Okay, I have one from my old Catholic girls’ school. They have a ring ceremony where every junior girl receives a ring from a senior girl and they have to get it twisted around their finger 100 times plus the year they graduated times (so 2012 would be 112 times) by all different people or else they’ll die an old maid.
Is there any reason in particular that this is done? Do you think it ties into some kind of religious convictions?
No, it’s a silly girly superstition.
I have like two more questions about the ring tradition.
Sure.
So it was unofficial then? How do you think it started, did you participate in it, and what did you think of it?
Yes — it was totally unofficial, but everyone, including the religious staff participated in it. I guess it was harmless, since it promoted marriage, a Catholic/Christian imperative. I participated in it when I was younger, turning other girls’ rings, but I left the school before I could receive a ring myself.
I started out thinking it was funny and cool, but as I got older I saw it as a symbol of an extremely antiquated way of thinking, characteristic of the school.
I don’t know how to count. Also, my informant speaks with a little hypocrisy, at first claiming no religious ties and then that it does. It should be noted that the informant is an outspoken atheist, which is why she also has disdain for the ceremony. She sees the ceremony as a bit of indoctrination, an agenda hidden behind a “silly, girly superstition.” This isn’t too hard to see. Her story corroborates with an increasing distance from religion typical of this and future generations.