Premium
the evolutionary significance of adolescent initiation ceremonies
Author(s) -
SCHLEGEL ALICE,
BARRY HERBERT
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1980.7.4.02a00060
Subject(s) - ceremony , subsistence agriculture , solidarity , sociology , social change , gender studies , psychology , history , political science , biology , ecology , politics , law , archaeology , agriculture
Adolescent initiation ceremonies are examined with regard to features of subsistence economy and social organization. Various characteristics of the ceremonies are coded separately for boys and girls in a worldwide sample of preindustrial societies. A ceremony is more often present for girls than for boys, especially in societies at a low level of technological development, indicating an evolutionary trend for presence of ceremony and for sex of initiate. Sex differentiation is emphasized in various attributes of the ceremonies, [adolescence, gender, initiation ceremonies, sex roles, sexual solidarity]