Do I have to break a bone to be a man?

posted by Patty James @ 8:38pm, Sunday 31 January 2010.

This was a question asked of me by not one but two young men as part of this journey. I, of course, told them that no, they did not need to break a bone to be a man. I have thought about this a lot since. Rites of passage have always been with us and this was a rites of passage question. I asked Clare, our student advisory member about rites of passage and today, she sent me the following. Fascinating. Thank you Clare.....

Coming of Age: Rituals Around the World

      Every society has some sort of ritual that marks coming of age. For those who practice the Jewish religion, it could be a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah celebration. It could be a Sweet 16 birthday splurge. It could be drinking alcohol for the first time, or making your first kill. On the more extreme side, it could be jumping from 100 feet up, held only by a vine attached to your ankles. Or undergoing a scarification ceremony that will leave your skin patterned like an alligator hide, which is the mark of a true initiated man in Papua New Guinea. There are millions of assorted rituals around the world. Not all are strictly safe, or sanitary for that matter, but depending on your religion, or where you are from, you will come of age after practicing any one of these rights.
      I personally have no opinion regarding whether or not any of these rights should be done. It is not my place to say. However, I think that if someone did want to abolish a certain right of any kind, they would have trouble doing so. Many of the rights people perform today have been around since humans learned how to designate rank or age.
       Circumcision, or the mutilation of certain genital parts is perhaps one of the oldest and most widely practiced. The ancient Africans were the first people to record it, and since then it is used in almost every formal religion. Circumcision has rather contradictory causes, as it can be used to mark the coming of age, rank, for hygienic properties, or to humiliate a prisoner of war or other such conflicts. Circumcision can be prescribed at any age, from infant to late teens. It most often occurs in males, but female circumcision is not so unusual. Of course, there are many issues regarding the legality of the practice, and it has been banned in many countries, if not all. Africa is perhaps the biggest practitioner, but 68% of circumcisions occur in Muslims.
      My personal favorite coming of age ritual is The Walkabout, originated in the Aboriginal culture. When an Australian Aborigine boy is around 12 or so, he is sent out into the surrounding jungle to test his survival skills. He is gone for a year, during which he must hunt, trap, build shelter, and keep himself alive. If he survives, he returns to his tribe and finishes the passage, which ends in a ceremony officially initiating him a man of the tribe. In his life before this journey, he was taught how to survive, so it is not just tossing a boy to the wilderness, as some people believe. The participating boys therefore have a good chance of survival, and most do make it back alive. I like this ritual because it is fair. The Walkabout practice tries an individual in every way; brains, skill, and the determination to become a man.
      There are many coming of age rituals practiced around the world. These are but a few of them. To find out more, you can visit these sites, where I conducted some of my own research.

-Clare A. Schuett-Hall

Circumcision-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/circumcision

Walkabout-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/walkabout

Neatorama-6 Strangest Coming of Age Rituals in the World
http://www.neatorama.com/6-strangest-coming-of-age-rituals-in-the-world.html

Strange Ceremonies-Coming of Age Rituals in the World
http://www.jewishagency.org/jewi.../Life+Cycle/Jlc/03-4.html+93.htm

The Circle of Life, Rituals from The Human Family Album
Introduction by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Afterword by Peter Matthiessen


Isn't Clare great? I would love to hear from other kids about this topic. Would a rite of passage into adulthood, ease the way somehow? After that day, you belong? You then can become a mentor to those younger...

Please send me an email (patty@shinethelightonkids.org) about what you think if you don't want to comment on this page, though I'm sure everyone would like to read what you have to say...Thank you!