Teen Extravagance

Let me start with the popular MTV series, My Super Sweet Sixteen. In an article written by Kyle Ryan he deems the MTV show as “The Most Offensive Show on Television” saying, “There may be no better contraceptive than that show, as its pampered, materialistic brats are enough to make anyone reconsider procreation.”

But sweet sixteen parties are only one dimension to the growing obscenity of teen extravagance. Bar and bat mitzvahs and quinceaneras, which were once small and traditional events now cost up to 30,000. Angela Rowe of Quince magazine says that quinceanera extravagance has only exploded within the past seven years. Maria Theresa Hernandez, a professor at the University of Houston, told the Houston Chronicle in 2001, “There are instances where parents are willing to spend 15,000 on a quinceanera, but there’s nothing in the college fund.”

I think part of the reason of this extravagance is parental guilt. According to Alyssa Quart, “The tween buyer is now more able to manipulate an overworked parent into spending—out of the parent’s shame over their increased absences.” And affluenza, it seems, has invaded all realms of traditional religions, not sparing the Jewish coming of age ceremony, bar/bat mitzvahs.

At a party planning showcase the salespeople are well aware of the tween buying power and when they smell money they pitch everything, from the dried ice cream, to the digitally photographed self-portrait magnets. Not only that, but there are party themes, most increasingly popular has been the shopping theme, one of the props available for that party is a 200 dollar poster of a photo-shopped bat mitzvah girl surrounded by bags from Abercrombie and Fitch, Tiffany & Co., The Gap and Gucci. Or they could go with a Hollywood theme where they can have a poster of Fight Club but with the guest of honor in the place of Brad Pitt.

But my favorite poster by far is the one that promises to wedge the kids face between the legend, “Thou shalt have good taste in music” and photos of Britney and N’Sync. That is just creepy. So many of the posters listed celebrate teen’s importance only by connecting them to images of wealth, pop starts, or movie stars. What happened to God and religious ceremony?