page_title: Girl
section_title: "Coming of age" customs
hierarchical_section_title: Girl / History / "Coming of age" customs
caption_attribution_description: English: Bat Mitzvah in Israel
context_page_description: A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When she becomes an adult, she is described as a woman. The term girl may also be used to mean a young woman, and is sometimes used as a synonym for daughter. Girl may also be a term of endearment used by an adult, usually a woman, to designate adult female friends.
  The treatment and status of girls in any society is usually closely related to the status of women in that culture. In cultures where women have a low societal position, girls may be unwanted by their parents, and the state may invest less in services for girls. Girls' upbringing ranges from being relatively the same as that of boys to complete sex segregation and completely different gender roles.
context_section_description: Many cultures have traditional customs to mark the "coming of age" of a girl or boy, to recognize their transition to adulthood, or to mark other milestones of their journey to maturity as children.
  Japan has a coming-of-age ritual called Shichi-Go-San (七五三), which literally means "Seven-Five-Three". This is a traditional rite of passage and festival day in Japan for three- and seven-year-old girls and three- and five-year-old boys, held annually on November 15. It is generally observed on the nearest weekend. On this day, the girl will be dressed in a traditional kimono, and will be taken to a temple by her family for a blessing ceremony. Nowadays, the occasion is also marked with a formal photo portrait.
  Many coming-of-age ceremonies are to acknowledge the passing of a girl through puberty, when she experiences menarche, or her first menstruation. The traditional Apache coming-of-age ceremony for girls is called the na'ii'ees (Sunrise Ceremony), and takes place over four days. The girls are painted with clay and pollen, which they must not wash off until the end of the rituals, which involve dancing and rituals that challenge physical strength. Girls are given teaching in aspects of sexuality, confidence, and healing ability. The girls pray in the direction of the east at dawn, and in the four cardinal directions, which represent the four stages of life. This ceremony was banned by the U.S. government for many decades; after being decriminalized by the Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978, it has seen a revival.
  Some coming-of-age ceremonies are religious rituals to recognize a girl's maturity with respect to her understanding of religious beliefs, and to recognize her changing role in her religious community. Confirmation is a ceremony common to many Christian denominations for both boys and girls, usually taking place when the child is in their teen years. In Roman Catholic communities, Confirmation ceremonies are considered one of seven sacraments that a Catholic may receive during their life. In many countries, it is traditional for Catholics children to undergo another sacrament, First Communion, at the age of 7 years old. The sacrament is usually performed in a church once a year, with children who are of age receive a blessing from a Bishop in a special ceremony. It is traditional in many countries for Catholic girls to wear white dresses and possibly a small veil or wreath of flowers in their hair to their First Communion. The white dress symbolizes spiritual purity.
  A traditional coming-of-age ritual for daughters of college age (17 to 21 years old) from high society and well-connected upper-class and White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) families in North America and Europe has historically been their debut at a debutante ball, such as the International Debutante Ball in New York City. Traditionally, debutantes wear couture white gowns and gloves symbolising purity and wealth. 
  Across Latin America, the  fiesta de quince años is a celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday. The girl celebrating the birthday is called a Quinceañera. This birthday is celebrated differently from any other birthday, as it marks the transition from childhood to young womanhood.
caption: Bat mitzvah in Israel
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