Passages of Life

The Human Sexes • Season 1 • Episode 4

About this episode

Does society treat men and women differently? You may not like the unsettling answers you'll find in Passages Of Life. Compare the way different cultures deal with boys and girls as they grow up. Some believe male circumcision began as an ancient Egyptian snake worship ritual to ensure immortality. In the Middle East, puberty brings a girl her first veil; in Yemen, a boy his first grown-up dagger. Watch young women turned into ladies at an etiquette school in England, and young men turned into killers by the US Marine Corps. Witness a marriage celebration in a small Greek village - where a dowry still makes a difference. Passages Of Life might make you feel better about growing up... or worse.