Sign Of The Times: Research on emerging adulthood.

Is there a specific moment that defines becoming a woman or becoming a man?

When I was dating my now ex-boyfriend; I posed to him the question of what, if any, was a significant moment that marked the time he felt he had entered adulthood. Furthermore, what could be an across the board “manhood moment” if different from his own, personal answer? His response? Silence. Contemplation. Then more silence.

I suggested that for women, we all share the experience of beginning adulthood with the start of our first menstrual cycle. I have since posed the question to several of my girlfriends to see if anything more sticks out to them as the moment they felt they had entered the stages of womanhood.

In this study, I talked to 5 men and 5 women about what they believed an “across-the-board” moment was for entering adulthood. Each interviewee was asked to answer…