March 2, 2009

Prom as a Gendered Space!?

My roommate is currently doing a project about how prom is a gendered space. At first, I thought, "no way, prom's awesome! It's not restrictive or gendered at all!". But after I thought about it some more, and talked to my roommate about some of the research that has been conducted on this topic, I couldn't believe it - Prom IS a Gendered Space!

Think about it.

For starters, every prom has a "Prom King" and a "Prom Queen",
who are crowned near the end of the evening, followed by their first dance as newly-crowned prom-royalty. It's never "Prom King" and "Prom King", where two guys get crowned and get to dance with each other, or vice versa - never a "Prom Queen" and "Prom Queen" called to the stage to accept two glittering crowns. Can you imagine the uproar that would ensue if that ever happened!?

Secondly, the guys are all supposed to go out and buy black tuxedos, and the girls are supposed to go out and buy fancy, feminine gowns. Guys are supposed to ask a girl to the prom and buy her a corsage to match her dress, and girls are supposed to greatfully accept any offer they get - because showing up at prom without a date is pretty much social suicide.

While at the prom, there are fast dances, and slow dances - and it's the slow dances that really illustrate how much of a gendered space prom really is. During a slow dance, a guy is supposed to take his date (a girl) onto the dance floor, where they should proceed to dance in an excruciatingly slow circle - his hands on her waist, her arms around his neck and head on his shoulder. Why is the slow dance a gendered activity? Well - think about your own prom. If a guy had dragged another guy onto the dance floor and proceeded to intimately slow-dance with him, what would have happened? What about two girls? EXACTLY - social outrage, shock, and disbelief.

I could go on for hours about other things that make prom a gendered space (washrooms, chaperones, dance etiquette, etc)....but I think you get the idea. I also realise that some of the situations and scenarios I described are a tad stereotypical - but I think they still make an important point. So for those of you who loved prom as much as I did, and now have a slightly tainted view of prom? I sincerely apologize. For those of you who hated prom - I guess I just gave you a few more reasons to hate it even more! Cheers.

1 comment:

  1. I agree 100% with this. I am currently taking an Urban Life class and we touched on the topic of gendered spaces but I never even thought that prom could have fallen into this category until you made it evident! Very well done.

    Please feel free to check out my posts, along with the posts done by my group members for our Urban Life class, which discuss similar topics as the ones you have on your blog. Here is the link: http://prjob2010.blogspot.com/

    Thanks!
    - Jennifer

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