When it comes to high school dances, I am firmly in support. Dress shopping is something I mark down on my calendar and look forward to all week. I love dances, and even though my dancing, personally speaking, is subpar, I always enjoy myself at these events.
However, I do believe that when it comes to the Sadie Hawkins dance, we must face how outdated and unnecessary the concept is. The Sadie Hawkins dance originated from a comic strip by the name of “Li’l Abner.” In this comic strip, characters celebrated Sadie Hawkins day, a mandatory yearly event, much to the chagrin of the comic’s bachelors. If a woman caught a bachelor and dragged him, kicking and screaming across a finish line before sundown that day, by law, he had to marry her. This, of course, was the inspiration for high schools across America to hold traditional Sadie Hawkins dances, where girls were encouraged to ask boys.
This may have been a quaint and charming idea back in the 50s or 60s, but at this point, in the 21st century, it is positively vintage. Our campus is not just home to straight students, so to pretend like we are and place such emphasis on a dance specifically designed for girls to ask boys could be seen as exclusionary.
Furthermore, when we try to make the dance special by marketing it to girls as their sole oppurtunity to ask a boy, many girls may feel discouraged from doing so for any other dance. Instead of asking a boy to homecoming or prom, which they are entirely capable of doing, girls may instead wait for the Sadie Hawkins dance.
Don’t get me wrong: I love having a fun, lighthearted costume dance between Winter Formal and prom, but I think continuing to advertise it as a Sadie Hawkins dance would be a mistake. Instead, why don’t we call it the Spring Fling, or the Almost Prom But Not Quite dance? That way, it won’t seem exclusionary, nor will it place pressures on girls to consider it their one special chance to ask a boy out.
TCHS School Newspaper