At the beginning of the Quinceanera event, the birthday girl entered wearing a white dress preceded by four boys in matching tuxedos. She performed a symbolic dance with a baby doll, representing her transition to adulthood. The event celebrated Hispanic cultural traditions and the community support for the girl. The author observed close family bonds and learned about the significance of this coming-of-age ceremony within the culture.

1. By: Lauren Frogge
This was not the original invitation

2.  I observed a Quinceanera of a 15 year old
young girl. Her family is from Mexico and they
practice Catholicism.
 The event was held on 3/3/2012 at a
Community building in Hickory NC.
 The young girl is a family member of one of
my best friends. There were several different
parts to the Quinceanera then afterwards
everyone danced and stayed for a while. All
together I was there for about 3-4 hours.

3.  A Quinceanera in many ways can be compared to a traditional sweet sixteen. I
could tell that there was a lot of time planning and preparing for this event. Most
of the attendees were wearing formal attire. There were several people, in
particular, that stood out from the rest. The young girl in the white dress and her
court that consisted of 4 boys that were wearing matching tuxedos.
 Most of the guests were Spanish speaking and I could tell that they had very
close knit relationships. I noticed this from their interactions and communication
with one another. They seemed to be grouped by families.
 The night consisted of several dances performed by the birthday girl and her
court of honor. After the songs, the host and her parents thanked everyone for
coming and sharing this special evening with their family. Then the daughter
(birthday girl)gave a speech thanking her parents for providing such a wonderful
party and she began dancing with her parents,.
 During my observation, I also noticed that this family was a family of orientation
but the male figure was a step father. This would mean that they have a
blended family. During the speech that the young girl made she made
referenced that she wished her dad had been there and her mother insisted how
proud he would be.
 Many Hispanics tend to practice Homogamy. “the selection of a mate with
personal and social characteristics similar to one’s own.”

4. Families- two or more people who
are related by blood, marriage, or
adoption or who are part of a
relationship in which there is a
commitment, mutual aid and
support, and often a shared
residence
Nuclear Family- parents and their
children who live apart from other
family.
Extended Family- Two or more
closely related families who share a
household and are economically
and emotionally bound to others in
the group.-As described in our book
on pg. 358

5.  The conflict perspectives would state that people
compete to date someone and to find a mate
earlier in life. The older a women gets lessons her
chance of finding a mate. It would state also that
people should marry or date within their own social
class. Conflict theories would say this would keep
from competition among class systems. They
would also reference the order or the disorder of
each “family” structure. A Quinceanera would and
has become more competitive throughout the
years.
 This Quinceanera was similar to an American
wedding.(pg 363)

6.  Functionalists would state that the roles of dating are well
defined. The men can not date the young girl until her 15th
birthday, indicating she is suitable for courting. The males
should ask the female out once the female has reached 15
and then they should be looking for suitable mates for possible
marriage. Females take the role of the nurturer and do most of
the interior house work. The males do a lot of the exterior
housework and work a fulltime job to provide for his family.
The functionalists would also state that adaptation would take
place if the role of “dating” was not accomplished. (pg. 362-
363)
 This Quinceanera would relate to the functionalist perspective
because the female and male roles were very specific in the
dances.

7.  Functionalist perspective of family-
• Is the foundation of the social order for filling vital
functions.
 “Defining and limiting who has sexual access to whom”
 “Reproducing new members, integrating them into the social
system, and replacing dying members.”
 “Providing care and support to the young, infirm, and elderly
people.”
 “Socializing new members”
 “Providing ascribed statuses such as: social class, race and
ethnicity(that help to determine their place in society.)”
 “Providing emotional support, and sense of fulfillment, and
belonging. (pg. 362)”

8.  The Symbolic Interactionalists would state “that
peoples views of marriage and family may change over
the life course as they shift from dating to being
newlyweds, to raising a family, to adjusting to middle
and old age”(“pg. 364). In today’s society many young
people are not searching for the “soul mate” more they
are looking for companionship and this is most times
temporary. Everyone’s priorities of relationships and
their goals differ but in recent years the marriage rates
have went down in the younger groups. Many young
people are waiting to marry until later in life after they
have established employment and independence.

9.  At the beginning of the event everyone were seated
around tables and talking, waiting for the star of the
show to arrive. After a few minutes a young girl
dressed as if she were marrying in a large white gown
came down the center of the stage she was preceded
by four gentlemen dressed in tuxedos. The obvious
birthday girl began playing with a baby doll and then
started to dance very slow and there was a small girl
(around 3-4)seated in the middle of the stage. The
teenage girl handed her baby to the little girl and the
little girl ran away with it. This baby doll symbolizes
that the fifteen year old is no longer a young girl but
now an adult.

10.  I enjoyed the experience very much. I had a good time. I enjoyed the
food, music, dancing, and the social interaction with a Spanish
culture.
 I learned a few things from this experience such as, the important
relationship that this particular family had with one another. The
mother and father were extremely close to their daughter and their
reaction to this Quinceanera was similar reaction that most American
parents react at weddings.
 I also learned how important it is to the Spanish community when
someone turns fifteen. This is representing a coming of age
ceremony and allowing a women to now date.
 The most important thing I learned from this experience was that
every family is different not just because of the language they speak
or the culture they practice but because not every family is
represented the same across the board.

11.  The part I enjoyed most about the project were the
pre-choreographed dance performances between
the “New Woman” and her court of honor. The
dances were very adult like and represented a true
lady and a woman. She was no longer a child.
 The project worked well because I tried to pick
something that I would enjoy and that interested
me.
 A good surprise was the food. They had an entire
traditional Mexican buffet. That consisted of meat,
tacos, beans, rice, onions, cilantro and very very
hot salsa..

12.  I connected what I learned from the
Qiunceanera to the Chapter 13 Families
because the reason for having a Quincenera
is to let the community and others know that
she is dating of age. In Chapter 13 “families”,
dating is part of each families life course. In
the life course you have Dating, Courtship or
cohabitation(living together unmarried),
Singlehood, and Marriage. Dating begins this
life course and this event was significant to
this family to continue to grow.

13.  Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. "13.
Families." Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology.
Seventh ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2011. 356-85. Print
 CliffsNotes.com. Three Major Perspectives in Sociology.
30 Mar 2012
<http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/topicArticleId-
26957,articleId-26837.html>.