. Artificial menstruation is done because it is believed that the exiting blood takes the toxins with it and artificial menstruation needs to be done every so often to remain healthy and spiritually clean. Many of the men consider women lucky to get there period naturally. Also, in a social aspect, men are seen to be particularly helpless until women came along. This is told by stories of the culture heroes which mostly consisted of women.
When Palahniuk was writing this novel, he interviewed many young men, and the primary focus of the meetings was their family lives. Through his interviews, he discovered that for white Christian males in America, they didn't believe in a rite of passage, but they only believed in possessions acquired over a lifetime such as houses and cars (Palahniuk, 2001). In the traditional society, fathers led their sons into manhood; however, according to Bly (1997), "boys who have no fathers are mere adolescents." The men don't know how to be men in a traditional sense, just as the narrator says, "I can't get married since I'm a thirty-year-old boy"(Fincher, 1999). The narrator is seen as a feminized man who fills his home with different objects of