HW 58 - Prom Interviews

Questions:
1. Do you think that prom is overrated? Why/why not?
2. How does prom compare to a wedding?
3. How do you think prom is significant in the lives of those who participate?
4. How can prom be a “rite of passage?” Do you agree that it is?
5. Why do you think some elect not to attend prom?
6. Did you go to prom? How was that experience for you?
7. Do you think prom is ‘just another party’ or more than that? Why/why not?
8. What do you think the dominant social practices surrounding prom are and why do you agree/disagree with them?
9. Why did you want to go to prom?
10. What do you expect from prom and why?
11. How are you feeling?
12. What are some things that you regret doing or would do differently?

Answers:
For this assignment I spoke to three different people. The fist was a friend of mine who I actually have had several discussions about prom already, being that neither of us attended. After asking and receiving answers to the above questions, it was clear to me that this person valued prom. He felt that it was important in teenager’s lives and all teenagers should have the opportunity to experience it. When discussing the dominant social practices, he said that, “that’s just how things are.” We do not challenge these practices because know nothing aside from them, like staying out all night, having sexual relations, and drinking/smoking. He related this to simple things like eating with forks knives and spoons rather than our hands, or even just wearing shoes. These references made me thing about the history of prom and how things were different at one time in comparison to today. If things like eating and walking were different it is not hard to imagine how prom could have been.

The second person I spoke with was a peer who is my age but attended prom with a senior. He actually came to school the following day, like very few did, but he seemed very depressed. When I asked him about his experience he simply said, “I’m hung over as fuck right now.” Despite this, I could tell that something was wrong. One dominant expectation for prom night is to have sexual interactions with another person. When I asked my friend about his date, he said that she got extremely sick and could barely function. This actually made me feel bad because it is not fair that his night was ruined (to some extent at least) just because his date was not feeling well. Relating back to the dominant social practices, it is clear that these peers of mine did not think much about them and simply following them robotically almost. They did not even take into consideration how the night could have gone otherwise. To me it is unfortunate that things happened this way. My peer said that he regrets drinking so much, which I can completely understand based on his state during the conversation.

The last person I interviewed was my father. He was by far the most interesting of the people because he seemed very uninterested in the topic and unwilling to answer my questions. He gave all very brief answers as if he did not want to talk about it. He said that he sees prom as a way for teenagers to celebrate their achievements so far in life, therefore he agrees that it is significant in their lives. He said that it does not seem like a rite of passage to him either because many people do not attend prom and still become successful adults, therefore it is not something that makes you an adult. When speaking about why some may choose not to go he said that people may have had a difficult life throughout high school and fear embarrassment. I feel that people with this situation should not allow others to stop them from having fun. Prom is too significant to miss because you are intimidated by the presence of someone that is popular; you are not going for them you are going for you. My father also said that he does not see prom as just another party because it is symbolic of finishing high school. Despite this, he said that he would not had been very disappointed if he missed his own, even though he said he had fun there. My dad is not a parent that condones any type of illegal consumption regardless of the situation; however I suspect that he did so on his prom night. For this reason I do not understand why he is so strict about things that are obvious social practices for nearly every teenager that attends prom. When I asked him about the dominant social practices, he simply said “to go to prom and have fun.” He seemed particularly uninterested in this question so I did not request any further elaboration. I wonder why this topic seemed to irritate him so much.