Part I: 

Rituals are a big part of the American lifestyle. I really believe the “ American Dream” can be classified as a ritual. You grow up, go to school, meet the love of your life, have a career, kids, and grow old together. For so many Americans, this is a ritual we all tend to follow.  While we may all follow the ritual of the “ American dream” differently, we all move towards the similar steps and use the same basic structure. While the standard American Dream may be one big ritual, we have many smaller rituals that are each step of the american dream. One major aspect of the American Dream is falling in love. When you fall in love, you experience the stage of separation by going from single and looking, to single but connected to someone. Hence, moving from one group to another group. For many, this also resembles going from being seen as a child to more mature/ an adult. Many parents stereotypically say “Our kids are growing up.” when they may be in their first relationship. The transition period is the relationship part of your first love. While this may be months for some, or many years for others. In the incorporation stage, you may introduce your new partner to the world as your boyfriend/girlfriend. 

Part II: 

One ritual and rite of passage I have experience was getting my first period. I remember going to a band field trip to the orchestra. We had went to downtown Detroit and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. During lunch, I had a gut feeling so my best friend and I went to the bathroom. Sure enough, I had started my period. I was mortified and so afraid to ask a chaperone for any female products. However, my best friend was extremely helpful and had asked a female teacher for me. My teacher publicly asked all the female chaperones if they had anything. I was so embarrassed that now every adult knew I had started my period. Unfortunately, no one had anything and I had to deal with it for another three hours before we got to the school. When my mom came to pick me up, I ran into her arms and cried and we went home. Looking back, I wish I wasn’t so mortified about the situation as it seriously happens to every woman. But, I really do wish that my teacher would’ve been more sensitive about it. While society could really work on not making menstruation so taboo, we still need to respect people’s comfort zones. 

Part III: 

The idea of belonging-liminality-belonging can definitely be applied to my college experience. I lived in my parents house for 18 years before I began at MSU. When I began at MSU, it was really different to make my own rules for myself. When I came back home, it was hard talking to my friends from high school as most of them didn’t go to college and didn’t understand where I was coming from. 

Some implicit and explicit messages I have received about how a college woman should behave based on their gender is how we dress to go out. One memory I’ll never forget is a male friend asking me if I really wanted to wear my outfit out to a party. We are expected to dress provocatively while men never have a dress code. Other messages are having separate floors for men and women in dorms. One specifically I relate to is in sororities there are things you need to do to become a member. There are messages presented to us to behave a certain way, to learn certain things, etc just to be apart of the sorority/ greek life culture. In the greek community, men are expected to sleep with women and party with no repercussions half of the time. But, for women, we are expected to keep ourselves together, be studious, and set a good example for our chapters. While I’m not saying women should have that same standard as men, women in greek life are looked down on twice as much if they exert the same behaviors as men.