Claudia Itzel poses next to her cake during her 15-year anniversary celebration party in Mexico City. Despite criticism that they are patriarchal, outdated and kitsch, these "fiestas de quince" (fifteenth parties) are as popular as ever in Latin America, a region whose reputation for machismo belies the rapidly changing role of women in the family and the workplace. AFP PHOTO
MONTEVIDEO: Claudia is a shy, stout adolescent, but today she looks like a princess in a fluorescent fairy tale as she dances in her electric blue gown and jewel-encrusted sneakers for the 250 guests at her 15th birthday party in Mexico City.