Reflection #3

This week we are asked to describe a rite of passage that we have witnessed or taken part in. Naturally I choose to write about one rite of passage that we spoke briefly about during Friday’s class. This passage is the marriage. Until Friday’s class I had never really thought much about the idea of marriage. It’s always been to me two people solidify their relationship when they are in love. But now I realize that it is actually just what we talked about with the Mbuti tribe. Just like some of the rites of passages that exist in the Mbuti tribes, marriage is definitely follows the three stages of seperation, transition, and reincorporation. I will analyze these three concepts by using my own experience and knowledge of a traditional wedding. First, we have the idea of seperation. In a marriage, it is tradition for the father of the bride to walk his daughter down the aisle and physically give her away to the groom. Not only is this a physical separation, but also it is a symbolic separation. This act is to symbolize the idea that the woman is being given to the man and that now her husband is the most important man in her life. She is now his responsibility and family. Second is the transition state. This is the stage during which the bride has left her one state but has not yet re-entered society. I would compare this state to the honeymoon time. During the honeymoon, the wife is legally married to her husband but not yet back to everyday life as