# Sweet 16

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-16/109312>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 16, 2002, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-16/109312 "2002-05-16T01:27:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-16/109312/1 "2002-05-16T01:27:44Z")

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The **Fem-Bot** , aged 10, asked me today why girls have Sweet 16 parties.

Anyone know why this happens? Where it was started? I’ve got 6 years to plan one…

Cartooniverse

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**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-16/109312/2 "2002-05-16T15:07:55Z")

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I didn’t have one, nor did my kid, so I guess I’m not much help. I’d always thought it was a coming-of-age sorta thing - no longer a little girl, not quite but almost an adult. My quest for enlightenment about this topic hasn’t provided anything tho…

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**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-16/109312/3 "2002-05-16T15:26:05Z")

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[Here’s a little something I found](http://www.party411.com/sweet16-guide.html) but it really doesn’t address the origins of this practice. I saw one reference to the coming-of-age idea.

Sheesh, isn’t it enough to be able to drive at 16?? \<deep, exhausted sigh of the mother of a 16 y/o\>

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-16/109312/4 "2002-05-16T15:39:14Z")

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Basically, its a U.S. version of the puberty ceremony common in many societies (though 16 is pretty late for such things). In Latin American cultures, it’s a girl’s fifteenth birthday that is celebrated, the _quincena_.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-16/109312/5 "2002-05-16T15:48:43Z")

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Isn’t it related to the idea of “coming out” – in other words a public display of a girl now physically mature and an invitation to suitors?