Maturity refers to the majority age, whereby in most cultures, it is adulthood. Precisely, it is that stage of life when an individual is in full use of their faculties- fully developed physically and mentally. In many cultures, this era is the most significant of all life phases. An individual experiences life in a new perspective given their different and advanced scope of things. Additionally, responsibilities for mature people increase and are different from those encountered during earlier stages of life. At this point, people get married and build families. Moreover, they care more about their appearances before others since an individual’s judgment about maturity is independent. Unlike in childhood, maturity implies that one represents themselves and attracts opinion personally. Commonly, different cultures hold transition ceremonies from young to adulthood. The traditions have different cultural importance dependent on the culture in question.
AFRICAN CULTURE
Africa is home to the most vibrant cultural heritage in the world. Just like in many parts of the globe, different African cultures value transitions in life. One's life from childhood to adulthood undergoes stages that accompany celebrations and feasting. Every developmental stage varies, depending on differences among communities. Another critical point to note is that adulthood differs among Africans. For instance, some recognize it immediately after puberty while others would wait for several years. Therefore, maturity depends on the society and its traditions. However, the significance of this stage is a common denominator of African cultures, from Accra to Cape Town (Osgood et al. 225). Thus, Africans have rites of passage, which symbolize a new era in one's life. For instance, an adolescent would undergo initiation into adulthood. However, the approaches of induction will differ according to the community.
Initiation into adulthood
As indicated above, transition into adulthood involves some ceremony/ initiation. An African adolescent at puberty is ripe for adulthood. Maturity is the second-most crucial African life stage. Thus, it has to mean something to those taking part. The rites therein are intended to ensure one recognizes and appreciates the weight and responsibilities with which maturity comes. Similarly, they help in shaping the young adults into productive and all-around adults who can live up to their potential in the society- this process is easy and efficient. Unlike the Western cultures, devoid of an elaborate transitioning process, Africans are admirable. A young adult receives guidance and training on life skills during puberty before initiation into adulthood. As a consequence, adults learn essential lessons about life such as their beliefs, values, and ethics that matter in most African societies. Young men and women who undergo initiation into adulthood live in seclusion from their orthodox communities and learn the taboos and secrets of their culture, what the society expects of them and more importantly, their calling in the society.
Nigerian young girls undergo the fattening process where they receive pampering and get to wear copper coils around their legs in preparation for adulthood (Hipple n.p). Similarly, in Senegal, boys live in a sacred forest where they are reborn symbolically. In most cases, there is the real initiation either through circumcision or tattooing or even teeth removal, and testing and seclusion, for training purposes (Hipple n.p). Upon successful passage through these rites, one becomes an adult, or in other words, a mature member of the society. Maturity, therefore, ascribe to these people new status, roles, and responsibilities. In the initiation rites, there is pain that symbolizes the difficult and painful phase one’s life enters in adulthood. A male adult has the responsibility to marry and start a family, a clear implication that initiation is primarily to prepare one for marriage. Also, the initiates are responsible for the community’s well-being through its protection by being its defenders as warriors. On the other hand, initiated young women have to marry (Oesterle et al. 1440). They are taught how to be good women, mothers, and wives by special ladies of high caliber in the society. Maturity for women comes with social responsibilities such as domestic duties of bearing children and taking care of the household. The other roles women did would depend on the community. People who ran away from these rites would be shunned and denied the luxuries of maturity (Oesterle et al. 1456).
INDIAN CULTURE
The Indian culture holds maturity with high regard. However, just like the traditional African practices, in India, one must enter adulthood. Thus, the concept of rites of passage is inherent. While the society seems to shift into the modern and Western culture of attaching no importance to the transitioning process, there are still practices of initiation into adulthood. In South India, the puberty tradition is practiced annually (Alesina and Giuliano 898). The ritual symbolizes sexual maturity. Thus, successful candidates have the discretion of marrying. On the first day of menstruation, a young woman undergoes a unique bath in a separate room where she stays in seclusion for about fifteen days until her menstruation, and the rituals that accompany it are complete. During the seclusion period, men cannot enter the girl's room. Additionally, she gets to eat healthy nutritious meals of vegetables during the entire period. The diet is meant to enhance the girl's chances of getting pregnant when she gets married. Similarly, it strengthens her during childbirth and stabilizes her pelvic bones. The seclusion period ushers in the sixteenth day of celebrations (Alesina and Giuliano 901). The family and relatives celebrate her transition into adulthood and more rituals done by a priest occur. At this point, the girl is officially ripe for marriage, commonly linked to maturity. Back in the day, the ceremony acted as an advertising medium about the availability of the girl for marriage.
