Rumours are flying over the prospect of a Charlotte Catholic Sadie Hawkins dance, from what the theme might be to when it is, but what the idea behind the event is or whether the student body actually wants it may still be a toss-up.
Here are the facts about the Charlotte Catholic 2019 Sadie Hawkins dance so far:
- The dance will be on Saturday, March 16th from 8pm to 10pm.
- The theme will be St. Patrick’s Day (In March, could it be anything else?) and decorations will be made by the theatre decoration committee.
- The Junior Student Officers are in charge of organizing the dance, with Junior Student President Gilbert “Gibby” Shea as organizing chair.
- Refreshments will be provided.
- Split Second Sound DJ will return to provide music for the event.
- The link to purchase tickets is here -> https://www.ticketracker.com/store?schoolId=1603
But!- In order to understand the spirit of hosting a Sadie Hawkins dance, it is important to understand its history. The idea of a Sadie Hawkins Day began in 1937 with the comic “Li’l Abner,” in which Sadie Hawkins- the ugliest girl in all of Dogpatch and daughter of Hekzebiah Hawkins- complains that she is a spinster at 35. In order to remedy this, her father held a race with all the bachelors of Dogpatch with the loser being forced to marry Sadie. It worked, and the comic became so popular that the cartoonist Al Capp released a “Sadie Hawkins” issue every year.
In 1939, Texas Wesleyan University along with 200 other American colleges held the first Sadie Hawkins dances inspired by “Li’l Abner,” where women would take the initiative of asking men to be their date instead of the reverse. LIFE Magazine ran a double-page article on the blooming tradition that, by the early 1950s, had spread to 40,000 American universities and high schools. The radical idea of girls taking agency– even with who they would want to attend a dance with– excited young people in eras where gender roles were strictly enforced, so students flocked to these events in droves.
The tradition has been less popular at Charlotte Catholic, though, as they haven’t held a Sadie Hawkins dance since the winter of 2015 due to the dance’s unpopularity with students. Senior Benjamin Frondorf says “it was kind of popular when it happened” but that Student Council and the Parent-Teacher Organization still noticed that interest had waned over the past three years.
Part of this disinterest may be, as sophomore Clara Lobsiger says, because “[the students] are all tired during the second semester…[so] it’s harder to make a big deal about a dance,” but Shea insists “Sadie’s is going to be more casual than Homecoming” and that “it is going to be a fun event where people…do not necessarily have to ask someone.”
There is still a large demographic of students who have pushed for the comeback of Sadie’s, mainly freshmen who feel one dance for underclassmen isn’t fair compared to the two dances juniors and seniors can attend. This is exactly the group Shea is catering to, as “this is [why] Sadie Hawkins dances are popular at other schools.”
The Junior Student Officers are excited to give more opportunities for students to “relax and have fun,” and hope students enjoy this event. Whether one is on the fence about attending or has already planned the perfect outfit, the Sadie Hawkins dance may be the perfect event to relax and have a fun night before Spring Break.
The Cougar Claw 