Quinceaneras and the Heterosexual Imaginary The “dream come true” narrative that surrounds quinceaneras is extremely similar to the way weddings and marriage are framed. In Ingraham’s White Weddings, she discusses how weddings are framed as the most important moment in a woman’s life, and how common it is for young girls to dream of their wedding days from the moment they can walk and talk. A large part of Ingraham’s work relies on the relationship between weddings and the heterosexual imaginary. As she writes, the heterosexual imaginary relies on “romantic and sacred notions of heterosexuality in order to create and maintain the illusion of wellbeing” (Ingraham pp. 26). Though Ingraham was writing about weddings and not quinceaneras, the …show more content…
During Spanish and French colonialism in Mexico during the nineteenth century, the quinceanera tradition became influenced by the Spanish tradition of presenting marriageable daughters during a formal social ceremony. At fifteen, Mexican girls entered womanhood and thus became eligible to participate in traditionally feminine activities such as wearing make up, dating, and marriage. In many ways, quinceaneras are reminiscent of a wedding ceremony. A typical quinceanera features a formal father daughter dance, a court of honor, a fancy dress, and a dance with a select boy— practices which can all be found either in identical or similar fashion during weddings …show more content…
Oftentimes, quinceaneras are the subject of reality TV shows such as MTV’s Quiero Mis Quinces or TLC’s Sweet 15: Quinceañera. Shows like these generally follow the most hectic parts of the planning process and thrive on the over dramatization of the situation. Quiero Mis Quinces (first aired in 2009) is described as providing the viewer with a “behind-the-scenes peak at the lavish affairs” as well as “the accompanying squabbles with jealous siblings, stressed out parents and school rivals.” The TLC show Sweet 15: Quinceañera is a more recent show, having first aired in 2016, however it still emphasizes a similar narrative. Reality TV often portrays the teenage girls on its shows as crazier than the average person, essentially as a tactic to turn people into entertainment rather than complex individuals. This narrative is problematic especially when it relies on the stereotype of the crazy woman of color, or the racist narrative that Latina woman are “fiery” or
Quinceanera is one of the most meaningful and beautiful occasions in Mexican culture. It embarks the celebration of girl’s fifteen birthday that is anticipated with much happiness and enjoyment. It is a celebration of womanhood means she is fully ready to take on her responsibilities and is of marriageable age. The ceremony is celebrated with zest and zeal by the parents.
Envision stepping into the venue, seeing your guests smile and conversate peacefully, the atmosphere of the room glowing, and sensing the enthusiasm grow in your chest as you know you planned a successful Quinceanera. The day a girl of the Hispanic culture turns 15, is the day her fantasies become a reality; and she becomes a woman. Quinceaneras bear plenty of decision making, particular details, and ingenious ideas; but with these simple steps it can be spectacular.
The Hispanic culture values children’s turning of age just like the American culture does. In American culture, teenagers can buy cigarettes and lottery tickets at age eighteen. At age sixteen, most American teens (depending on the state) can get a permit and begin to learn to drive. In Hispanic culture, fifteen is the chosen age; they value the girl’s fifteenth birthday because that is the age that they believe the young girl changes and becomes an adult, a woman. When the girl celebrates her fifteenth birthday, they celebrate by having a big turning-of-age ceremony and reception which they call a Quinceñera. The Quinceñera is a big event, almost like a wedding for the young girl.
Every culture has some form of a celebration to recognize the coming of age of a child when they are seen as a young adult to society. In Latin American countries, they call this celebration a Quinceañera and it takes place when a young girl turns fifteen. In the United States, they celebrate a Sweet 16, once the young girl turns sixteen. Both the Quinceañera and the Sweet 16 have some similarities, but they have different traditions. In Sweet 16 parties, traditions vary because of the many celebrations for girls with different ethnic backgrounds. Traditional themes that are found in Quinceañeras include a church service, the shoe ceremony, and the last doll which symbolizes her childhood being left behind. Tradition isn’t a huge concept in
Marked as a celebration of the transition from childhood to womanhood, quinceaneras have been a long-standing tradition among Latin American families. Though “quinceanera” literally means “fifteen year old girl,” the term has become more closely associated with the celebration itself, oftentimes by non-latinx people. Among Latin American families and culture, the celebration is often referred to as “fiesta de quince años” (fifteen year party) or simply a “quinces.” To avoid any confusion, I use “quinceanera” to refer to the celebration, rather than the individual, for the remainder of this paper. Historically, fifteen was seen as the age when Latina girls were ready for marriage, and the quinceanera celebrated that transition. While modern quinceaneras have drifted away from this initial intent, and now reflect more of a celebratory coming of age narrative, the marriage and wedding-related symbolism is still apparent.
