The last few days I have read a couple few different articles/blogs about what defines a man, or delineates certain men from others. So, it brought up an issue that I have pondered for some time, especially since my days in the Master of Criminal Justice Admin program at Ferris State.
Why was this an issue that captured my attention, especially in a cop school? Well, before I delve any further into this I am going to give an actual citation (I would have provided more, than just the one, but most of those books that I possess are still in storage, and the majority of journal articles aren't free - I'm not a true journalist, and I'm not planning on publishing this, so, I wasn't going to fork over money to obtain a whole raft of stats and learned folk quotations).
Once released from prison, exoffenders—
the majority of whom
were convicted of nonviolent offenses—
face new challenges.
They are “largely uneducated,
unskilled, and usually without
solid family supports—and now
they have the added stigma of a
prison record and the distrust
and fear that it inevitably
elicits.” Moreover, many
newly released ex-offenders return
to urban core areas where
they are likely to be exposed to
drug sales, drug use, and other
criminal activities. In many of
these communities, doing time
has become a rite of passage that
has made imprisonment seem
like a commonplace life activity,
particularly among young men
(emphasis mine)
Originally published as: Cynthia Golembeski, BA, BS, and Robert Fullilove, EdD. Criminal (In)Justice in the
City and Its Associated Health Consequences. Am J Public Health. 2005;95:1701–1706. doi:10.2105/
AJPH.2005.063768. http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/reprint/98/Supplement_1/S185
Sorry if my citation doesn't conform to APA or other standards, but again, I'm not writing this for publication or a scholarly grade.
Anyhow, back to the subject at hand. Once upon a time in the history of man, most cultures had a rite of passage from the days of carefree youth into adulthood, most especially for th emales, but many had them for their female offspring as well. Since I'm not a woman, I won't say that these don't hold interest for me, or that I am unconcerned bythem, but that I can't relate, so I defer to another to speak upon that area. So, after another digression, I was saying that there were rituals and ceremonies, there were tests of skills, strength, leadership and mentality, there were feasts and celebrations and honors. This made the boys disengage (for the most part) from the play and the lack of concern for the family & community and turn to looking at things with some seriousness and an interest of responsibility in how the smallest to the largest part of the community, the culture, the whole framework of society worked and supported back down to the individual again.
Western culture has for the most part moved the age where one is considered a man to later and later years, without any increase in the actual duties and responibilities that come with the title of Man (in this case Man being an adult male responsible for his own welfare and that of his family as that culture dictates). Further, the skills and abilities that once were required of ALL men who had the capability to participate have waned - there is no longer a need to be s skilled hunter/tracker/warrior, or in learning the lore and techniques that were used to sustain the community in food, wisdom, hisotry and maintenance of peace and community welfare.
Sure there are some milestones - graduation from secondary education, obtaining a job, the finding and obtaining a significant other for a long-term committed relationship and the production of children. But...while these have some significance, they are all obtained well into a point where at least in biologic terms the boy is NOT really a boy anymore. Yes there is some pomp and ceremony to these events (well maybe not getting a job, but graduations and wedding are usually accompanined by fetes of some sort). And while graduation is shared with peers, unless it is an all boys school it is a co-ed affair and only acknowledges mental acuity and ability, which are obviously good things to have, but are not limited to just being a Man.
There are some subcultures in which a boy or in which a newly minted "man" can join to learn manly skills and obtain a sort of rite of passage - a club such as the Boy Scouts, a sporting team, some religious institutions or ceremonies, or sadly, a gang; or the military or college (and continuing in a sport or other pursuit that is challenging). But alas, in the world in which we live where technology is such a large part, it seems that college has become an extension of the secondary education, and it is not until graduation from such an institution and being pushed out into the world that one has achieved the real point in which a boy is now ready to be a man.
If you noticed I mentioned gangs. And in the citation from above, there is jail/prison. As I said, this is a sad state of affairs, when whole subcultutres no longer find it to be a negative, but a positive step into becoming and being acknowledged as a Man by having to be able to recite their criminal record and terms of incarceration as indicators of not being a boy any longer, but being a respected figure to be used as a role model for the next "class" of graduates, the next generation.
What is the answer? I don't know if I have one. And so, I guess I am as much a part of the problem, since I am able to see it and state it, but not offer a solution. Alas, I will state with a certainty that if we don't find a way to bind young men together to a cohort of their peers (ie a group graduating from an academy/boot camp/basic training), but that also instills in them an idea of the responsibilities that they have towards their family (ancestors and progeny), their neighborhood, their community, their culture, their society, their NATION, then we will continue to fracture farther and farther by not having a commonality in definition of who is and what is a Man - that is responsible for himself and for the larger part, who is then due privileges and accolades for working to fulfill those responsibilities.
I can only hope that I have become a Man worthy of bearing that title. That I have learned my rights and responibilites and my duties within my society and have worked to live up to the things that are due me as being a Man. And to the honor of having a free will, a reasoning mind, and a passion for and compassion towards my fellow beings, Man, Woman or Child, or the creatures that live upon this planet as well as the planet itself.
Alrighty then. Comments, gripes, derisive laughter? Thoughts, ideas, raving rantings?
