The Prom Phenomenon

principal declared Class of 2023 graduated. Leading up to senior year, I had far too many mindless Pinterest scroll sessions, fantasizing about that dream prom dress. With friends, we would deliberate gowns, and tears. As a junior, seeing my senior friends finish school two weeks early, making trips to Michael’s to buy crafts materials to decorate their caps, and going shopping together to buy their attire for when they cross that still have a bit before realizing that Paris destination wedding, in what felt like the blink of an eye, it was the second semester of my senior year. I was embarking on mini day trips with friends to go prom dress shopping. The endeavor had more dead ends and scam shippings than my doe-eyed freshmanself had anticipated, but weeks later, I did end up finding “the one.”

The roundabout journey I had to go through to get my prom dress was a time for me to realign my expectations about prom. Sure, it was not an ideal experience, with its fair share of frustration, but it was an experience that I would not mind redoing. I realized, just because prom is “Once in a lifetime,” it does not mean it has to be the best time of my life and that is

At prom, we took pictures on the field of The Big House, we went upstairs afterward for food, photobooths, and a dance floor. It felt like a fancier homecoming. Though it was not a standout night to remember, I had a great time

The Truth Behind “Boy Crazy” Girls

KIM STAFF WRITER

Teenage girls are famously known for having negative reputations. They are said to be self absorbed, vain, ditzy, and reliant on men. I have seen this idea of teenage girls be portrayed through the media and through my personal life. The media always bases females around their male love interest, or display them as “damsels in distress” waiting for a boy to come and save them. Take almost every Disney princess movie, for example. The plot of every movie revolves around a female, pining over and having to be rescued by her male love interest. It shows young girls that the only interesting part of a girl’s life is based on men. Overtime, this stereotype has grown stronger, and teenage girls have officially obtained the label of “boy crazy”.

“Teenage girls are boy crazy” is a statement that a lot of people would agree with. It has become so normalized and popular to stereotype girls as being obsessive over boys, that nobody ever stops to think about what the term “boy crazy” really means. This term insinuates that girls have no life outside of boys. It is telling us that there is nothing more to a teenage girl, other than being wrapped up in boy drama. Not only is this extremely misogynistic, but it is also just completely untrue.

I have seen girls referred to as “boy crazy” hundreds of times, but I have never once seen a boy referred to as “girl crazy.” Why is this? This is because of the unconscious bias that our society has built up against young girls all throughout our history, saying girls are dependent on men. It is because of the pedestal that boys are put on, suggesting that girls have to chase after them and revolve their world around them. sexism exists everywhere, and so many young girls, including myself, have repeatedly experienced and been victims of this. I have had many people, specifically adults, insert themselves into my personal life with with the people whom I sailed the boat of high school with for the past four years was more than enough to make my night.

Life is filled with moments like prom: moments we look forward to, even subconsciously, and when it actually happens, we need to adjust our 12-year old vision to match with what is currently plausible. Take starting college life, traveling to a dream destination, graduation, and weddings. There should be nothing discouraging in having to readjust fantasies that one has spent the past decade crafting. The special part of milestones is that because one now has the privilege of realizing them, it is but a natural course of action to have to edit dreams when translating them to reality.

My graduation may be more so filled with ruined mascara and my wedding may not be in the Jardin du Luxembourg, but those changes are all part of the beauty of finally living a dream moment. But, just to be clear, a Paris destination wedding is still not entirely off

The termination of the term “boy crazy” is long overdue, and it’s time we stop building on the idea that girls are insufficient without a boy.

“Boy crazy” is just one of the many derogatory terms used may argue, there is underlying

Being a teenager isn’t easy, and we certainly do not need to deal with the passive aggressive stereotypes and sexism that exists everywhere.