When I was little, my favorite movie was Cinderella. It seemed to six-year-old me that this fairytale ideal was correct: it is always the guy’s responsibility to choose his princess at the ball. But that movie was produced over sixty years ago.
Now, I would be criticized if I believed in princes and princesses and Disney’s messed-up idea of male superiority.
Most women of this age would agree that girls possess every ability and power that guys have. A majority of the country agrees that a woman can hold the same job, play the same sports, achieve equal successes, and exercise the same rights as a man. It is insulting to womankind to think otherwise.
Yet as soon as the words “Sadie Hawkins” are mentioned, we girls revert back to the opinions of our great-great-great grandparents. Guys have to ask girls to a dance. Why? That’s just how it works, we tell ourselves. That is how it has always been. We may be able to run for the office of President of the United States, but when it comes to relationships of any sort, guys are in charge. It is not socially acceptable for a girl to take the initiative to ask a boy to a dance.
This is obviously hypocritical. We may be twenty-first century feminists, but in this case, we might as well live in the 1700s. Why is it so hard for us to muster the courage to ask a boy to Winter Formal? Do we expect it to be easier for guys to ask girls to dances? To believe this would be to believe that men are stronger and braver than women, and most people would never buy that. In a generation of people with access to Facebook, IM, and Netflix, we are stuck in the past in only one regard: our outlook on relationships.
So although it should not be, the fact that this Winter Formal is a Sadie Hawkins dance will be disliked by many girls. What could be seen as an open opportunity to take initiative will be hated because we girls are going to be uncomfortable asking guys to a dance.
The real problem is that we live in a world where it is still necessary to add those two words: Sadie Hawkins. Without them, girls would simply wait for a guy to come. But maybe there is one thing to be learned from Cinderella: no matter how much trouble it may cause, you do have to go to the ball.
Written by Kendall Silwonuk’15