Maturity meant a lot in the Indian perspective. Since the most critical thing was marriage culturally, young married couples have a ton of responsibilities. They are inclusive of childbearing and rearing, development and maintenance of social relations and other important community development matters. Also, they have to protect and enhance prosperity of the family wealth and prestige. A young married man remains with his family while the wife joins him to start a family. A wife must always honor her husband just like the gods. She is symbolic in that she holds the bridegroom’s family hope for future luck and prosperity. Although she is mature, a married woman depends on her biological family for support at distressing moments. Stress and challenges are issues adults have to endure, but luckily, families play an essential role in their solutions (Alesina and Giuliano n.p). Even in her marriage and maturity, a woman always has her family's support; hence, the ties do not end forever.
Through bearing children, a woman establishes her permanency in the family of marriage, whereby she gets social approval, economic security, and emotional satisfaction. A married couple has to respect parents and other senior members of the community. The younger generation is responsible for the welfare of the elderly. Both men and women must do some chores around the home and community at large. They work for socioeconomic development, wealth, good residences, among other things. However, this depends on a family's status. People from affluent families work lesser than those from low-status. Thus, adults (mature people) must attend to their religious obligations, do charitable deeds of generosity, build social relations and conform to cultural requirements.
JAPANESE CULTURE
Just like the two cultures in the discussion, Japan is not left behind in its shift from childhood to adulthood. Annually, young people aged twenty years commemorate the Seijin no Hi, also known as the Coming of Age Day (Furstenberg n.p). At this age, it is argued that Japanese youth are mature and responsible young adults. Thus, they have the freedom to make their choices. On this momentous day, the dressing style is ceremonial and intentional. Young women wear an elaborate kimono or furisode, a long-sleeved kimono for unmarried women. On the other hand, young women dress up in Western-style attire or the traditional kimono with hakama. During these celebrations, families go with their new adults to shrines to offer thanks and pray for a prosperous future. However, the ceremony's attendance is on the decline for some reasons, among them, the cost of formal wear required, which implies that fewer youths want to participate.
Upon transitioning into adulthood, many Japanese youths become independent members of the society. For instance, they can make decisions on what they want to do with their lives. However, just like any other society, there are expectations. Young men and women get married and start families. The continuity of familial line is vital to most Japanese. Their cultural heritage stresses the importance of family (Furstenberg n.p). Thus, although it is not a compulsory responsibility, there is the expectation of marriage. Traditionally, parents arranged marriage, whereby before the wedding, a go-between conducts routine background checks and negotiates on behalf of the groom's family. Women bear children about a year after marriage- a fundamental undertaking for women in their twenties and thirties. Also, they perform domestic and social duties around the homestead. Men have the responsibility of providing for their families. Thus, maturity in men means a presence of their abilities to raise a family, take part in political activities, build and enhance the growth of family name and more importantly, generate enough income to sustain the household.
Etiquette is another crucial expectation of adulthood. Ceremonies such as the tea ritual among other activities require high levels of protocol. Maturity involves the ability to use polite language appropriately, behave in a particular manner and in bowing before others. Thus, people understand their place in the social hierarchy, depending on the individual status. Furthermore, transition into maturity implies that both genders understand their situation in the society. Traditionally, men dominate over women and thus, at maturity stage, they establish their authority in virtually every aspect of life. They control the entire family and represent the family in public affairs. For women, they cannot even enter sumō wrestling rings. Additionally, all mature people have a duty to their religion. Hence, going to the shrine to par and offer thanks to the gods is an expectation of adulthood. Japanese religions of Shinto and, Buddhism, originally from China are dominant (Oesterle, Hawkins, and Hill n.p).
Conclusively, the issue of maturity is quite significant from the above discussion. While different societies approach it differently, the characteristic point is in their similar opinion of roles and responsibilities of mature people. Both men and women have roles and responsibilities to live up to adulthood. Gender inequality emanates from the traditional cultures all over the globe. For instance, most religions were patriarchal, whereby women had to submit to men in adulthood. Transition into adulthood and subsequently into a husband or wife means that there are some things one must do. Not because they wish to, but because, culturally, it is the right thing to do. Another bright point from the three cultures is that maturity does not just occur. For a productive society, there should be something to commemorate and teach the adolescents on the responsibilities ahead. The initiation ceremonies in Africa and India play significant roles in preparing young people for life ahead. However, unlike most other cultures, the West lacks an elaborate childhood to adulthood transition exercise. Finally, maturity stage is culturally crucial for many societies.
Works Cited
Alesina, Alberto, and Paola Giuliano. "Culture and Institutions." Journal of Economic Literature, 53.4 (2015): 898-944. Print.
Furstenberg, Jr Frank F. "Transitions to Adulthood: What We Can Learn from the West." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 646 (2013): 28-41. Print.
Hipple, Annika S. Coming-of-Age Rituals in Africa: Tradition " Change. n.d. Web. 6 March 2018. .
Oesterle, Sabrina, et al. "Men's and Women's Pathways to Adulthood and Their Adolescent Precursors." Journal of Marriage and Family, 72.5 (2010): 1436-1453. Print.
Osgood, D Wayne, E Michael Foster and Mark E Courtney. "Vulnerable Populations and the Transition to Adulthood." The Future of Children, 20.1 (2010): 209-229. Print.
