Does your culture have a rite of passage that marks or tests a boy's transition into manhood?

Question

In some Amazonian tribes, a boy must wear a glove filled with bullet ants for 10 minutes as a test before he is considered an adult. The pain is so intense that some people who complete the trial are even left temporarily paralyzed

In Vanuatu, boys tie vines around their ankles and jump headfirst from tall wooden towers. The vines are measured so that their heads come within inches of the ground, making it another test of courage.
Among Muslims, this transition is generally marked by circumcision.

Maybe_Maybe_not · Accepted Answer

I believe any culture carries a form of rite of passage, but ofc not in the sensational way featured by your examples. This test is probably done in multiple steps by multiple people, subtly or not, with each of them validating or invalidating an invisible score, incrementally.

I think of it as a logical evolution of dramatic tests, reflecting how cultures became more complex over time but not less prone to test their members, in fact complex ones seem more stressful in terms of testing peers than the simpler cultures...

ohsheeT · Accepted Answer

I don't know how you test a manhood but putting your hand in a glove of bullet ants wouldn't prove anything to me shooting a deer or an elk wouldn't prove anything to me

When my son would do something wrong Others would say you need to punish him

I wouldn't take things away from him I would not punish him I would give him more responsibility and that's what showed me that he was becoming a man

Tamera952 · Accepted Answer

Umm, …you mean apart from the rudimentary box of Kleenex that his mom finds a way to introduce to his bedside table, and to always keep in stock?

choco-latte · Accepted Answer

In America, sometimes hunting. But all of these rituals including hunger are cringey AF and primitive.

Danzigdawson · Answer

In Canada, on the day of our 13th birthday party, we have to go right next to a huge rock under high voltage power lines along with our dad to watch and listen to him as he gets absolutely sh*tfaced by downing a 750mL (aka a fifth) bottle of vodka over the course of several hours. When it's over, it's our duty to drive him back home.

genericname85 · Answer

yeah somewhat. but it's a bit difficult between east and west germany, cause the eastern parts of germany are far more secular. the west is more christian based. it's mostly just drincing alcohol socially for the first time at the age of around 16 xD which is fucked up the way it sounds when i say it like that but it really just mostly is that.

OneViewpoint · Answer

In my culture we are forced to fight and kill a wolverine with our bare hands and teeth at age 13. Apparently they tried grizzly bears originally but the culture nearly went extinct in one generation. We adapted.

Zack-Bann · Answer

When boys and girls are about 2 years old we toss them in the sea and wait for them to struggle and eventually swim.

In my hometown EVERYONE swims. It’s not optional

(It’s less torturous than it sounds, we loved it as kids)

abc3643 · Answer

Not just boys, but girls.
That picture you have for Yes... such pictures appear in the center of our local newspaper during hunting season showing kids - both boys and girls - with their first-ever kills.

strateguy632 · Answer

no. they should stop that cruel stuff, it probably got started by sadism!

4ngelic · Answer

I don't think western countries have something like this atm.

DonaldDarko · Answer

It varies red necks often want their young men to join the military. Marine corps is a favorite.

ThisSiteSux · Answer

I'm Philadelphia Irish. You aren't a man until you do something to a black or Italian. I can't say because I'd be banned or lose points with Censorship

RavVid · Answer

Not since getting blind drunk and driving has been clamped down on.

KostasKouvalis · Answer

No. In America, that would be so illegal. I don't know about anything in Poland either. I don't think any Western countries do

msc545 · Answer

In the United States, there is really no rite of passage like this.

Anonymous · Answer

Nope, the circumcision is usually done much earlier, and not as a ritual, unless it’s in a religious context

fonduegirl · Answer

no. thats dumb.

Dargil · Answer

Informal, yes. Dads can infuse it.

_Jenny_ · Answer

A man when he is 18 years old

exitseven · Answer

No, it's a more subtle transition.

Anonymous · Answer

Luckily - no... and I wouldn't like that.

Badtobad · Answer

No such nonsense

In_Trance · Answer

No..

Hispanic-Cool-Guy · Answer

No. Pure stupidity.

Does your culture have a rite of passage that marks or tests a boy's transition into manhood?

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Does your culture have a rite of passage that marks or tests a boy's transition into manhood?

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What age in your opinion does a boy becomes a man and a girl becomes a woman?

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