Confession: I Was a Reluctant Debutante

[XemaSab]

by Joanna Pearson

There’s only one lie I tell. I tell it only when the subject of “The South” comes up. Scoffing, my friends (hip, educated, non-Southern) envision zany Baptist ladies in big hats, porches with crooked screen doors, monster truck rallies and demolition derbies, wisteria and magnolia bloom, fiercely guarded barbecue sauce recipes, inbred banjo pickers, truckers missing their upper teeth, country club ladies in capri pants teaching vacation Bible school, greasy pots of grits, Waffle Houses filled with loud-talking big ol’ Meemaws and Pawpaws… and an aristocratic, antebellum mystery known as the debutante ball. "Does it still exist?" they ask. "I mean, people really still do that??" I always laugh because it’s obvious that I would have no idea.

But I have a secret, and it’s known as the North Carolina Terpsichorean Ball, a statewide debutante ball held every year in Raleigh, North Carolina. Most little girls dream they will one-day walk before a crowd of people in a beautiful white dress. Many little Southern girls actually dream of this happening twice. For those who take their coming-of-age rituals with froth, this is a crème de la crème event—venti, extra foam, extra whip.

http://www.storysouth.com/nonfiction/2006/01/confession_i_was_a_reluctant_d.html

ps This is not written by me. I have been to Raleigh, yes, but not as a debutente.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

1. I was also a relunctant debutante.

I think I posted about it once before.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=3345832

[trof]

2. I was an escort.

Birmingham, AL mid 50s
Our high schools had fraternities and sororities.
Every year in the spring (I think) each sorority would have its formal "Lead Out".
(That's 'leed-out', not 'led-out' ;-))

I was not in a frat, but I was the date of girls in different lead outs during my high school 'career'.
At the beginning of the dance all the couples would gather backstage. Girls in long gowns on one side, boys in tuxes on the other.

Then, two-by-two, we'd meet, center stage, and, hand-in-hand, walk through some kind of floral archway while an MC 'announced' us.

"Miss Evelyn Gordon Huffstetler escorted by Mr. Trof T. Trof the third."
Back then we thought it was a really big deal.
;-)

Funny piece.
Thanks for posting.

[mulsh]

3. San Francisco has a debuante ball

every year. It's called the Cotillion. There are a couple, the oldest one is for traditional debutaunts, the fun ones are for the LGBT community. you go girls !

[XemaSab]

6. People from my high school did that

:eyes:

[nosillies]

4. OMG, the article is hilarious.

I had to read it, because absolutely everything in just the first paragraph is so true.

Admittedly, I still love the cotillion time of year, becuase I love seeing all the pictures and reading about the parties in the society pages of the local papers. I eat it up.

[NewWaveChick1981]

5. As you know, the niece that just got married went through this...

...although she was NOT reluctant. :rofl: And her younger sister just went through it.

[wildhorses]

7. thank god I escaped this rite of passage!!--

thanks for posting, its hilarious cos its TRUE:rofl: