ABSTRACT
The LDS Church trains its male members from their early youth to accept the doctrines and rituals of priesthood as part of their maturation. Since almost every boy is ordained at age 12, priesthood ordination serves as a male rite of passage that confers status in the church community, defines personal identity, and facilitates spirituality and worthiness that reinforce male bonding and organizational loyalty on a foundational level. Being a priesthood bearer is a normal and essential part of being a male member of the LDS Church. Though the expressions of ideal Mormon masculinity are highly performative, it is a mistake to reduce them to a set of ritualized behaviors. The importance of belief and spirituality for the Mormon ideal of manhood can be appreciated only within the context of the complex history and doctrines of priesthood restoration. Both the doctrines and the practices surrounding priesthood provide the underlying framework that gives ordained Mormon men identity, purpose, and meaning, setting patterns for how they should relate to others within the LDS church community.
