HW 58

Person who hasn’t been to Prom (Kammie) : I know prom is supposed to be special. It’s supposed to be a night where you get to have fun with everyone in your class for one of the last times. It’s going to be the night where a lot of people get drunk and have sex but I think the goal is to have fun. In the case of people dressing up as best as they can, I think that is because it is one of the last times that the people in your school will see you. It is going to be one of the last times you might be able to be with a boyfriend or girlfriend and I think that is the reason that people have sex and get drunk. It’s kind of like all fun that can possibly be had on that night and of course if you have a boyfriend you’re going to want to be with them. The part that I really think is supposed to be the fun part is the dancing. It is like one last night and it’s supposed to be something to remember. People do whatever they want to celebrate with those who helped them through high school life.

Person who has been to Prom (Alyssa M): Prom was the best. I wish I had done more than I did at prom. Like I dressed up and tried to look my best but that doesn’t even really matter except for the first 15 minutes because everyone takes off the heels that they walked in with. Everyone’s hair gets messed up pretty bad so the hair salon visit for 2 hours was worthless but the night was priceless. The best part for me was the after prom because at prom there are a few chaperones who actually don’t do anything. Then at the after prom there is still dancing and a lot of that stuff but it’s more like hanging out with the people you spent so much time with during school. This is where there’s a lot of the sex stuff and most of the drinking stuff, my after prom was in a hotel. Apart from all of the obvious stuff I just enjoyed telling jokes and being with these people. The night wasn’t any kind of rite of passage it was more like one of the best nights of my life.

Older person who went to Prom (Mom): My prom wasn’t the best because it is not the same as it is now. People now have an idea that prom is a big party but when I went to prom it was more like, a banquet. It eventually turned into some type of party because there was dancing but a lot of my prom there was teachers talking about the students and certain students talking. Everyone looked nice, everyone had a date, and everyone went. I would rather have the type of prom people have now though so it is more fun for us. There was a prom committee but they didn’t make it as fun as I wanted. There was prom in the school and I know now prom can be in a big space that alone is better than our prom. I would rather have a part in a huge space then in my school, the place that I hated and rarely wanted to be.

What I understand from the three different generations of prom goers and non goers is prom is supposed to be a fun moment. The two younger generations mentioned how it was going to be the last time that they were with the people in the school. I always thought dressing up was the most important part of prom because like I said in another post teenage girls look at prom dresses the same way that brides look at wedding dresses. I always thought that girls took it more serious than guys do and with the lack of getting interviews from males this could still be true, however with what Alyssa told me I feel that the main part of prom is the party. No one wants to go to a prom where they never have any fun, something like what my mom did. With looking at all the components of prom I feel like we left out the most important part which is the after party. We looked into the idea of sex and the drinking aspect of prom which I guess is considered partying. However the actual dancing and being able to be with friends made over the past 4 years for the last time is something that I think is more significant. Although Alyssa said it isn’t a rite of passage I disagree with that and maybe she didn’t notice that part of it but I think she makes a good point when she says prom isn’t what it appears to be its just fun.