Defining rites of passage

[jay]

Given a debate in the hallways at work today with hopeforyou, over someone's celebration this evening ... I just don't see how celebrating the onset of an icky, unpleasant bodily function that causes half the population to be cranky and require chocolate and paper products one out of every four weeks is a rite of passage, other than as an affliction. Might as well design a ritual to celebrate, say, acne as the door to adolescence.

In this culture, IMO the things which most clearly delineate children from adults are gaining independent mobility and finances. So I think that a first paid outside job and gaining a driver's license are the true rites of passage in the US, both usually happening around age 15-16.

Comments

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

The original discussion with hopeforyou was triggered in the context of her mentioning her attendance, granted... but then went off into an argument over the validity of any given physical symptom as a marker of adulthood, and what were the rites-of-passage in US society (as compared to other places). It was/is then not about you, or your daughter, specifically.

Even if I generally doubt the usefulness of that particular milestone as compared to any other metric, that's no reason why you shouldn't specifically give your daughter a party for any reason whatsoever.