Quinceañeras

Celebrations to honor or commemorate a child’s passage into adulthood have been around since ancient societies. They are used to show the importance of social responsibilities and the new journey in life that the child is about to embark on. A quinceañera is a rite of passage celebration of a young girl’s life into adulthood on her 15th birthday, it is a special occasion that is heavily influenced by a family’s culture, ethnic origins, and religious belief and widely practiced throughout the Hispanic subcultures. Quinceañeras can be traced back to ancient Native American tribes such as the Inca, Maya, Toltec and Aztec; where an initiation ceremony was done to mark the beginning of a young girl’s journey into her adult life. Once the females

in these tribes had reached a certain age they were taught by an elder woman on the importance of household duties like cooking and weaving. After the young girl had learned the skills she needed for life she was then to be married which would make her an “expert” in her new position in society. In the Aztec society the marriage was celebrated by an older woman carrying the bride on her back as other older women lit the way to the groom’s house with torches. The most conventional form of a quinceañera known in the U.S. became popular in the 1930’s, it is now a celebration of Latin American, and Puerto Rican females into adulthood instead of just Mexican American females. Although the traditional quince still holds similar beliefs and values from past traditions; the extent and elaboration of the ritual has changed over the years depending on how much the Mexican-American family acculturates and assimilates into the American culture.
The quinceañera celebration begins in a church with a misa de acción de gracias or a mass to give thanks. The festejada or honoree (girl being celebrated) enters with her court of honor which consists of 7 damas or maids of honor and 7 chambalens or escorts; she is then seated at the front of the altar where a priest thanks God for a completed childhood and asks that the festejada keeps God in her life as she enters into adulthood. During the mass the young lady is given a bible and rosary set as a reminder for her to keep God’s presence in her life. After thanks has been given to God the festejada’s godparents or another family member presents her with a tiara and scepter, the tiara represents her as a princess before God and the world while the scepter is a symbol of her having authority over her own life. After the church ceremony there is a reception much like that of a wedding, where the festejada is presented with gifts from her family members. One of the gifts include a new pair of heels which is placed on her by her father, the heels are a representation of the festejada now being allowed to wear women attire. The festejada is also presented with a doll which usually resemble her; the doll is used during la baila con última muñeca (dance with the last doll) this is to show the festejada leaving her childhood things behind. During the reception there are several other dances including a coordinated dance with the festejada and her court of honor and a father daughter dance which is commonly seen in a traditional wedding. Once all the dances are performed and the meal is served there is a brindis or a toast for family members and close friends to share memories of the festejadas’ youth or wish her well as she enters adulthood. In the native societies the main people who celebrated in this rite of passage ceremony were family members but in contemporary times both family and friends can participate in the quince celebration to show their love and support for the festejada.
Ethnic families in America: Patterns and variation, describes the importance of familism, and religion in the Mexican-American family group.

It states that ceremonies relating to life cycle rituals are still a fundamental part of the Mexican American culture. It also explains that these traditional rituals highlight the extended family and link important values of the Mexican American culture, like religion (Wright et al.2012), . The components of a traditional quinceañera demonstrate both of these family values as well as social responsibility. The major religion of the Hispanic-American family group is Catholicism; this is manifested in the quinceañera celebration by the misa de acción de gracias where a priest gives thanks to God for the honoree’s completed childhood and in the bible and rosary that she is presented with. The Hispanic-American family group also places a lot of value on the family institution; the quince celebration involves a lot of family participation. Family members help plan the celebration and in traditional times if a particular family member was wealthy they would graciously pay the way for the festejada to travel to Europe and experience the Spanish culture. As stated before the rite of passage of a young female into a young adult began in Indigenous tribes where a female entering into adulthood meant her entering into new societal roles. The quince celebration emphasizes the new social responsibility that the young adult will now be expected to

fulfill such as (in more modern days) taking care of a younger sibling, preparing meals for their family and helping their mother out with household chores. Although some of the contexts in which these values are demonstrated have change, the quince celebration still holds the basic principles by which these values were forged on.
A quinceañera highlights the important values and beliefs held in the Hispanic-American family group.

It shows how important religion, family and social responsibilities are to the Latin-American family. This celebration also demonstrates how respect is dealt within a family, once the young girl becomes of age she is given more respect and authority by the elder members of her family. This ritual tells how involved the Hispanic family is with their religion and immediate and extended family members. There are many other family groups who value religion and family in their culture as well, they also have celebrations that are similar to the quinceañera. One example of these celebrations can be found in the Jewish-American families, on the thirteenth birthday of a Jewish male or female they celebrate a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Like the quince this celebration serves as a rite of passage into adulthood for young Jewish boys and girls. Another coming of age celebration, though not religious based, can be found in the North American culture. This is the sweet-sixteen, it is a celebration or a coming of age party usually for an American teenage girl on her 16th birthday, this celebration does not encompass the religious or cultural aspects of a quinceañera but does however, symbolize the importance of a young female becoming an adult. There are also many coming of age celebrations in Native societies that are centered around the time of a young girl’s menstrual cycle. These

celebrations are the Apache Sunrise Ceremony, celebrated in the Native-American Apache tribe and Kinaalda, celebrated in the Navajo tribe; both of these celebrations although not religious pay thanks to a spiritual being for the start of a young girls transition into womanhood.
Family rituals are celebrations, traditions, and interactions among members of a culture or of subcultures; they create ties between generations and help define expected roles and values of ones’ culture. A celebration, like the quinceañera, is a holiday or special occasion that are heavily influenced by a family’s cultural, religious and ethnic origins. Celebrations as a way to remember the dead in life or for a child coming of age are ways for an individual to feel significant or as part of a group. The quinceañera with its use of symbolic gifts representing religion and its long time celebration linking back to the Aztec period in 500 B.C. encompasses all the aspects of a traditional family celebration.