There are many ways of celebrating coming of age ceremonies in different tribes or countries. Some are celebrating the strength or the maturity of the women. I chose to do the traditional Iria ceremony celebrated by the Okrika tribe. This practice is for them to come into the real world and coming out of your comfort zones. This coming of age ceremony is especially for girls at the age of 14-16. This ceremony is particularly for before weddings getting the girls prepared for the future. The festivities of this event isn’t fore taken to well with all the people. Many parents and children are to ‘civilized’ and think the idea is too much but the community believe it is ‘tradition.’ The practice is not performed the same in all parts of Nigeria. Some places it could be much stricter than others in which the people would be a little slack on the occasion. To the ceremony there are five parts to it which would last around six months. The reasons for this coming of age ceremony is to detach themselves from the water spirits in which they believe have a special relationship to the girls. …show more content…
Firstly they get painted by their elder. Then they are told to be bare breasted in public for inspection! Those who aren’t painted are more embarrassed as the identity of their breasts are shown more. The reason for this is to see if their virginity is still intact. If the girl fails the inspection or refuses to do it then the crowd would be in rage. That rarely happened since the girls love to do it and think of it as such an honour. The girls are presented with coiled metal rings to wear around their legs. This is to restrict the girl’s movement for the next part of the
Coming of Age in Mississippi was written by Anne Moody and published in 1968. This is a story about Moody as an African American woman who was born and grown up in rural area in Mississippi. The story take places prior and during the U.S Civil Right Movement. The life of Moody was told in four chapters. The first part is about Moody’s memories as a kid, her adolescence life in high school, her twenties as in college, and lastly her life as an activist in the Movement. This is where the story gotten interesting as Moody got involved in Civil Right Movement. As Moody reflected, she struggled against racism through her entire life and she even experienced sexism among her activist fellas.
There are a number of activities that take place during the ceremony and each part has its own purpose and significance. As a whole, the procession takes place over a course of four days and within a decent amount of time of the first menstruation. However, in the event of the child being away at boarding school they will go home immediately or if this is not an option then the ceremony must be postponed. The ordering of events take place over the course of the four days directly relate to the myth of the origins of Kinaalda. For instance, in Marie Shirley’s Kinaalda the order and the events that take place resemble closely the events that took place during the mythical origin story. For Shirley’s own ceremony the events that take place include: hair-combing, dressing, molding, race one and race two, nighttime activities, and several others. To prepare for the events that will take place, the people involved do things such as shelling corn and cleaning the hogan. On the first day of the ceremony the girls involved have their hair combed to make the girl resemble Changing Woman and are dressed in their ceremonial clothing, which include adornments of silver and turquoise. When wearing the jewelry some feel that this is a testament of her future. If she wears large amounts of jewels then this will mean she will have a rich life full of success. Usually after the dressing is the lifting of the people. This is something that Changing Woman did during her own ceremony, as a way to thank the people for their gifts (Wheelwright, 1942). They are then to lay on their stomach to begin the process of the molding; this relates to the first girl’s kinaalda myth in which “she was molded and pressed so she would have a good figure” (T...
Leading up to the celebration the girls are taught a certain dance that must be performed at the ceremony. “the new initiates are brought into town for the first time since the initiation process began…” At the ceremony the Mende girls wear a Sowei mask and costume which is considered to be the embodiment of the river spirt Sowo. Once the mask and costume is on the person transforms and her actions are no longer hers but are the actions of the spirt Sowo. A sacred dance is performed and dance moves represent the strength and power of woman as members in the Mende community. “Sowo mask are divided into three structural components- the neck, face, and coiffure. Carved from a single block of lightweight wood, the masks weigh only two to four pounds. The mask displays a shiny black surface representative of the value assigned to smooth dark skin.” The rings around the masks neck demonstrates a trait that is considered beautiful in Mende cultures. Every mask has a different hairstyle, representing the style of the woman the mask is made for, you can see items such as shells, metal and claws on the coiffure.
Female genital circumcision (FGC) is a cultural ritual that is performed to the vast majority of women within the countries of Sudan, Kenya, Mali, Benin, Togo, and parts of the Middle East. Female genital circumcision also termed as female genital mutilation is used based upon a person’s beliefs. This ritual has been highly controversial for many years especially in the western society, due to the health risks that women may have to go through. Doctor Gruenbaum, and anthropologist who studied FGC in Sudan, has researched this topic and believes that outsiders need to have an open mind about diverse cultures. I believe that this procedure should not be illegal; however, education about the risks of the procedure should be enforced in the countries where this takes place, in order to create a safer environment for the ritual to be performed in. The goal of this essay is to know what Female Genital Circumcision is and different types of FGC and why this is performed and why it is important for outsiders to not have ethnocentric views when dealing with this. This essay also deals with why it should be medicalized instead of enforcing laws to ban this years long tradition in all African countries. When challenging female genital circumcision, we are also challenging the people who perform this procedure, their culture, values and beliefs.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story depicting an annual event that takes place on the very same day each year in a small town. The reader learns that all residents of the town must attend, including the children. Jackson thoroughly describes the setting and the characters in the story to ensure the reader will not question the importance and significance of this day. As Jackson draws the reader into the event, she purposefully leaves the unspeakable outcome of this lottery drawing until the end. Jackson uses an obsolete and antiquated tradition to expose human evilness and hypocrisy.
