Self-loathing has no place on prom night

By: Isabelle Lewis

4/12/2022

As prom season approaches, you can feel the tension in the air. Stress among the female senior population rises as they compete to purchase the best looking dress for this special night. This purchase is often accompanied by a large price tag. Ones that some can not afford, but fear that financial difficulty is better than looking less than absolute perfect to fit in with the rest of the group.

Boutiques have surfaced in the capital region and gained popularity among teens in the area. Making exponential profit on rising dress prices, these stores create a normalcy around spending hundreds of dollars on a prom dress. The results of an informal survey on dress ticket price revealed that the average cost one spends on a prom dress at Colonie Central high school is $370.

It is also frowned upon to have a similar dress to someone else. This issue has become so apparent that an instagram page has been created in hopes of weeding any duplicate dresses out before the special day. @colonieseniorprom22’s bio states “dm pics of ur prom dress to be posted for no repeats!!” This constant pressure of being unique prohibits people from getting the dress that they truly want and feel beautiful in.

All of these factors contribute largely to bad self image issues across the female teen population. We have all seen it in movies, the nerdy girl feeling left out, not as pretty as the rest; unfortunately, in this situation, life is like the movies. Although, many girls, regardless of their position on the populatary ladder are insecure. This has been a long-term issue, and it is time for it to change. No longer should young women be crushed by unrealistic societal expectations that are detrimental to their mental health.

According to the National Organization for Women, 78% of girls are “unhappy with their bodies” by the time they are seventeen. This is a devastating statistic that affects the generation that will soon lead our world. It is in the hands of the media and leaders in power to change the social norm that is forced on our young women. This excess of self-loathing and eating disorder tendencies are not fair, and not necessary to put on the shoulders of young women.

Our society places an emphasis on materialism, creating the norm to be to spend hundreds of dollars on a prom dress. For many families this is just not realistic, but they feel pressure to go along with the trend. Just because it is their last school dance does not mean the dress has to be expensive. It creates even more pressure to look “picture perfect” if the dress was expensive.

The focus should be on the night and the fun you can have at the dance, not who looks the best, whose dress is the worst, or if someone happens to have the same dress as you. Prom night should be about the senior class’ last hurrah together before they go their separate ways. Memories should be happy ones, not anxious ones. Time shouldn’t be spent worrying if your stomach is flat enough or if the dress fits your boobs just right. It should not encourage eating disorders, and anxious, self-loathing thoughts.

High school is the start of adult life, and this is the place that these unrealistic body expectations need to stop, before they stay for the rest of our lives. A trend of reasonable dress prices needs to be achieved in order to lessen the amount of stress, and improve young women’s mental health.