Why are people infatuated with the idea that there is some sort of?
There is a substantial difference between an infant who cant walk or talk and an adult who not only understands the concept of utilities credit but acknowledges that paying the bill is their responsibility. Its more of an evolution than a bright line but the maturation is hard to deny, even if most of us get there by our mid teens. As for why some people are obsessed with grown up status, it can be ambiguous these days. In much of the US, its complicated by an overlay of several factors: the construction of childhood as a low-status, dependent stage; the lack of clear rituals demarcating adulthood from childhood; the trend towards casual dress and speech among adults in public spaces; the commercialization of the late-childhood/young adult market and fragmentation of media consumption; general status anxiety among adults across many social dimensions; decreasing social mobility and economic uncertainty. Each of those could be a book but concern about whether one is an adult and what that means seems widespread among those looking for an indication that they have crossed into adulthood. Understandably so.