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In Girls on the Verge, twenty-seven-year-old Vendela Vida goes to whatever lengths necessary to investigate a wide variety of both traditional and contemporary rituals girls use to fashion their own identities. From sneaking in the back entrance of a debutante ball in Houston to watching young brides tie the knot in drive-through wedding chapels in Las Vegas, from observing quinceaneras in Miami posing for their "sweet fifteen" photographs while wearing tiaras (and sometimes even bikinis) to participating in a witches' Halloween gathering in Salem, Vida interviews, imitates, scrutinizes, and socializes with young women who are making a commitment to a group of other young women, a gang, or a boy — all before they're twenty-one years old. Some of these initiations are sanctioned, and even organized, by their parents, while others are done in spite of — or perhaps because of — their parents' objections.
Review:
"With a 'you-are-there' approach, Vida allows the reader to experience the majesty of a debutante ball, the pride of a gang initiation, the solemnity of a Wiccan ceremony, and the high hopes of a Las Vegas drive-through bride." Library Journal
Synopsis:
In a fascinating look at how young women are coming of age in America, Vendela Vida explores a variety of rituals that girls have adapted or created in order to leave their childhoods behind. Vida doesn't just observe the rituals, she actively participates in them, going as far as spending a week at UCLA to experience rush—she emerges a Tri-Delt. She also goes to Miami to learn about the "quince" (the Latin American celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday), to Houston to take part in a debutante ball, to Los Angeles and San Francisco to talk to female gang members, to Salem, Massachusetts, to interview a coven of witches, and to Las Vegas to watch young brides take the plunge—some of them in drive-through wedding chapels. With humor, insight, and illuminating detail, she explores girls' struggles to forge an identity and secure a sense of belonging through various rituals—rituals that they embrace without necessarily understanding the comforts they seek or the repercussions of their often all-too-adult choices.
Synopsis:
Girls today face a bewildering array of choices when it comes to want kind of women they want to be. In Girls on the Verge, 27-year-old Vendela Vida goes to whatever lengths necessary to investigate a wide variety of both traditional and contemporary rituals girls use to fashion their own identities.
From sneaking in the back entrance of a debutante ball in Houston, to watching young brides tie the knot in drive-through wedding chapels in Las Vegas, from observing quinceaneras in Miami posing for their 'sweet fifteen' photographs while wearing tiaras (and sometimes even bikinis) to participating in a witches' Halloween gathering in Salem, Vida interviews, imitates, scrutinizes, and socializes with young women who are making a lifetime commitment to a group of other young women, a gang, or a boy-all before they're even 21 years old. Some of these initiations are sanctioned, and even organized, by their parents, others are done in spite of-or perhaps because of-their parents' objections.
With humor, insight, and illuminating detail, Vendela Vida penetrates the experience of a young woman coming of age today in a post-feminist, post-nuclear-family, post-'you're a woman when you get your first period or lose your virginity' culture. Girls on the Verge explores girls' struggle to forge an identity and secure a sense of belonging through various rituals-rituals that they create or embrace without even necessarily understanding the comforts they seek or the repercussions of their often all-too-adult choices.
Vendela Vida graduated from Middlebury College and received her MFA at Columbia University. Her work has appeared in Vogue, Jane, and other publications. She lives in Brooklyn. This is her first book.
Girls on the Verge: Debutante Dips, Gang Drive-bys, and Other Initiations
Used Trade Paper
Vendela Vida
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0 reviews
$5.95
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Product details
192 pages
St. Martin's Press -
English9780312263287
Reviews:
"Review"
by Library Journal,
"With a 'you-are-there' approach, Vida allows the reader to experience the majesty of a debutante ball, the pride of a gang initiation, the solemnity of a Wiccan ceremony, and the high hopes of a Las Vegas drive-through bride."
"Synopsis"
by Netread,
In a fascinating look at how young women are coming of age in America, Vendela Vida explores a variety of rituals that girls have adapted or created in order to leave their childhoods behind. Vida doesn't just observe the rituals, she actively participates in them, going as far as spending a week at UCLA to experience rush—she emerges a Tri-Delt. She also goes to Miami to learn about the "quince" (the Latin American celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday), to Houston to take part in a debutante ball, to Los Angeles and San Francisco to talk to female gang members, to Salem, Massachusetts, to interview a coven of witches, and to Las Vegas to watch young brides take the plunge—some of them in drive-through wedding chapels. With humor, insight, and illuminating detail, she explores girls' struggles to forge an identity and secure a sense of belonging through various rituals—rituals that they embrace without necessarily understanding the comforts they seek or the repercussions of their often all-too-adult choices.
"Synopsis"
by St Martins,
Girls today face a bewildering array of choices when it comes to want kind of women they want to be. In Girls on the Verge, 27-year-old Vendela Vida goes to whatever lengths necessary to investigate a wide variety of both traditional and contemporary rituals girls use to fashion their own identities.
From sneaking in the back entrance of a debutante ball in Houston, to watching young brides tie the knot in drive-through wedding chapels in Las Vegas, from observing quinceaneras in Miami posing for their 'sweet fifteen' photographs while wearing tiaras (and sometimes even bikinis) to participating in a witches' Halloween gathering in Salem, Vida interviews, imitates, scrutinizes, and socializes with young women who are making a lifetime commitment to a group of other young women, a gang, or a boy-all before they're even 21 years old. Some of these initiations are sanctioned, and even organized, by their parents, others are done in spite of-or perhaps because of-their parents' objections.
With humor, insight, and illuminating detail, Vendela Vida penetrates the experience of a young woman coming of age today in a post-feminist, post-nuclear-family, post-'you're a woman when you get your first period or lose your virginity' culture. Girls on the Verge explores girls' struggle to forge an identity and secure a sense of belonging through various rituals-rituals that they create or embrace without even necessarily understanding the comforts they seek or the repercussions of their often all-too-adult choices.
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