COMM 4001  week 1 Intercultural Communication Essay

The Intersections of Life: Coming of Age.
Cilla Black said, “The nicest thing about coming of age is that I can do whatever I like.” In most cultures, when a person “comes of age” s/he is then considered an adult. The responsibilities of the person that comes of age are entirely dependent on the culture in which s/he lives, and how people come of age can vary drastically from culture to culture.
When I was growing up, my mom always told me that I would “become a woman” when I began menstruation. When I made the (at the time) horrifying discovery that I was a “woman” at the age of 12, I certainly did not feel like any more of an adult than I had the week before. In fact, my familial position did not change, nor did my responsibilities. The only thing that changed was that I felt trapped by this monthly cycle.

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Unfortunately, my family culture was not very open about anything that involved sex or bodily functions, and my mom decided the best way to introduce me to “adulthood” was to have me listen to a series of cassette tapes by Dr. Dobson. I remember my absolute mortification as I was listening to the tapes while trapped in a car with my mom on a 3-hour drive, and his droning voice and odd pronunciation of the word “mature.” I did not feel happy at all about becoming a “woman.” Instead, I was embarrassed, dreaded each month, and felt as though I had no one that I could speak to openly. Now that I am a woman and an adult, I no longer feel ashamed or dread every month, but I sometimes reflect on how that transition could have been more comfortable and informative if my family culture encouraged openness and celebration of the changes that nearly everyone experiences.
As I listened to Jenny from Kenya talk about her tribe’s past coming of age rituals, I decided that I would rather listen to Dr. Dobson. There were large feasts and celebrations, and the circumcision for both girls and boys was the transitional moment from childhood to adulthood. Now female circumcision has been banned from her tribe, is now called female genital mutilation, and is no longer practiced. Boys are still circumcised, but it is no longer a public event and is generally performed in a hospital within days of birth. Although Jenny lives in the United States, when her son was born, she had him circumcised in the hospital after his birth. She did so because the stigma and beliefs surrounding male circumcision that her culture holds is still rooted within her, and she worried that if her son was not circumcised and members of her tribe/culture found out, he would be undesirable to women and considered a child by men regardless of his age. (Laureate Education, 2013)
“[C]hanges in a culture’s institutions or traditions cause its members to alter their behaviors in some important ways. These alterations…foster additional adjustments to institutions or traditions in a continual process of adaptation and accommodation.” (Lustig & Koester, 2013) In Jenny’s tribe’s case, altering their coming of age traditions, they have eradicated female genital mutilation from their tribe, as have many other groups/cultures. In the past, male and female circumcision was considered the cultural norm for Jenny’s tribe, but over time that has been altered. In addition to missionaries coming in to educate the tribe, especially women, the advancement of technology and the media may have sparked the change in Jenny’s tribe’s cultural norm to discontinue circumcision in the way they were. (Laureate Education, 2013) Authors of a blog/website who are passionate about ending female genital mutilation altogether wrote “[t]he power of the media in shaping perceptions and influencing public opinion is well-known. The media have transcended time and age, going through various tools and forms, and stayed true to its influencing power.” (Olagoke-Adaramoye & Moses, 2017)
Coming of age traditions vary from person to person and culture to culture. No matter one’s culture, however, everyone became an “adult” at some point, and growing up is part of the human experience for nearly every single person in the world. If “culture is in the minds of people and in the shared ideas that can be understood by their effects on behavior,” then understanding how someone grew up and the traditions within his/her culture will help members of a different culture gain insight and understanding. (Lustig & Koester, 2013) When we have a better understanding of someone’s upbringing and culture, we can better communicate with them either by relating to shared experiences or embracing the opportunity to ask questions respectfully to gain more insight and produce productive conversation.
References
Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013a). Cultural case studies: Coming of age stories. [Audio File]. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/COMM/4001/01/mm/cultural_case_studies/index.html.
Lustig, M. W., & Koester, J. (2013). Intercultural competence: Interpersonal communication across cultures (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Olagoke-Adaramoye, D., & Moses, Ola. (2017, October 1). Impact of youth and social media on ending female genital mutilation. Retrieved from http://endcuttinggirls.org/2017/10/01/impact-of-youth-and-social-media-on-ending-female-genital-mutilation-ola-moses-and-dare-adaramoye/.

COMM 4001  week 1 Intercultural Communication Essay