HW 58 - Prom Interviews

I had always thought prom is a night everyone looks forward to but, to my surprise, not all of my peers are planning to attend it. I talked about it to 5 of my sophomore friends (all girls). Only three of them showed enthusiasm about getting all dressed up and going to prom, "It means nothing to me, it's just a waste of time". My interviewees agreed that girls are expected to be beautiful and get pretty for prom whatever it takes. Then again, only three were excited about actually doing it, the other two thought it was overrated. They all agreed that prom is definitely influenced by media- there is a whole business around dresses, corsages and other accessories. 

The people I interviewed who have already lived through their prom times are both teachers at our school. Both of them had slightly different experiences than anyone else; one of them decided to go alone while the other did not go to prom at all. In their times, this was completely fine, while today, their attitudes would be described as lame and would in some cases be equivalent to 'social suicide'. My first interviewee made the decision not to go to prom because he did not have a significant other to accompany him, "I wanted to go with someone I was romantically linked to because that is what I thought prom was about". My second interviewee decided not to go with anyone, because she felt like prom was about having fun with friends "you don't want to end up awkwardly stuck with one person for the night". 

My last two interviewees knew barely anything about prom as they are Polish and prom is not part of their culture/tradition. Based on my (vague) descriptions of American prom, they compared it to their experiences of the Polish equivalent. They described our 'studniówka' as being much more formal, with students suddenly becoming more mature, even if it is only for that one night. "'Polonez' [the traditional dance] is usually danced with a couple of teachers, which makes everyone take it a bit more seriously". 

Despite strong, dominant social practices around prom, many people are not afraid to step out of the circle and do what they, themselves want to do. Some teens chose not to go to prom, describing it as an overrated waste of time. Others decide to go without a date to have as much fun and be as free as possible. These behaviors are fully acceptable. The fact that peers may judge you should not be a discouragement from doing whatever you please- after all, prom is 'your night'. How a person spends it is completely up to them and they are free to approach it in any way they please, despite opinions, media and traditions. There are, however, as many opinions on prom as there are people in the world (who are familiar with the American culture). I am not too familiar with prom and I might as well be missing the point.