Prom King Candidate is a Girl
When I went to my high school prom my junior year, two girls who were widely known as best friends, donned tuxes and went together. It was some time before the reality of that situation dawned on me. In fact, I remembered admiring their formalwear in a year when hoop skirts and rattails were popular simultaneously. Not at all the hoop skirt types, they looked good, and comfortable.
So when CNN ran this story today I thought of those girls. I also thought of the openly GLBT teens in high school and college my kids and I have known. How wonderful that we’ve seemingly made progress including kids who are “different.” (Seemingly, because I’m not naive enough to believe that these kids are accepted or treated fairly everywhere. Progress, yes. Across the board? Not yet.)
A fellow student was quoted as saying, “We live in a generation now where dudes are chicks and chicks are dudes.” Indeed.
People will certainly raise a fuss over the prom king; it gives me hope to know there’s a kid out there who was not afraid to have that tough conversation with parents and friends, and to live her life openly.
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:53 am
MJ, you must be a cool mom to have. (I’m sure there are times your kids would disagree, but still.) Hope to parent as well one day myself.
April 23rd, 2007 at 9:42 pm
You will be an awesome mom. I think I need to try harder to be a little less cool sometimes. I’m just not embarrassing them enough.
April 24th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Yes, you need to try to be powerfully uncool.
reminds me of one of the best Simpsons’ episodes ever, “Homerpalooza”:
“Bart: Dad! No one cares about any of your stupid dinosaur bands! You
have the worst, lamest taste in music ever.
[turns off the radio]
Homer: I’m just trying to party with you guys.
Bart: Homer, first of all, it’s “par-tay”, and second, we wouldn’t
“par-tay” with you if you were the last dad on Earth.”
and
“Homer: So, I realized that being with my family is more important
than being cool.
Bart: Dad, what you just said was powerfully uncool.
Homer: You know what the song says: “It’s hip to be square”.
Lisa: That song is so lame.
Homer: So lame that it’s… cool?
Bart+Lisa: No.
Marge: Am I cool, kids?
Bart+Lisa: No.
Marge: Good. I’m glad. And that’s what makes me cool, not caring,
right?
Bart+Lisa: No.
Marge: Well, how the hell do you be cool? I feel like we’ve tried
everything here.
Homer: Wait, Marge. Maybe if you’re truly cool, you don’t need to
be told you’re cool.
Bart: Well, sure you do.
Lisa: How else would you know?”