Posted on 05/06/2018 11:48:05 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
For Hispanic girls in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the United States and elsewhere, the 15th birthday marks the most lavish celebration of their lives. Designating a girl’s transition from childhood to adulthood, the quinceañera is a two-part festivity that traces back to both indigenous and European cultural traditions and has become an increasingly opulent affair in recent years. Parents may even spend more on their daughters' "Sweet 15" quinceañeras than their weddings, in fact, which is why some refer them as mini bodas, or miniature weddings. Not counting the birthday presents a young girl might receive, a low-end quinceañera in the United States can easily cost about $3,000 [source: Colloff].
One look at a quince girl (a nickname for the quinceañera honoree) on her special day, and the high price tag makes sense. First off, there's the outfit: Often made of satin with lace overlays and rhinestone accents, quinceañera dresses, the visible centerpieces of these celebrations, mirror what Cinderella might’ve worn to her fairytale ball. The floor-length gowns are traditionally white or pale pink, but the revived quinceañera culture accepts dresses in a rainbow of hues. Perched on the quince girl’s head is a delicate tiara or crown, the symbolism of which we’ll discuss later in the article, and in her hands -- at least at the beginning of the ceremony -- she might hold a Bible or book of prayer.
Although its emphasis is more on the party than the prayer, the quinceañera starts at the local Catholic church. Before any birthday cake is cut, the quince girl attends a special Mass in which she reaffirms her dedication to God and receives a blessing from the priest....
(Excerpt) Read more at people.howstuffworks.com ...
i just call em Mexican bat mitzvahs.
It’s a good sized industry here in Texas.
My band has played for many of the religious services, but we don’t do parties.
I imagine so in Texas.
We are being colonized.
Better faithful Christians than Muslims, no?
It’s the celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday and when her second child graduates kindergarten.
Spanish-speaking Americans were in the South and Southwest before English-speaking ones were.
Oh, behave!
Why is that? The chance of violence?
Well, Islam marries off the girls at any age, “Hispanic” celebrates this essentially when they bleed with this ceremony.
I wish the "how stuff works" webpages would go away. They are typically shallow and do on include details. So tired of these popping up! I routinely avoid these.
My thoughts Exactly...
When I learned a large percentage of
Patriots at the ALAMO were Spanish,
my attitude changed.
“How Stuff Works” is now basically a clickbait site. I avoid it as well.
You got it! Low info, clickbait, click-through, etc. I rate those sites on par with email spammers.
No, we just don’t have the kind of amplifiers and the instruments it would take. We’re an acoustic band. Families in our church usually get a DJ for their parties. At the higher end of the socioeconomic spectrum, they would get a live dance orchestra.
White people used to do sweet 16s and coming out parties. We stopped, they didn’t. Get over it.
Or a known Quinceañera group, I imagine. We used to shop at the Hispanic Mall in Fort Worth back when we could drive, and much of the advertising there concerned Quinceañeras. There are halls for rent here in D/FW that pretty much only do that.
Real life is always more interesting than two-second slurs toward others.
I have a church friend who is from New Mexico. They consider themselves pure Spanish, and he certainly looks as European as my other friend from Puerto Rico.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.