<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s society, we have to be careful about how we view and portray cultural practices as due to our own ignorance and conditioning as inhabitants of the West, which are heavy influenced by Eurocentric theories, we are prone to condemn things that are unfamiliar to us or might deem them to be \u201cbarbaric.\u201d As we have seen with the practice of female genital circumcision<\/a>, there continues to be discord between what many of us might consider inhumane practices and what might be viewed as by some as \u201csacred cultural practices.\u201d The difficulty comes in when we as individuals have to assess and judge for ourselves what practices should be protected and respected for their cultural significance and which practices should be deemed inhumane regardless of their cultural importance.<\/p>\n

Such is the case of the practice of masculinisation as it is conducted by the Sambia Tribe in Papua New Guinea. This ritual, which is a symbol of a young boy\u2019s rite of passage to manhood, starts when a boy is between the ages of 6 to 10 and comprises of 6 stages. Imperative to the processes and teaching of the initial ceremony is the notion that women can be dangerous to men.\u00a0 To become a man, and in essence a \u201cwarrior,\u201d these young men are taught how to detach themselves from their mothers and the women around them as a means of showing that they can live without them and prove their masculinity.<\/p>\n