Kenneth's+Research+Paper

 Progression of Prom  For decades, prom has been prominent in high schools all over America. The term "prom" is short for promenade, the formal introduction of guests at a party. The origins of prom can be traced back to banquets held in the 1800s for the graduating class at American universities (www.time.com). These original proms started off with the boys having all the responsibilities and the power in the prom experience. Due to modern feminist movements, women have been taking on more roles in society. Likewise, in a modern prom, girls play a greater role in the whole experience. Thus, the social phenomena of each era influence the gender roles of proms taking place during those times, causing each gender to share more of the burdens and the excitement of prom.  The first proms that were held at universities were most likely modeled after the formal cotillions and debutante balls held by America’s rich and famous for their children (www.promworks.com). While the first proms were held for graduating university students, the proms we see today are generally for high school students. As the teenage culture developed, proms were held for younger and younger age groups, and by the 1940s the event had become the adolescent dance we know today (www.time.com). Influenced by the economy of the nation and the teenagers of each era, prom has essentially become a pre-graduation for high school seniors. While the real graduation is exciting, it is primarily held for the parents to recognize their children's hard work over the years. On the other hand, prom is just for the students to enjoy. It is held towards the end of the school year and represents the closure of the high school chapter of their lives as teenagers as they progress towards adulthood (Calo, 2006).  The first proms were most likely chaperoned senior-class balls held at the end of each school year and restricted to the members of the senior class. One of the goals of these affairs was to help develop social skills and etiquette in the students. The balls or proms were really quite plain as very few students would purchase special clothes for the evening’s festivities (www.promworks.com). As the economy of the United States began to improve after the depression years, students began to have access to automobiles and enjoyed the freedom they brought to adolescents. While the early proms of the 1920’s often featured a social tea and dancing, the proms of the 1930’s and 1940’s more resembled an annual senior class banquet where the participants dressed in party clothes and danced (http://glitzgowns.blogspot.com).  During the post-World War II economic boom of the late 1940’s and 1950’s, the prom began to be increasingly recognized as one of the most important social events of the year. It was during this era that attending the prom with the “right date” began to take on special significance. Additionally, female students began giving more thought and attention to clothing for the prom, often shopping for a special dress just for the event (www.promworks.com). The location of the proms also began to change during the post-war boom years. In previous decades, proms and school dances were held in the school gym or cafeteria. As the 1950’s came to a close, a shift was seen from school venues to more sophisticated locations such as hotel ballrooms and country clubs. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, as Amy Best, the author of // Prom Night: Youth, Schools, and Popular Culture //, says, the high school prom "began to take on an almost iconic status as a rite of passage from high school into adulthood." As the first formal event in their lives, the prom became the "ultimate coming-of-age party" for high school juniors and seniors.  The proms of today have become much more elaborate and expensive. Off-campus locations have become normal, with schools in coastal cities even booking cruise ships as prom locations. The ultimate venue for holding a prom to date, however, still has to be when President Ford’s daughter's senior prom was held in the White House in 1975 (www.time.com). The typical prom couple spends hundreds of dollars buying or renting formal clothing, getting hair and makeup done, flowers, prom tickets, photographs, and limousine rentals (Best, 2007). Other things have changed as well. While traditional etiquette calls for the boy to ask the girl to the prom, girls have become more assertive and some will ask a boy to be their prom date. However, some things remain the same. Many high school students feel that prom will be the most romantic night of their lives. As such, the search for the right date will always be intense (Calo, 2006).  While some girls do try to take the initiative to ask a boy to prom, the large majority of boys are still the ones doing the asking. According to a survey I took from 168 people who have or are going to prom, even among the girls who asked a boy to prom, 93% of them wish he could have been the one to ask instead. Additionally, about 66% of all the survey takers felt that the importance of prom ranked 7 out of 10. The significance of prom creates a great tension during prom season as boys and girls alike worry who they will be going with to the most significant event of high school. 56% of female survey-takers felt that their date was the most important part of prom and 76% of male survey-takers felt this way. The difference in these percentages could be that girls generally believe their prom dress to be nearly as important as their date. However, when asked about what was most important about their date, no girls claimed that it was good-looks. On the other hand, 32% of boys thought otherwise. The general consensus of the most important trait about the prom date was that he or she be able to keep the conversation going. When asked a "would you rather" question, most girls felt that it would be better to go dateless to prom rather than settling for someone who they would not be excited to go with. However, most boys felt that bringing "someone you don't really talk to" would be better. A possible reason for this could be that girls would happily group together at prom anyway and dance together. Boys on the other hand are more directly paired up with their date while at the dance.  Once the incredible task of finding the right date has been completed, students then need to determine who will be paying for what. While girls have been stepping up recently, only 31% of the girls who took my survey will be paying for themselves and 20% will be paying for their date. Along with paying for tickets, which range from about $40 to over a $100, flowers, suits or dresses, pictures, limousines, and makeup and hair must be done or bought or rented. The sum of the costs of flowers ($50), a suit ($140), a dress (hundreds to thousands of dollars), pictures ($60), a limousine ($160 per hour), and makeup and hair ($100) comes out to a staggering $850 or much much more depending on the dress. All this is invested into one night by teenagers in hopes of making it magical.  Once at the prom, tensions may peak as students anxiously take their perfect prom picture and eat their dinner while attempting to make conversation with their date. After dinner, the prom committee announces the prom court and the rest of the students watch in awe as their friends are crowned and dance. After this, a few games may be played and then everyone begins to dance. This goes on for a few hours until the end of prom and people quickly begin to disperse. After prom, a small minority of students will head home for a good night's rest. The rest of the students will head out to various alcohol-induced parties, non-alcoholic parties, sleepovers, and midnight snacks. These after parties could be considered the main event of prom despite not being an actual part of prom and are the conclusion to what every teenager hopes will be the best night of their lives.

