Title: North America Initiation Rituals: Sweet Sixteen Planning

General Information about Item:

• Initiation Rituals
• Culture: American
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: United States
• Informant: Vanessa Pinney
• Place Collected: Colllis Center
• Date Collected: 11-2-18

Informant Data:

• Vanessa Pinney, age 19, is a female Dartmouth student in the class of 2021. She was born and raised in New York, New York. Her ethnic background is primarily English. She went to a small private high school in the city. At Dartmouth, Vanessa is a U.G.A., is a member of Sexperts, and a member of the Taekwondo team. She is planning to major in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Environmental Sciences.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: Many consider America to be the “melting pot” of a diverse range of cultures. The blending of cultures is reflected in many traditions in America, including sweet sixteen. Sweet sixteen’s borrow various traditions from othercoming of age ceremonies. The two main celebrations that it borrows from are the Jewish Bat Mitzvah and the Latinx Quinceañera. ​
• Social Context: Sweet sixteen are typically thrown by middle class toupper class families. The frequency of girls that have a sweet sixteen varies from region to region, but in generally since the celebration is quite a financial burden regions that are economically well off tend to have a higher frequency. Sweet sixteen’s are celebrated by girls in America, regardless of ethnicity.

Item:

• The Sweet Sixteen is often regarded as a transition point between childhood and adolescence. As a result, many girls for the first time are allowed to take on the responsibility of planning out their Sweet Sixteen. This is often the first time a girl will have to think of planning and financial aspects of a birthday party. The taking on of responsibility is an important first step in becoming incorporated as a women. When analyzed this tradition falls under the separation stage of the three stages of initiation.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

 

Transcript:

• “My family doesn’t really have an established tradition of sweet sixteen’s… My mom thought before I went away it might be fun if I had a small Sweet Sixteen party with some of my friends. She told me that she did not have to much time to plan it, so I had to do a lot of the work myself…It was fairly last minute but it was fun because I got to plan it out myself. And up until that point I didn’t have to many birthday parties. Whenever I had them it would be something my parents planned and so I guess it was unofficially some sort of experience in responsibility in how to plan an event like this. And I had to figure out the finances and the tickets to the show and what restaurant. Actually, (I) made the reservation myself and it was a cool experience…”

Informant’s Comments:

• She really enjoyed the new experience of taking on the responsibility of planning her Sweet Sixteen. She was still able to enjoy her Sweet Sixteen, even though her family did not have a long tradition of having Sweet Sixteen’s.

Collector’s Comments:

• I had a very similar Sweet Sixteen experience as my informant. I am the first in my family to have a Sweet Sixteen. Also, I planned by myself my Sweet Sixteen dinner as well. It is interesting to see the parallels to my experience despite the fact that our cultural and regional backgrounds are very different.

Analysis:                

• All initiation rituals consist of three main stages: separation, transition, and incorporation. For the North American Sweet Sixteen and Quinceañera, the separation stage consists of the girl getting prepared and planning for the ceremony. This includes, for many girls, their first time wearing tall high heels, getting the makeup professionally done, and wearing elaborate gowns. The transition stage is marked by the various ceremonial traditions. The ceremonial traditions include the opening of gifts, the dance between the father and daughter, reading of speeches, and blowing out candles. The incorporation stage of the Sweet Sixteen and Quinceañera is the party after all the ceremonial traditions are completed. The girl celebrates becoming a women with her friends, family, and community.

Comparison:

• Comparison within the subgroup: The aspect of taking an more active role in the birthday is a comparable piece of folklore with the subgroup in general. In both the Sweet Sixteen and Quinceañera, the takes on more responsibility in the ceremony. For example, for a Sweet Sixteen many girls for the first time help plan out and think of the financial aspects of a party. For the Quinceañera many girls are required to make speeches and learn dances.
• Comparison to the rest of subgroups: Many of the culturally based initiation folklore include tasks and physical activities as an aspect of the initiation rite. A comparable initiation rite to the North AmericanQuinceañera and Sweet Sixteenfrom another subgroup was the Jewish Bat Both the Quinceañera and Bat Mitzvah are rooted in religious beliefs and customs. Since, both these religious based initiation rites are common in America, customs from both are commonly borrowed in Sweet Sixteen celebrations. For example, all three force the girl to take an active role in planning and executing the ceremony. In the context of the rest of the our group, this piece of folklore is another example of a tradition that is a transition point in a person’s life.

Collector’s Name: Darien Jones,Dartmouth College, Russian 13, Professor Valentina Apresyan, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Fall 2018

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary folklore
• Initiation
• Sweet Sixteen
• Planning
• Responsibility