A 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 Thursay 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?
If you think about it, prom is seriously outdated.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 wall-flowers 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. Guys can’t go with another guy without the fear of being called gay. 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.
— Andrea Park
Comments
I don’t think you go far enough. The entire concept of romance is so outdated, don’t you think? And the idea of having a nice time by dressing up etc.—well, “nice times” may have been alright for the Middle Ages, but we’re much more civilized than that.
I sound sarcastic in the above paragraph because ultimately, I’m trying to hide my sadness that there really is no punch bowl at prom. :-(.
Posted by: Ben Hyman | April 5, 2007 4:53 PM