You see this sort of thing spiraling way out of control in other groups as well. I grew up in northern New Jersey in the 1980s and I can remember at least a dozen blow-out Sweet Sixteen parties that must've cost a bundle. Sure, it's madness, but it isn't just confined to Latinos, no?

I wish the author had spent more time asking and reporting on what the quince girls themselves have to say about this. Just curious.

What is the relevance? Is salon.com running for the Democratic nomination now?

Was the purpose of this article to transmit information and alert Salon readers to a potential problem in America, or to promote Julia Alvarez's book? Because I'm leaning more towards the latter.

I don't know what was more disappointing, that this "article" was only an advertisement, or that Ms. Alvarez is incapable of presenting facts because either she's trying to show how clever she is in showing how a 15 year old thinks. Or how her background means that she can't do her job and ask people how much their party cost. Or worse, she's trying to pique interest without giving anything away so that someone will buy her book.

Please, Salon, next time just instead of paying Ms. Alvarez, just have her buy a ad space.

I've only been to one quinceanera, and it was an extravaganza to remember. The girl's large family lived in a tiny part of a house that had been divided up for mulitple tennants. The father does residential landscape work and the mother does house cleaning. I frequently hear that the father is in need of more clients. We're on a sort of unwritten "don't ask, don't tell" policy as far as their immigration status, but I would be shocked if they were documented.

Yet despite all this, the quinceanera was breathtaking, even to those of us (maybe 30%-40% of the guests) who were wealthy enough that we were, or could have been, employers of the girl's parents (I knew the girl from being her volunteer mentor). I spent a lot of the time wondering why I wasn't more appalled by the impropriety of the expense of it all. But it was just so beautiful, heartwarming, fascinating and just plain fun, it was impossible to think about such things.

One thing that intrigued me was that the program for the event was mostly comprised of acknowledgements to the event's sponsors. Everything from the cake to the Mariachi to the jewel-encrusted manicure had a sponsor, mostly members of the girl's extended family, but also some of family friends in attendance. I wonder if Ms. Alvarez has noticed this to be a widespread trend or not.

I energentically encourage any gringos to snatch up the chance to attend one if the opportunity presents itself. Truly memorable.

"What is the relevance?" "Is salon running for Democratic nomination?" I think these comments are appallingly condescending. Even if Hispanics were a infintessimally small fraction of the US population, it would still be interesting to hear about their culture and rites of passage. With them being such a large, and growing, fraction, it is inexcusable to show that kind of contempt for issues relating to that culture. Probably many readers of Salon are Hispanic. What a slap in the face to them. I guess it shouldn't be surprising to see this, since women are over half the population, yet every article relating to women gets a few "who cares about this!" comments. I guess I'm just naive enough to still be disappointed by it.

"21.9 percent of the Hispanic population was living below the poverty line in 2004 according to a U.S. census survey" ... thought it was about sacrificing financial security for cultural traditions, as well as the exploitation of Hispanics by creeps like Will Cain. I'm from Texas, too (don't run into a lot of affluent Dominicans in my neighboorhood, however) and the best quinceañera expenditure I ever saw was a young lady's choice to have a car, rather than a party.

Retroculturation. Right.

So? 15-year-old Latinas get an over-the-top celebration of their "coming-of-age" passage through life? So do many Latino boys with a "quinceanero" party. This is news? I've bought many gifts for good friend's Latino/Latina kids turning 16.

Jewish kids get a Bar Mitzvah/Bat Mitzvah that is...aside from the religious aspects...usually a huge blow-out of incredible proportions. Been to a bunch of those; bought nice gifts for those Jewish 13-year-olds, too.

Someone else above mentioned "Sweet Sixteen" parties for the Caucasian masses of girls...and, some boys. Again, been there; done that with gifts for those preppy puppies, as well.

The BEST gift that a good parent can give is not a sense of entitlement to his/her child, it IS a sense of responsibility. The best PARENTS inculcate their children with values of service to humanity, to the earth and to their posterity.

THOSE gifts are priceless...yet are the most valuable of all.

Ah yes, "rites of passage."

Takes me back to Cultural Anthropology 101. We perform these rites because they lend importance and meaning to our otherwise brief stay here on planet Earth and create a status in those at the center of the rite. They're as old as our species. They're as important for the guests as for the child, adolescent or adult at the center of the rite.

In short, they're a celebration of life.

Out of this context they all look silly.

I'm from Canada and I have never heard of this celebration before. I thought it was really cool! Not all Salon readers are American!

I love this word, and I'm really feeling it right now. I'm about to move to New Mexico, where I'm going to be just another Anglo, but I grew up in Ohio where I was the most Hispanic person 99% of my acquaintances knew. But when my dad's family moved north, it was all about assimilation. So I remember my grandmother as 'Lu', not Guadalupe, as a woman who knit and crocheted and was a member of the garden club and went to a Protestant church even though when she died there were cards with saints on them in her purse.

There were always some things. Food, mostly. Flour tortillas, tamales by the dozens in her freezer. But other than that, they were totally Midwest. No Spanish spoken at home, or anywhere else for that matter.

And now I'm learning Spanish, making my own tortillas, and so on.

Because it's going back to something I feel like I lost. I want to reestablish in my life a connection to the things that my grandmother had to give up in hers. It is, however, possible to do that without breaking the bank, but people tend to latch onto the lavish elements of the culture they want to imitate, not the ones which are terrific and frugal.

I get a lot more joy for my time and money expenditure from a tortilla. And I can have them anytime I want. I'm not opposed to a party at around this age for anybody, but if a person wants to reconnect, there are better ways to do it than spending a year's income on a single evening.