TEXT:

Informant- “I would say that one of the coming of age rituals that I have experienced with in my family is quinceañeras. So pretty much it’s once you turn 15, you get a coming of age party where you pretty much use a big old puffy dress and all your family and friends will be there to celebrate you finally being a woman. But I remember in my experience, I didn’t really have quinceañera, unfortunately, due to COVID, everything was closed down since the shutdown had just been two weeks beforehand. I just remember getting my quincea ring, because in my family, we always get rinks once you become 15, it’s just tradition and getting a big old ice cream cake. But my mom’s experience was very different from mine. Since she did have a quincea, it wasn’t extravagant, though. She had a nice, simple silk dress. It wasn’t the big old puffy dresses, and she had all her family there. But my aunt, though, on the other hand, she had a big old extravagant dress, it was pink and black, and she had a whole dance recital on a photo shoot and so on, which was really cool.”

CONTEXT:

This coming of age ritual is very common among Hispanic households across the globe. This tradition comes in the form of a large party thrown for the birthday girl on her 15th birthday in celebration of her new womanhood.

ANALYSIS:

From what the informant shared, I can see how no matter what kind of celebration is given to the birthday girl, though they are traditionally supposed to be very extravagant, the most important thing in my informant’s opinion is to share it with those who you are closest and to be able to symbolize the transition into womanhood with this rite of passage. A unique aspect of the informant experience that I hadn’t heard of prior to her explanation was the symbolic rings that the women in their family are given. I think this is a great signifier of womanhood as jewelry is traditionally used an heirloom that is passed down from generation to generation, and by having this physical reminder of the transition into the next step of life, you are reminded of your new status.