Lisa,

-We found it interesting how the age of adolescence is increasing because of the earlier onset of puberty, and the higher marrying age. This gives people more time before having to settle down with a family.

-Melanesian people initiate other people to become mothers and fathers, instead of men and women. (helps eliminate sexism). It seems very "new age."

-We think that the rituals performed here are not as genuine because we learn them through the media and what we think is the way to do them, but in reality, we should be learning them from our family and elders. We think the majority of the western rituals are not as genuine, because we are not as connected to our elders.

-Turner says, "all genuine ritual is transformative." We think this is very true, because it is a way of knowing if something is actually a ritual and not something else. If you come away from a ritual feeling transformed, then it was a real/genuine ritual, not just a celebration.

-The "Improved" Order of Red Men-- Improved??? Sounds like they think their way of doing the Aboriginal's ritual is better. This reminds us of how we tend to steal from other cultures as well. We steal so that we can make what we think is a better way of doing things.