The debutante ball can be viewed in a similar fashion. It is an investment by the debutante's parents to ensure that their daughter obtains the most suitable partner. There are different types of debuts, however. Some debuts are occasions which announce the coming out of a single woman (popular in Philadelphia); others are mass debuts, which announce the coming out of several women at once (popular in New York). Although both types of debuts can be regarded as an opportunities for women to present themselves to eligible, scrupulously screened male participants, in the case of mass debuts, there is an extra element of competition among the debutantes.

That female competition is a component of the debutante ball is evident in several of its aspects. First of all, the scenario for the debut is usually a dinner ball, instead of a much less expensive tea or luncheon:

Luncheons have virtually disappeared. Teas continue to be popular in some cities—notably Chicago and in the South, but each year sees fewer of them. [...] Luncheons and teas are vanishing because [...] 'Boys hate to got to parties in the daytime' (Birmingham, 202).

Another bit of evidence that points to competition is the debutante's ability to secure escorts. The Euro-American tradition holds that a debutante must be escorted by two men—one military (usually a cadet from a military preparatory school) and one civilian. The task of obtaining escorts (in itself an indication of competition amongst debutantes) is not as easy as it seems. In fact, "[i]t is usually more of a problem to get enough boys into a debut than to keep them out. [...] Often they are strangers to the debs, having been produced, for a fee [...]" (Day, 38). One woman, expressing her exasperation at finding a suitable escort moaned, "'This one guy told me he'd been asked three times!'" (See Carlin below.)

That the ritual functions as a prelude to marriage is also evident in its symbolism. Take the dress, for example. First of all almost always white, a premonition of things to come. In fact,

[n]ot only is sweet, innocent white an absolute—no ivory, no buff, no pearl—but the dress itself must also embrace the same chaste ideals. The skirt is to the floor: no décolletage or train. And the dress must feature as little adornment as possible: no lace or elaborate beading, just stiff duchess satin, organdy, tulle (albeit yards and yards) and maybe a satin flower or two (see Colman below).

And just in case there's any lingering doubt regarding the connection between the debut and the wedding, for some debutantes, the dress also occassionally serves as a wedding gown (though for the debut it's obviously worn sans veil). Michaele Thurgood Haynes, in her description of the garments worn during the Coronation ceremony held each year in San Antonio, Texas, even likens the dress to a fertility symbol:

Although the royal robes and wedding dresses are quite different in appearance, there are parallels; both kinds of garments evoke strong emotions and wedding dresses are the only contemporary garments with trains, remnants of past fashionable excesses. Trains in general denote status since the excess fabric is dragged through the dirt, requiring frequent cleaning, but trains on wedding dresses and the royal robes have additional implications. They imply future fertility since long trains are guided by young girls who follow in the wake of the bride or debutante (52).

Next >>>