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emily long

Opinion: The damaging messages of proms - 21 views

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started by emily long on 30 Nov 13
  • emily long
    #1 emily long on 30 Nov 13
     
    http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/13/opinion/simmons-girls-proms/

    i found this article to be an intriguing perspective on prom night. as one of our historical national "coming of age" gantlets its important to understand how it is effecting our youth. Do you agree/ disagree with the authors stance? how is it effecting tam students?
  • Hannah Chorley
    #2 Hannah Chorley on 03 Dec 13
     
    I think that the author does bring up some interesting points in the article. By dissecting the nature of prom (lavish spending, trying to look conventionally beautiful, waiting to be asking in some ridiculous manner, etc) she pries on some of the controversial aspects of our modern day society. She scrutinizes the traditional "rich white goal" role in our society and the social norms of being a female. While I think she is correct about how prom emphasizes a person's social status, characterizes gender roles, elevates the need for material items, and plays a role in a person's self esteem, I don't think a high school could just stop prom altogether. Prom is a tradition, and although traditions are not always good and should not always be followed, I think if you eliminated prom it would cause more outrage than praise among the student body.
  • Jordan B
    #3 Jordan B on 05 Dec 13
     
    I think that traditions do have a place in high school society, but when those traditions are damaging, it's important that they change to include everybody. People shouldn't value tradition over the happiness of others. The figures that the author presented with regards to the money that girls versus boys spent on prom were interesting as well. I never considered the costs for boys vs. girls and that comparison would be enhanced by more research on that topic. I think because Tam doesn't have many of those traditions that many high schools value, we cling pretty tightly to prom as our "one normal high school experience." As a community we could do to more closely examine our experiences with prom and maybe reevaluate its worth.
  • James Finn
    #4 James Finn on 07 Dec 13
     
    This article relates closely to the recent Tam News feature on SR senior Tenaya Raives. When the two pieces are examined in contrast, it's easy to see that although negative aspects of the prom tradition still thrive (physical appearance and money seem to define these girl's supposed "value" as people within the confines of the prom community), stereotypes and preconceived notions have begun to weaken in recent years. Raives's story serves to illustrate this, as Raives was elected to homecoming court despite the fact that Raives conformed to none of the stereotypes outlined in the article. Although Marin is its own little "bubble" and it is unlikely that Raives's story could have taken place in, say,Texas, progress (however slight) has occurred, and this is illustrated by Raives's story as well as recent stories similar to Raives's.
  • Ariana Agnew
    #5 Ariana Agnew on 07 Dec 13
     
    While the author made some good points, she may be biased, as shown in the last paragraph. I feel like prom is something you either enjoy or don't, and it isn't really a pro/con thing- you're not supposed to sit down and think to yourself, "on one hand it's going to be expensive, but on the other…" There is nothing demeaning about waiting to be asked… I think you'll find that the majority of girls who wait for a boy to ask them are NOT doing it because it's the way things are done, but because they either don't have a particular guy they want to go with, or there's this little thing called nervousness, which apparently the author is unaware of. There's also nothing wrong with the dress factor- as "children" we don't get to get classy that awesome, and most prom dresses show off less skin then our everyday clothing. And as for the whole social media thing, well, I've personally never taken my phone to a dance, if a girl does that and liveblogs the whole thing hey, it's her choice! I get that it was an opinion piece, but it's important we all know it's really just up to us. Prom is what you (and the prom committee) make it.
  • Bridget Lowry
    #6 Bridget Lowry on 10 Dec 13
     
    I think that the ideas brought up in the article (most importantly, the price of prom) are real issues that are associated with Prom and "prama." Additionally, I know that "prama" is real. However, at the same time prom is a fun occasion and one that most people look forward to.
  • Declan Katz
    #7 Declan Katz on 16 Dec 13
     
    I always found it funny that Tam doesn't really care about football, homecoming, rally's, yearbooks, or other things like that but everyone becomes your typical American high school come prom. Girls seem to certianlly get the short end of the stick for prom in the conventinal way of things. We in Marin are very wealthy and like most wealthy people like to flaunt it at times. What better way to do it then invite a large group of people to your home to take pictures of your 'gorgeous view', eat at a fancy restaurant, go to a dance which coast around 100 dollars, and have a alcohol infused after party. All of this will ad up and for some people it doesn't mean anything its just normal. As apposed to looking at this as a gender issue it is one that is more of class. I feel more people will go to prom with a date that can provide a pimped out 16 wheeled chrome hummer limo than someone who drives in. While guys generally spend less it is all expensive and a tool to show off your class and power.
  • Johanna Wong
    #8 Johanna Wong on 16 Dec 13
     
    It was interesting reading this article and seeing all the things that the author brought up that related to Tam, and what didn't. Not surprisingly, a lot of what she said paralleled how prom is here. Like Declan said, we are among the more wealthier areas and when it comes to prom, we spend a ton of money, especially girls (like Simmons said) on dresses and makeup and hair and rides. I don't think however, that we've followed the rest of the country's footsteps concerning extreme promposals and wearing knock-off red carpet gowns. But her opinion of a girl's position during prom seems almost spot on. I haven't gone to prom yet, but I know people who have and I can only imagine the stress and anxiety they feel going into it and the cost of it. I also agree with Ariana that the author is biased, but this is titled as an Opinion column, and I think she has an interesting perspective on the subject.
  • Sophia Ellingson
    #9 Sophia Ellingson on 19 Dec 13
     
    After working on the feature 'Something Worth Fighting For: San Rafael High's Homecoming Embraces Change' about Tenaya Raives, a gender fluid / gender neutral student I've thought a lot about the traditions of events like prom and homecoming. Although our community claims to have a progressive and "liberal" attitude towards these types of issues, it always amazes me when there's a big unmentionable that everyone just accepts… like powder puff or the ancient ways of prom. That's not to say I don't think these kinds of events should be put on, I just feel as if they need to be seriously reconsidered and restructured. Tenaya's story was inspiring to everyone who worked on it and read it and I can't wait for something like that to happen at tam so hopefully we can break out of the rigid perpetuations of unspoken rules such as those surrounding prom.
  • Hannah Y
    #10 Hannah Y on 28 Jan 14
     
    I've really hate the 'coupling' culture of Prom. The pressure certainly gets to me and looking back, it's not healthy. I had a great time with my friends and I'm lucky to have a group of friends where bringing a date for the majority, was not a priority. But I think we need to evaluate how damaging prom can be for girls-the pressure to be wanted, to be seen as beautiful, to act in a way that is attractive. We don't any of that to any one yet it seems like we do-the entire night.
  • Meg Weiss
    #11 Meg Weiss on 28 Jan 14
     
    While reading this article, I kept thinking back to prom last year. Some of the things in the article applied to me, but others didn't. Then I realized though that prom is different for everyone, especially for people in other places. We are lucky to live in Marin where anyone can ask anyone, or where you don't have to spend a lot of money on a dress, but I doubt that this is the case everywhere.

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