Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation in which the initiate is 'reborn' into a new role. Examples of initiation ceremonies might include Christian baptism or confirmation, Jewish bar or bat mitzvah, acceptance into a fraternal organization, secret society or religious order, or graduation from school or recruit training. A person taking the initiation ceremony in traditional rites, such as those depicted in these pictures, is called an initiate.
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual or spiritual event.
A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is generally referred to as a woman. However, the term girl is also used for other meanings, including young woman, and is sometimes used as a synonym for daughter or girlfriend regardless of age. In certain contexts, the usage of the term girl for an adult woman may be considered derogatory. Girl may also be a term of endearment used by an adult, usually a woman, to designate adult female friends. Girl also appears in compounds like showgirl, cowgirl, and schoolgirl.
The Zaramo people, also referred to as Dzalamo or Saramo, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the central eastern coast of Tanzania, particularly Dar es Salaam Region and Pwani Region. They are the largest ethnic group in and around Dar es Salaam, the former capital of Tanzania and the 7th largest city in Africa. Estimated to be about 0.7 million people, over 98% of them are Muslims, more specifically the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islam. Zaramo people are considered influential in Tanzania popular culture with musical genres like Sengeli originating from their commonity in Kinondoni District. Their culture and history have been shaped by their dwelling in both urban and rural landscapes.
The Peramangk are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands traditionally comprise the Adelaide Hills, as well as lands to the west of the Murray River in mid Murraylands and through to the northern part of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia.
Gender segregation in Islamic law, custom, law and traditions refers to the practices and requirements in Islamic countries and communities for the separation of men and boys from women and girls in social and other settings.
The Kaguru, or Kagulu, are a Bantu ethno-linguistic group based in Gairo District and Kilosa District of Morogoro Region of Tanzania. The population of Kaguru was predicted to be 217,000 in 1987.
A naming ceremony is a stage at which a person or persons is officially assigned a name. The methods of the practice differ over cultures and religions. The timing at which a name is assigned can vary from some days after birth to several months or many years.
Arabic weddings are ceremonies of matrimony that contain Arab influences or Arabic culture.
The Lopit people are an ethnic group found in Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan. Traditionally, they refer to themselves as donge (plural) or dongioni (singular). The Lopit number 160,000 to 200,000 people living in the Lopit area, in the Lopit mountains which extend from the east to the north of Torit.
Nyau is a secret society of the Chewa, an ethnic group of the Bantu peoples from Central and Southern Africa. The Nyau society consists of initiated members of the Chewa people, forming the cosmology or indigenous religion of the people. Initiations are separate for men and for women, with different knowledge learned and with different ritual roles in the society according to gender and seniority. Only initiates are considered to be mature and members of the Nyau.
The Simbari people are a mountain-dwelling, hunting and horticultural tribal people who inhabit the fringes of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, and are extensively described by the American anthropologist Gilbert Herdt. The Sambia – a pseudonym created by Herdt himself – are known by cultural anthropologists for their acts of "ritualised homosexuality" and semen ingestion practices with pubescent boys. In his studies of the Simbari, Herdt describes the people in light of their sexual culture and how their practices shape the masculinity of adolescent Simbari boys.
The Ndut is a rite of passage as well as a religious education commanded by Serer religion that every Serer must go through once in their lifetime. The Serer people being an ethnoreligious group, the Ndut initiation rite is also linked to Serer culture. From the moment a Serer child is born, education plays a pivotal role throughout their life cycle. The ndut is one of these phases of their life cycle. In Serer society, education lasts a lifetime, from infancy to old age.
Homosexuality in Indonesia is generally considered a taboo subject by both Indonesian civil society and the government. Public discussion of homosexuality in Indonesia has been inhibited because human sexuality in any form is rarely discussed or depicted openly. Traditional religious mores tend to disapprove of homosexuality and cross-dressing.
Women in Trinidad and Tobago are women who were born in, who live in, or are from Trinidad and Tobago. Depending from which island the women came, they may also be called Trinidadian women or Tobagonian women respectively. Women in Trinidad and Tobago excel in various industries and occupations, including micro-enterprise owners, "lawyers, judges, politicians, civil servants, journalists, and calypsonians." Women still dominate the fields of "domestic service, sales, and some light manufacturing."
Circumcision in Africa, and the rites of initiation in Africa, as well as "the frequent resemblance between details of ceremonial procedure in areas thousands of kilometres apart, indicate that the circumcision ritual has an old tradition behind it and in its present form is the result of a long process of development."
Theresa Kachindamoto is the paramount chief, or Inkosi, of the Dedza District in the central region of Malawi. She has informal authority over more than 900,000 people. She is known for her forceful action in dissolving child marriages and insisting on education for both girls and boys.
Bacha Nagma is one of the major folk dance forms found in the Kashmir valley. It is also referred to as Bacha Gyavaun in certain parts of Kashmir. Afghans of Kabul are credited with the parentage of this dance. It is a derivative of the Hafiza Nagma. During the Bacha Nagma, a teenaged boy dressed as a girl dancer, who is trained in the Hafiza style of dancing sings Kashmiri Ballad and dances. This dance is popular in the villages, mainly at the harvest time. It is also popular for being performed in social gatherings and parties by young boys who disguise themselves as women in long skirts. Bacha Nagma is common in Kashmir during wedding celebrations and when the wedding processions are taken out on boats on the Jhelum river. This dance form is much appreciated and has the ability to engage large audiences. It is accompanied by instruments like rabab, sarangi, and drums. It involves quick spinning movements just like in the Hafiza dance form and some may even resemble those of kathak. The song-dance proceeding is known as Bach Nagma Jashan - Kid Dancer's Celebration. The dancer is known as The Bacha - the Kid - usually a thin and graceful boy/man who dances, sometimes comically, is always attired like a woman in a multi-colored frock-like dress.
Disengagement from education refers to a situation where a person does not feel included, does not participate in school activities, are not enrolled, or have poor school attendance. Disengagement from school is linked to individual attitudes or values and can be influenced by peers, family members, the community, the media, and surrounding cultural aspects in general, including the school itself. In the case of girls, specific circumstances contribute to them dropping out of school, such as teenage pregnancy, classroom practices, poverty, illness or death in the family, early marriage, sexual harassment, and peer pressure.
A sexual rite of passage is a ceremonial event that marks the passage of a young person to sexual maturity and adulthood, or a widow from the married state to widowhood, and involves some form of sexual activity.
