Promposals: A sweet tradition or an unfair expectation?

Senior+Joe+Ryan+proposed+prom+to+senior+Christina+Bacon.+She+said+yes.

Senior Joe Ryan “proposed” prom to senior Christina Bacon. She said yes.

With spring approaching people are beginning to spring the question. Prom?

Just this past month junior and senior girls have started to realize that prom is around the corner as they race to claim their unique dresses. Once the first tweet or snapchat of a girl’s dress is sent out, Miss Priss and Geno’s become mad houses, with girls attacking the racks and storming the fitting rooms, trying to find the best dress and calling dibs.

All of the single guys are beginning to search for their prom date. But, whether they’re single or not, if a guy doesn’t ask their girl the right way, they’ll end up without a date and an expensive suit hanging in their closet.

Data from Facebook shows a definite peak in relationships formed around the time or Prom and then a noticeable decrease about two weeks later.

Promposals are somewhat of a new phenomenon. The PLD librarian, Mrs. Perry,  said, “2007 was the first year I ever saw this happen, Richie Stephan asked Kayla Bryan to prom by putting post-its on her car that spelled out P-R-O-M.”  It’s been just about eight years since then and promposals have become pretty much a new requirement when it comes to asking a girl to prom. After seeing Richie prompose to Kayla Mrs. Perry concludes, “The expectations all there now. They weren’t before.”

However, as romantic as a promposal may seem, some guys think it’s unfair that they have to be the ones putting their time and money into asking a girl out. Senior Michael Normark said, “It’s pretty sexist… you don’t see girls doing that.” Rest Hiu has a different train of thought when it comes to who should be asking who to prom. She said, “It’s more natural for guys to do it than girls.” To an extent this might be true. From dates to marriage proposals, more often than not you’d typically see the guy asking the girl that isn’t much different when it comes to prom.

Senior Clark Smith thought, “It’s pretty crazy that you have to put all that effort into it.” It’s true that for a promposal to be “effective” the guys have to put some thought into how they’re planning on asking. But at the same time Clark admitted, “There’s really no option. You either do it or you don’t go to prom.” Even though it may come sound like guys need to put an immense amount of effort into a promposal some girls wouldn’t mind something short, sweet and to the point. Junior Breanna White said, “It could be as simple as a poster board. It’s just the thought that counts.”

For girls, prom is something almost out of a fairytale. Some girls have been dreaming of prom since they were little kids. But a big part of prom for girls is the way a guy asks a girl to prom. Senior Fatima Siddigi said, “They’re cute. If it’s done right, it can be really sweet.”

Whether you’re day dreaming of how that special someone is going to ask you or if you’re trying to plan your own promposal, here are a few trends that we’ve noticed when it comes to promposals.

  • Mom Prom

A newer promposal trend that’s gaining popularity this prom season is requiring a certain number of “re-tweets” on Twitter to take a girl to prom. This is definitely one of the cheapest routes when it comes to promposals even though it can be a little tacky. However, this can become a bad situation when it is turned into a “Mom Prom” tweet. For example, as a joke (hopefully) guys will text their friends “How many RT’s to take your mom to prom?” If you’re planning on promposing this way don’t be one of those guys. If you are, you’re going to show up date-less.

  • Scoring a Date

Athletes have it pretty easy because they can prompose with a cute, cliché quote on a sign with their own sports equipment. This comes at pretty much no cost and it’s easy to put together. For example, a baseball player could write “you’d be a catch to take to prom” on a baseball. A football player could write “let’s tackle prom together” on a football. These can come off cliché but girls love a guy in a jersey.  Athletes can definitely score with these promposals.

  • A Cheesy Way

A promposal that’s been around for a while are food promposals. It’s pretty hard for a girl to say no to food. From pizzas to donuts to chicken nuggets, one of the things that guys definitely understand is that the way to a girl’s heart is through her stomach. This type of promposal is ideal for guys who wait until the last minute to ask a girl to prom.

  • Cuddle With Your Date

Definitely the most adorable and cliché way to ask a girl to prom is with a stuffed animal. Every girl loves to cuddle, especially with something soft and fuzzy. As always a girl’s preference would be for a huge stuffed animal versus the smaller ones. This route is bound to get some kisses for cuteness.

  • Put a Ring on It

Some guys with extra cash can choose to take the extravagant route and propose with jewelry. Ideally, this kind of promposal is for couples who’ve been dating for a while. You wouldn’t really want to spend this much money on someone you just met. Just a small black box with a cute bow on top can take a girl’s breath away.  Most guys have notes ready to put in the case for their special girl. If they don’t, there are rings that can be personalized just for prom.  From Pandora to Zale’s, you’ll definitely find future promposals waiting in the cases.