According to the good ole' Wikipedia, debutante is french for "female beginner." In the old days when a young woman in the upper class matured, usually around the late teens, she had her "debut." Basically, it was the family's way of presenting their daughter to public as a woman ready to marry. Obviously, that is not the reason to have a ball now-a-days. Otherwise, I would have NEVER DONE IT. I'm picking my husband, not my family haha.
Modern day Debs sort-of do it for fun. Many debutante organizations focus a lot on the families of young women. The Raleigh Debs, also known as North Carolina Debs, focus a lot on what is the family name. I am not completely sure, but I think you have to be a legacy to be a NC Deb.
I was a Cary Debutante in 2004, my senior year in high school. The Cary Debutante Society focuses solely on the young woman. The young woman had to be recommended by people in the community (teachers for example) to be invited to be a deb. Then the young woman applied to the society. The society looks at her grades, school activities, and involvement in the community. If they accept her, she will have her debut on December 28th of their senior year. The event itself is like a fairy tale.
The women all wear a white ball gown (aka a wedding dress) and are individually introduced to the attendees. They learn three different dances: ones as the debs themselves, one with their chief marshal (dad), and one with their marshal (a date or brother). They dance the waltz with their marshals. After all of that formal stuff, everyone eats a formal dinner then dances and celebrates with the band. It is REALLY FUN.
If you still don't understand, let me know. I got lots of pictures!
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