Should Girls Ask Guys to Prom Because It’s Leap Year?
Full disclosure—my answer to this question is YES, of course girls should ask guys to prom, IN ANY YEAR! What century are we living in? But despite my borderline hostility to a question that, to me, is pretty damn sexist, researching how the tradition came to be, (the one in which women should propose marriage to a man in a leap year OR strictly on February 29th), was pretty fun. Please review my findings before I continue my takedown.
There are two unsubstantiated claims as to how this role reversal—God that makes me cringe—came to be. Some say the tradition—that women may only propose to men during a leap year—was initiated by Saint Patrick or Brigit Kildare (both patron saints of Ireland) back in the 5th century. But stories of women actually enacting this tradition don’t exist before the 19th century. Another claim dates back to the 1288 in which Queen Margaret of Scotland, at the tender age five, devised a law that required fines be levied against any man refusing marriage after a proposal. The woman’s compensation was deemed to be a pair of leather gloves, a single rose, £1, and a kiss. Meh. More fun facts? In Finland, the variation is that if a man refuses a woman’s proposal on leap day, he should buy her fabric for a skirt. Gee. In Greece, marriage in a leap year is considered unlucky. One in five engaged couples in Greece will actually plan to avoid getting married in a leap year. In the United States, February 29 is often referred to as “Sadie Hawkins Day.” Sadie Hawkins is a character in a “hillybilly” comic strip, “Li’l Abner (1935).” Known as the “homeliest gal in all them hills,” Sadie is still single at 35 (gasp!). In desperation to end his daughter’s spinsterdom, Sadie’s father calls together all the unmarried men of Dogpatch, (what a town), and decrees a foot race with Sadie in hot pursuit of the town’s eligible bachelors, (anyone else picking up on this not to subtle double standard? Spinsters versus eligible bachelors?). With matrimony as the consequence of losing the foot race, the men of the town run for their freedom, (again, my blood boils). The town spinsters decide that this is such a good idea they make “Sadie Hawkins Day” a mandatory yearly event, much to the chagrin of Dogpatch’s bachelors. Strangely, the story of Sadie Hawkins is in an inversion of the myth of Atalanta from Greek mythology who, reluctant to marry, agrees to wed whoever could outrun her in a footrace.
Okay, the history behind us, let me express my ire. We’ve come too damn far to subscribe to any tradition that suggests men are naturally in a position of power of women. I’m all about equality, and this leap year crap is about as unequal it gets. Women are not delicate flowers who can only muster the courage to go after what they want in a year that’s a little off, astronomically-speaking. Can we let go of these gender roles once and for all?! Ladies, if you want to ask someone to prom, ask that person to prom! Did you know that confidence is extremely attractive to men, women, and non-binary folks alike? So now, if a spark should ignite between you and your date out on the dance floor, you have all these cool—and oh-so-sexist—factoids about leap year folklore to share on your second date…
Do you live for history lessons and feminism?
