by Olivia Snyder ’12

Since the 1920s, prom has been a ritual in high school students’ lives. Only recently, however, has it become more than a modest event held in school gymnasiums decorated with crepe paper streamers and papier-mâché lanterns. The prom of today has developed into an expensive affair consisting of limo rides and over two hundred dollar dresses.

With only two dances a year and just one deemed worthy by upperclassmen, the ordeal that is prom has become the sole fussed-over event of the junior/senior year. Each prom season, students spend hundreds of dollars in hopes of making that much anticipated night one to remember. From dress to dinner to limo, prom’s price is a daunting one. Unfortunately, however, with such a large emphasis put onto prom, much pressure is placed on attendees to go “all-out.”

Prom has not always been such the big event, however; it hasn’t always brought high expectations and big spending.

“The idea of putting on a production to ask someone to prom was extremely rare in my high school,” recalled social studies teacher Michael McCabe. “Either you were already a couple and just assumed you would go together, or you were going simply as friends and so no big production was needed.”

Students today have a third option. Many pairs do not attend prom as serious couples nor as uninterested friends; they instead go as two single people with legitimate, romantic interests in one another. Therefore, guys concoct clever ways to ask that special girl to prom not only to simply score a date, but also to possibly sway the crush into seeing a future extending beyond prom night. Today, getting the girl to say “yes” can often result in a future relationship. Essentially, how one asks another to prom can have lasting impacts in that relationship, with the prom process/night acting as a test run for the prospective couple.

“In many cases, prom is actually seen as something like a first date for the couple,” said senior Noah Booz. “Therefore, both the way of asking and the night itself have to be really impressive.”

Prom stresses of today also stem from the growing competitiveness surrounding the event. Guys constantly try to outdo each other with impressive ways of popping the question while girls consistently strive to impress friends with the unique way she has been courted.

“Guys want to be creative and original but it’s difficult because everything has been done before and nothing seems good enough,” said senior Michael Gouterman. “We are so scared of rejection that we feel like if we don’t have an awesome way to ask you, there’s no point in asking at all.”

Competition isn’t the only factor in prom’s rising expectations; the increasing importance of appearance is also beginning to contribute to prom’s changing traditions.

“In my day, we often borrowed or even made our dresses,” said social studies teacher Aileen Woolley. “We didn’t go out for dinner or rent limos. Today, our culture puts so much focus on the ultimate prom experience. It seems stressful and over-the top. Makes you wonder if it’s all necessary in order to have a fun and memorable night?”

One thing, however, has remained the same between past prom and today: the responsibility of the male to pay. “It’s usually assumed for the guy to pay for everything but the dress,” said senior Ilona Szeless. “Of course it’s not required; For junior Homecoming I actually paid for my dinner and part of the limo since my date and I went as friends. But honestly in most cases, it’s just become the societal norm for the guy to pay for everything.” The practice of guys shouldering the cost is a tradition that has held steady over the years, though the bill itself has increased significantly in amount.

The prom of today has become weighed down by appearance obsession and flashy competition resulting in enormous expectations; not to mention a giant price tag to go along with it.