> > FWIW, I've always worked on the theory that
> female adult
> > initiation *causes* menstruation ...
> (a) One wonders how other cultures celebrate the
> female
> initiation rites, in this case. (i.e. what do
> Lunars do?)
Something weird and chaotic, no doubt. Don't ask, just kill them :)
> (b) In this case, men and women could very well be
> welcomed to
> the tribe at a similar age; rather than keying
> the ritual off
> a physical event, the tribe decides when a
> not-adult girl is
> "ready" to be come a woman...
Sounds like a better idea all round.
> Of course, this then raises an obvious question: why
> are the
> women's rites held every year, while the men's rites
> less frequently...
IMG this is not the case: we'd been through initiation rites long before any such idea was published.
But trying to retrofit a reason that should have been explained along with the new facts: maybe the male rites require a large group to work together (the plan is to bond them into a clan warband?) whereas the important part of the female rites are solo? Which would make sense if the new woman can expect to have to go to a new clan, alone, as part of her future?
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