- Last Updated:Fri, 7/04 10:42 am
Column: A prom date by Friday?
AN INDEPENDENT WOMAN would not need a date to prom. I consider myself a very independent woman. My mom, on the other hand, does not.
Let's recall Monday's scenario:
“Mom, I have to go prom shopping this weekend.” “Oh yeah? Do you have a date?”
“No.” “Well, we're not going shopping until you have a date. You can't go to prom until you get a date.”
“What?!?” “We're not spending a lot of money on clothes if no one is going to look at them.”
“Fine then!” “So you'll get a date?”
“YES! By this Friday. Gosh.” “Good.”
Today is Thursday. In fact, it is almost Thursday night, and I still don't have a date to prom. What am I going to do? Will I not be able to get a dress, will I not be able to get my hair done, will I not be able to go to prom?
Why is going single to prom such a faux pas? Sure, in the end, my mother would let me go to prom. However, if I didn't have a date, I don't think I would want to go to prom. Sorry, but standing alone in the middle of the dance floor, or by the punch bowl, doesn't sound like a super great time.
Which brings me to the question: Is this really the age of empowered women if we still have such old traditions as prom?
UNI HIGH PROM 2007
- Theme: Chiaro di Luna
- When: 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. on May 19
- Where: University of Illinois Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana
- How much: $30 for singles, $50 for couples
If you think about it, prom is seriously outdated. Not only do women have to spend money on the dress, the accessories, the hair, and the nails, we have to go with a date.
Furthermore, girls are supposed to wait like wallflowers for guys to decide to ask them. Prom is a male-dominated tradition. The guy calls all the shots.
But, dateless guys don't have it much better than dateless girls. Going single to prom is a big no-no. At least girls, as a last resort, go with their dateless girlfriends. But as a guy friend said to me: “It's just not customary for a guy to go with another guy. They just don't do it.”
So here's a shoutout to all the dateless people out there. Go get a dress and rent a tux. And most importantly, show up on the dance floor single, confident, and ready to shake that booty. Prom doesn't have to be such a traditional event.
[Note: An earlier version of this column appeared in the Gargoyle staff blog.]
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Comments
I went to prom by myself,
I went to prom by myself, and here is my honest account of what happened:
I figured a lot of people would be single...I was very, very wrong.
A boy asked me out but I honestly did not want to go with him, and to tell the truth, I kinda wanted to go stag. I am the artsy, overweight, super-tomboy (more often than not mistaken for a male, and totally fine with that,) and mostly by choice. I choose the clothes I wear, I do write poems and paint because that's what I like to do, and being overweight isn't the greatest thing in the world, but I like being able to eat what I like to eat! I love boys and everything about them, but I have never had a date, and I wasn't too bummed to go to prom by myself (again, some of this was by choice...I rejected a boy who asked!) So I said what the hell and decided to go by myself.
I mistakenly thought pre-prom was required, but apparently that's just the time when couples get their pictures taken by parents with friends...I took maybe about two photos, but I didn't have a date so I mostly sat and socialized with the underclassmen band/orchestra that was required to play music.
When I went on my bus to the prom, everybody was sitting next to their date, and the only open seat was next to a mentally challenged boy. He was nice enough and I tried to make conversation with him, but by the time we got to the dance floor, he had no interest in dancing with me.
I hung out with my friends, who for the most part, just took their friends as dates, so I basically hung out with my regular group of friends. All the "popular" kids were dancing on the dance floor trying to look cool - we danced both on the dance floor, and later, on the rooftop, just having fun.
The event wasn't the greatest thing ever, but all in all, it wasn't too bad, either. The worst part was probably the fact that I had to wear a dress! But I didn't pay too much for it - it was on sale - and I got a haircut (short, up to my ears!), but I didn't wear makeup (ANY makeup, not even lip balm or moisturizer, though I found some blue nail polish that matched my dress!) as usual and didn't buy any new accessories.
I don't think my prom experience would've changed even if I had a date. So take prom for what it is...a high school dance. You don't need to change yourself, you definitely don't need to spend a fortune on makeup and accessories, and you don't have to fit that stupid streotype of a girl in a short dress and strappy heels to have a decent time.
Prom is what YOU make it, not what your date or others around you tries to make it.
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