Fourth is the rite of commitment rituals, similar to marriage rituals in the life of many heterosexuals. Mohler suggests that homosexuals should participate in the rituals of engagement, commitment ceremonies, a honeymoon, and anniversary celebration. She believes that the "commitment rites of passage are awesome rewards for the necessary identity sculpting, self-discovery, communication efforts, and compromise" (76). Mohler provides a set of self-examination questions to accompany each rite and ritual that will help the homosexual to lead a more rewarding life through structured introspection during many different life transitions.
The rites of passage of other cultures often strike Americans as frightening, cruel, or just plain odd. Certainly they are different than anything most residents of the United States have ever experienced or even been exposed to. However, these rites are of utmost importance to members of other cultures and can be fascinating for Americans to learn about as well.
The Okiek peoples of the Narok District of Kenya, Africa hold a series of ceremonies in which Okiek children officially become young adults in the community. The initiation ceremonies of boys and girls differ in parts of the process, and the events particular to a girl's initiation will be detailed below. Before discussing the specific events on the journey from childhood to adulthood, one should be given a basic understanding of gender roles in Okiek culture. Women are generally seen as "intrinsically weak-willed and uncontrolled" (4). They are also said to be "like children" (83), which downplays their strengths and bravery shown throughout the initiation. In Okiek culture, women are thought to lack restraint and be unable to listen to reason, follow advice, or organize anything. Families are patrilocal, and in marriage, the only semblance of control women possess is their rite to complain about their husbands to others in an attempt to make the dispute between them public, which will bring embarrassment to their husbands.