Martha Bruin Degen

Changing Times
mixed media art quilt
37 x 26 in.

Introduction to Society© The tradition of introducing a young lady of privilege to society when they became of marrying age has been practiced in western cultures for generations. Today, American women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one from privileged homes are still introduced or presented to society at balls and parties. Americans’ dress them up like princesses in virtual white gowns, showering attention on them with the expectation that they will be accepted by the “right people and meet an eligible young man from the “right family.” When women make up over fifty percent of the workforce the tradition to find prince charming and escape the real world continues. Today’s young Americans are creating new dating traditions, that can not be censored from life such as sexually transmitted diseases, date rape, drive by shootings, car jacking. Ecstasy, hooking up and alcohol poisoning.

© Martha Bruin Degen