Q: Do you celebrate the sixteenth birthday in a special way? Tell me about sweet 16.
Well, “sweet 16” unfortunately has its roots in a pretty misogynistic tradition left over from Victorian times. At that time, 16 was considered old enough to marry, so wealthy families would host a debutante ball to introduce their daughter to suitors, so they could find her a husband quickly. It’s pretty gross when we think about it from today’s viewpoint!
Since this was a tradition carried out by the wealthy, of course families with less money wanted to copy it in some way. The tradition evolved into GROUP “coming out” parties (especially in the southern part of the US), where every girl who turned 16 that year would wear a fancy dress and attend a debutante ball on one night of the year.
It’s quite an old fashioned tradition, and people have become less and less attached to it as time passes (and more aware that 16-year-olds shouldn’t get married!!), but some watered down versions of the tradition replaced the ball, such as having a huge birthday party.
These days, though we see special cards and decorations that say “sweet 16”, the celebration isn’t much different than it would be any other year. In some families, they still consider a girl of 16 to have become a young woman, so she may receive more “adult” gifts for this birthday. Common gifts are things like a piece of heirloom jewelry, or an expensive piece of new jewelry (In the past, a girl might receive items for her “hope chest” on her 16th birthday).
When I turned 16, my aunt sent me a huge bouquet of roses and a special cake to celebrate. A friend of mine received small diamond earrings from her parents. Another friend received a silver locket that had belonged to her grandmother. Some wealthy families may still throw a big party for their daughter, but it’s just not so common these days.
(和訳)
えっと、残念なことにスィートシックスティーンはビクトリア時時代に端を発する女性蔑視的な慣習なの。当時は、16歳は結婚できる年齢だと考えられていて、お金持ちの家は自分の娘を求婚者たちに紹介する娘の社交界デビューパーティを催したの。旦那さんが早く見つかるようにね。今の考え方からするとかなりひどいことよね！
これはお金持ちの慣習だったので、そうでない家もなんとかして真似をしたがったの。この慣習が“coming out”パーティー（特に米国南部）に進化したの。そこでは16歳になった女の子がその年のある夜に豪華なドレスをきて社交界デビューパーティに参加したのね。
時代遅れな慣習で、そのことへの関心が薄れてきたわ（16歳で結婚はすべきでないという人が増えた！）でも、大きな誕生日会を開いたりして、デビューパーティーの代わりにもう少し軽いものはあるわね。
最近では、スウィートシックスティーンと書かれた特別なカードや装飾を見るけど、他の年のお祝いと変わらないわ。家によっては、16歳は女性への仲間入りと考えて、誕生日プレゼントにに大人に合う贈り物を受け取るかもしれない。先祖から受け継いだ宝石や、高価な新しい宝石が一般定な贈り物よ。（かつては16歳の誕生日の「嫁入り道具箱」に入れる品物が送られたりしたかもしれない）
私が16歳になったとき、叔母はお祝いに大きなバラのブーケと特別なケーキを送ってくれた。友人は、親から小さなダイヤモンドのイヤリングをもらったり、別の友人は彼女のおばあちゃんが持っていた銀の写真入りペンダントヘッドをもらっていたわ。裕福な家庭は娘のために大きなパーティーを開くところもあるかもしれないわね。でも最近であまりないわね。
