How societies mark coming of age

Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood, and its age and nature vary between societies, many of which retain ceremonies to confirm it. What can these transitions reveal about how people are recognized as adults and prepared for responsibility? The lessons consider social customs, rites, and the pressures that shape this passage.

3 articles, 1 book

The reading path

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   Coming of age · Wikipedia

   Coming of age for a young Roman male involved shaving his beard and taking off his bulla, an amulet worn to mark and protect underage youth, which he dedicated to his household gods, the Lares. In the Sateré-Mawé tribe of the Brazilian Amazon, boys celebrate coming of age at 13 by participating in the Bullet Ant Initiation. They search for bullet ants, which are sedated and woven into gloves with their stingers facing inwards towards the skin. In a Theravada coming-of-age ceremony, boys typically just under the age of 20 years are initiated into the Temple as Novice Monks (Samanera). During their stay, they experience a monastic lifestyle involving celibacy, formal voluntary poverty, absolute nonviolence, and daily fasting between noon and the following day's sunrise.

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   A Reading List on Coming of Age During Wartime - Electric Literature · Electric Literature

   In a story about coming of age during wartime, Little Anna in Zagreb is sent to buy cigarettes for her father, but the shopkeeper asks, "Serbian or Croatian cigarettes?" Knowing the question is a dangerous trick, Anna answers, "The one with the golden wrapper"; she gets no cigarettes, and the paramilitaries loom in the horizon.

3. Read
   "Coming of Age Ceremony in Chinese Culture" · chinafetching.com

   The Coming of Age Ceremony began among nobles in the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC, 256 BC) and later spread to civilians. It declared a person accepted by the clan and society as an adult, ready to take on responsibilities and qualified to inherit power and titles.

4. Book
   

   The Catcher in the Rye · Bookshop.org

   The Catcher in the Rye is a book by J.D. Salinger.

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