• Premiered: Sep 2002
  • Episodes: 117
  • Followers: 26
  • Ended
  • National Geographic
  • Unknown
  • Documentary

Seasons:

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Season 4
4x1
Initiation Rituals
Episode overview
Air date
Aug 05, 2007
Different cultures' initiation rituals. Included: a Brazilian tribe's bullet-ant glove; an urban Australian subculture's practice of suspension from fishhooks.
4x2
Skin Deep
Episode overview
Air date
Aug 05, 2007
Spotlighting the Latmul tribe of Papua New Guinea and a coming-of-age ritual that requires teenage boys to have their skin repeatedly cut so that it resembles crocodile skin. Also: Maori tattoos.
4x3
Sexual Identity
Episode overview
Air date
Aug 08, 2007
Profiling people who push gender boundaries. Included: transsexuals in San Francisco; Thai katoey or “ladyboys”; Samoan fa'afafine.
4x4
Signs of Identity
Episode overview
Air date
Aug 15, 2007
Profiling young women of Ethiopia's Hamar tribe who voluntarily submit to brutal beatings to show loyalty to male relatives as they participate in a coming-of-age ceremony. Also: the Japanese horimono; branding.
4x5
Proving Ground
Episode overview
Air date
Aug 22, 2007
How do men prove their manhood? Often, by enduring pain. In an American Fight Club, successful, educated males engage in physical combat to test their manhood. Hundreds of men taking .. show full overview
4x6
Body Modification
Episode overview
Air date
Aug 29, 2007
Why would people choose to radically reshape their bodies? Some women wear heavy brass rings that push down on their collarbones, giving the appearance of elongated necks, a sign of .. show full overview
4x7
Nudity
Episode overview
Air date
Sep 05, 2007
For some, shedding clothes is an act of expression, of liberation, even a means of worship. Wiccan witches perform rituals in the nude, or “skyclad,” to express their truest form and .. show full overview
4x8
Trials of Faith
Episode overview
Air date
Oct 03, 2007
Exploring how far some people will go to test their faith. Included: Christians who subject themselves to suffering similar to that of Jesus Christ in the Philippines; Thai believers who .. show full overview
4x9
Pets
Episode overview
Air date
Oct 10, 2007
Examining when extreme pet devotion crosses the line into an obsessive fixation.
4x10
Gross Food
Episode overview
Air date
Oct 31, 2007
A look at food customs that are practiced in some cultures but rejected in others. Included: the lethal fugu in Japan; a six-course insect meal in rural Vietnam; tarantulas and bear claws at a dining club in Manhattan; deadly serpents in Hanoi.
4x11
Extreme Performers
Episode overview
Air date
Nov 11, 2007
Profiling performers who engage in extreme entertainment. Included: bullfighters in Mexico; members of a North American sideshow; a transsexual beauty pageant in Thailand.
4x12
Jobs
Episode overview
Air date
Nov 14, 2007
Spotlighting less-than-desirable professions. Included: a man cleans up violent death scenes; a forensic anthropologist works with rotting corpses; an Indonesian miner extracts sulfur from an active volcano.
4x13
Mating
Episode overview
Air date
Nov 21, 2007
A look at ancient and modern rituals humans use to demonstrate love and devotion.
4x14
Marked for Life
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 02, 2008
An exploration of ritualistic body markings, such as branding and scarification, and the sociological effects of these practices.
4x15 Season finale
Quest for Acceptance
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 26, 2008
An examination by experts on human ritual practices of extreme initiation rituals, including handling snakes and voodoo ceremonies.

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