 Annotated Bibliography "A Short History of Prom in the United States." //PromWorks//. 2008. Web. .  The site that this article was posted on, //PromWorks//, is focused solely on prom and everyone that is involved in it. Because it is so specific, an article about the history of prom on this site would be accurate and provide in-depth information. The article provides a thorough overview of the history of prom. The article begins from the very first mentions of prom to modern prom. Throughout the article, it talks about the major aspects of prom and how they have changed. The article also discusses how social phenomena affect prom.

 Best, Amy L. "Prom Interview." E-mail interview. 8 May 2011. After I found her book, I emailed Amy Best asking if she could help me with my project, and I sent her a few questions about prom and how it came to become such a huge social event. She is a reliable source for an interview because she has written a book about prom and how it affects and is affected by high schoolers and society. Best is Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at George Mason University. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology in 1998. Her research focuses on the study of youth, culture and social inequalities.  Best, Amy L. //Prom Night: Youth, Schools, and Popular Culture//. New York: Routledge, 2000. Print. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> This book was based on research the author began as a graduate student. She began working on it first in Ithaca College and continued to work on it at Syracuse University. She received help and support from her thesis advisor, whose lifelong work as a feminist scholar helped the author to be institutionally supported. The Popular Culture Institute at Syracuse University also provided her with critical insights toward the book. The sociology department at San Jose State University was also supportive as she worked to finish the book and especially during the last period of her work on this book. The many educational institutions that have contributed toward the book make it a reliable source of information. I used this source to support the points I made bout prom. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> <span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">Best, Amy L. //Representing Youth: Methodological Issues in Critical Youth Studies//. New York: New York UP, 2007. Print. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> This book covers a broader range of issues related to youth than just prom. However, many of these issues are very pertinent to prom and some sections of the book do discuss prom. This book also includes the support of several universities, including the Sociology Department at San Jose State University, where it began, and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at George Mason University, where it was finished. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> <span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">Calo, Richard G. //American Prom//. Nashville, TN: Cumberland House, 2006. Print. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> This book focuses more on the meaning of prom, such as what teenagers use it for, what parents believe about it, why it is so important to teenagers, and the role it plays in the shift from childhood into adulthood. The book includes hundreds of stories from teenagers about their prom. The book views prom as less of a one-night event and more of a cultural phenomenon. It discusses the coming of age of teenagers. This book is a reliable source as it takes real-life examples and uses them to discuss the complexities involved with the event. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> Suddath, Claire. "Brief History: The Prom." //Time//. 17 May 2010. Web. <http://www.time.com/ <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> time/magazine/article/0,9171,1987594,00.html>. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> This article was posted on the //Time// website, making it a reputable source. //Time// magazine is a widely read and accepted magazine that provides information to people all over the nation. Time is also in partnership with CNN which is also a good source of information. The article provides a brief overview of the history of prom. It starts from its origins as an event for graduating university students and continues up to more modern proms where the issue of same-sex couples attending prom together is discussed. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> <span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">"The History of Prom." //Glitz!// 25 Jan. 2011. Web. <http://glitzgowns.blogspot.com/2011/01/ <span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">history-of-prom.html>. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> This article was posted on the //Glitz!// website which also specializes in prom related issues. This website actually consists of blogs about prom. Many of the blogs involve actual prom experiences and is generally for females as it talks about preparations for prom involving details about hair and makeup. This article also discusses the history of prom. It starts from the very first types of proms to modern day proms. It also discusses how prom has become such an important high school event for students and the significance of the event.