Others wonder whether the new parties are really female adventures or merely imitations of male rituals.

Primarily a male undergraduate ritual, the game is a favorite among dormitory residents at this Jesuit-run university.

A male ritual in which you have to prove your manliness.

Recently, he said he was generally nervous about male rituals.

It was the kind of male ritual grounded in more nurturing than men are usually comfortable with showing.

Katharine deliberately stayed away, sensing that this final meeting would be some sort of male ritual.

She was glad not to be asked to join in this male ritual.

The final point is not hard to miss: painting in particular, and traditional modernism in general, may be the most exclusive male ritual of all.

"It's a class thing, I supposeþit was a kind of male upper-class ritual."

"If not for this I'd probably be listening to Bly and going through some male ritual somewhere," he said.