Emerging Adulthood represents the period of development from late teens through their twenties, mainly focusing on the ages 18-25. This is the period which people start exploring and realizing the capabilities of their lives, which then helps them characterize as adults and no longer teenagers. This topic of psychology is compelling to me because it’s a stage that every adult has lived through, it’s interesting that we have all experienced it differently based on our life circumstances and demographics. It’s interesting to see the changes throughout the years and eventually it will be easier for young people to explore these years as more young adults are going to school nowadays. It teaches me to further understand why emerging adults go through
Many works of literature use the idea of coming of age to represent the characters growth and change. This coming of age allows the characters to see an aspect of their lives differently after experiencing something that changes their view. John Knowles uses this coming of age idea in his novel A Separate Peace. In the story, almost all of the character exemplifies this idea. Two of these characters are Leper and Finny. Knowles uses many details in the text as well as quotes to show for their coming of age. Both Leper and Finny experience events that impact their lives greatly.
The feeling of being caught in between adolescence and adulthood is a phenomenon that had arisen within the last three decades. This delay is occurring because of the social and economic changes that are developing within the United States. The multiple research journals believe the age range to vary slightly; some suggest that the delay occurs between the ages of 18-25, others suggest it occurs between 18-29 years of age. Learning to be responsible for self at this time has proven to be difficult and confusing for those experiencing late adolescence.
As we grow up, we develop as people, and learn things from others around us. In these selections from East Asia, there’s different elements of growing up. From these stories and poems from Korea, China, and Japan, there is experience coming of age in more than one way. There are instances of young love, war, passing friendship, and overall life in these foreign places. Through these instances there is growing up and coming of age in places never experienced. From the literature of East Asia, the process of growing up and coming of age through the use of life lessons, metaphors, and imagery.
Coming to age means various things in different cultures, religions and regions in the world. As an example, in the Jewish religion coming of age happens when a boy or girl reaches the age of thirteen and has a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah, which symbolizes reaching religious maturity. On the other hand, coming to age is not about turning a certain age or being able to bare a child, but rather coming to terms with your personal identity. Coming to terms with your personal identity does not happen over night, it entails finding yourself and accepting yourself as an individual. Moreover, in the short story, “Birthmark” and the excerpt of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the night, they depict characters that have a hard time coming to terms with themselves. In both scenarios the characters face adversities that the majority of the population do not face which makes them feel like outcasts. Additionally, both characters come-to-age by finding their personal identity through all of the tribulations that they face.
FMG practices as a cultural ritual by ethnic groups in countries as many as twenty-seven. The age of the girls who undergo this procedure varies from weeks after their birth to puberty. In many other countries, most girls are bei...
The book goes on and discusses the health risks that are involved in the practice. It talks about how the women who perform the surgery have a minimal knowledge of anatomy and hygiene, which results in infections of the genital and often results in the transmission of the HIV virus. Besides the initial pain of the operation, these girls also suffer long-term physiological, sexual and psychological effects. A mother reveals that she would stop the pain and betrayal if she could but because of tradition, she and others would risk banishment, torture and abuse.
Every culture has several similarities and differences that impact the way they do things. Several of these cultures have distinct traits and traditions that make them differently from other cultures. I believe these differences make each culture different and unique. The two cultures that I have chosen to compare and contrast with each other is Kenya and India. In this paper I will discuss the similarities and differences in each of the culture’s families in context, marital relationships, and families and aging. These are important aspects of these cultures and to examine them will give me a better knowledge of both of these cultures.
The transition of a boy to a man is very important to the Sambia, of New Guinea. This transition consists of an initiation ritual, which has 6 stages and takes between 13 and 20 years to complete. The first 3 stages are collectively focused, which I will discuss, and stages 4 through 6 are individually focused. This ritual helps to introduce the boys to male society, prepare them for adult responsibilities and is used to transmit culture (Nanda 2002: 132). The beliefs of the Sambia show a “warriors conception of manhood where men should be strong, brave, and unyielding in the pursuit of all tasks” (Herdt 1981: 50).
The words “coming of age” can be used to describe a situation or event when one is free to do what is given after that stage in life. For an example, once someone turns eighteen they can move out. This is because not all, but most people mature by this age, and those people are responsible and able to live out on their own. But how does one know when they have become of age? When a person reaches these points in life, they, most likely, are also leaving small bits of their youth behind them so they can gain maturity. To break it down, the process of coming of age starts with an individual with a young mind and these individuals work up to a point when they make mature choices. After these choices, the individual gains more maturity and respect.