Although the Quinceanera is a formal rites of passage that is supposed to signify maturity and purity, in this article it is portrayed as just a fancy coming of age party that does not shape one 's identity. “It is rare that a ritual alters the way a society is organized” (Alvarez 50). At the Quinceañera Expo, Alvarez noticed little girls walking around in lustrous dresses and tiaras in their hair (Alvarez, pg. 50). The ritual is similar to the American Sweet 16 than a coming
In many hispanic cultures, it is customary to have a big celebration for a young girls fifteenth birthday. This tradition is known as a Quinceanera, Quince, or Fiesta Rosa. This tradition celebrates a young girls coming of age. Moreover, this celebration “[embraces] religious customs, and the virtues of family and social responsibility” (Quinceanera-Boutique). In addition to celebrating the quinceanera, the big event allows family to come together and just enjoy themselves.
I am nine years old, playing outside on a bright summer day with my cousins, Kassandra and Claudia. We are playing our favorite game, hide and seek. It is six o’clock in the afternoon. My father is in the backyard cooking meat on the grill, while my mother and grandmother are in the kitchen making rice and beans. The food smells excellent. After we all finish eating dinner, my cousins’ parents come to pick them up. The rest of my family stays up and watches scary movies.
Most people, especially girls shop for an outstanding birthday outfit to wear. No other wardrobe can relate to what you wear for your quinceañera. It is the only birthday where a Mexican girl could actually feel like a princess. She wears a beautiful crown covered in rhinestones that essentials her up do with a gorgeous scepter that contributes to the tiara. Her dress is what makes her the starlight of the night. It is big and puffy as a “Cinderella dress” embracing her figure. There is not another birthday that it is usual for a girl to wear what a quinceanera wears, and that is what makes the night distinctive from any another birthday.
It can range from a fairytale princess, Cinderella, fairies and butterflies to precious moments in her life. And the third step is having a waltz. In most countries they have traditional customs were the quinceanera dances the first dance with her father. While dancing they play favorite quinceanera songs which are De Niña a Mujer (From Child to Woman) and La Ultima Muñeca (The Last Doll). It’s a special moment in time when the father and daughter are dancing. And the last step in having accessories for quinceanera includes dresses, tiaras, guest book, photo albums, champagne glasses, dolls, bibles, decorations and planning. In most countries in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central, and South America it’s a traditional and custom that their godparents and their parents pay for everything for her quinceanera on her fifteenth birthday. After cousin Christian finished explaining to me, she continued walking down the hall to begin to celebrate her fifteenth birthday. I told myself to never forget the first quinceanera I attended, and what she told me.
In Spanish-speaking communities in the United States, girls do still have a Quinceanera, but it has to be altered in the way that it is done. There are many people that do not speak Spanish in the U.S., so there’s has to be a way to coordinate these people into the celebration, since mostly even have the English Language in common. Invitations for Quinceanera are made both in Spanish and In English. The invitations that are in English might read “Sweet 15” instead of a Quinceanera. Traditions that are done during the ceremony might not be done, they might be done before the ceremony. A young girl may chose to have a “Sweet 16” instead of the traditional Quinceanera. A “Sweet 16” is the coming of age party in the United
Dark under the sun Are you afraid of the dark? I assume that everyone is, right? Darkness always represents evil. In many cases today, darkness relates to death, ghosts, slaughter, and sin. Light, in contrast, is often a symbol of hope, justice, life, and saints.
Their family got together every opportunity they could. They had many traditional things they did as a family such as a gathering of family every year for her grandmother’s death, but as a celebration. Every year on Christmas Eve her family would also draw together to exchange gifts at different relative’s houses. The interviewee stated this became a tradition for her family because the married people in the family had to attend festivities at their spouses’ relatives. English and Spanish are both spoken in the Hispanics households. The majority of the older members of the family only speak Spanish. My interviewee stated that she did not know how to speak Spanish, but her mother did and fluently. She stated that her mother has always told her that she needed to know Spanish because that was her heritage, but she never felt it very necessary. The Hispanic culture celebrates the coming of age which is called a 15 or Quinceaneras. The Quinceanernas is usually a big production for the girls. The girls have escorts and dress in a formal type ballroom dress and have many of her friends and relatives there for the celebration. My interviewee stated that she did not have a Quinceaneras because she did not really get into it. She also stated that she got pregnant and did not want her parents to spend all that money for the celebration. The boys on the other hand do not go all out with this type of celebration, but instead celebrate at their
In 1945, Sam Walton opened his first variety store and in 1962, he opened his first Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Now, Wal-Mart is expected to exceed “$200 billion a year in sales by 2002 (with current figures of) more than 100 million shoppers a week…(and as of 1999) it became the first (private-sector) company in the world to have more than one million employees.” Why? One reason is that Wal-Mart has continued “to lead the way in adopting cutting-edge technology to track how people shop, and to buy and deliver goods more efficiently and cheaply than any other rival.” Many examples exist throughout Wal-Mart’s history including its use of networks, satellite communication, UPC/barcode adoption and more. Much of the technology
In the story “Marrying Absurd,” Joan Didion scrutinizes the Las Vegas wedding industry critically with the analysis of how ludicrous Las Vegas wedding industry has become. In her articulations, Didion portrays to the readers how cheap the wedding industry is making a mockery of the sanctification of the marriage. Didion applies various effective techniques and details to pass her impression of Las Vegas giving her opinions on its values within the marriage environment. The essay explains the Didion Joan account on the Marrying Absurd.