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| Left, Al Capp's characters; right, my date and me. We didn’t “marry up” or even date afterwards, but we went to a Sadie Hawkins dance as sophomores in high school. |
The cartoonist Al Capp used his “L’il Abner” character, Sadie Hawkins, to introduce to the world the notion of girls asking boys out instead of the other way around. In Capp’s 1937 storyline, the women of Dogpatch, U.S.A., had one day a year during which they could chase down a bachelor in order to “marry up.” The notion quickly morphed into a popular means by which junior and high school age girls throughout the U.S. could ask a boy to a dance once each year. It became so popular that by 1952 there were over 400,000 known venues throughout Canada and the U.S. where a day was devoted to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. My high school was one of them. I won’t get into the whole awfulness that touches upon everything from patriarchy to feminism because that’s simply too much for my humble blogpost. But I encourage you to think about those things on your own.
Asking anyone to a dance is a nerve-wracking undertaking, and my experience was no different. I had recently broken up with my one and only ever boyfriend and was pretty ticked off about the way it happened. I had no idea who to ask to the dance and seriously considered just sitting the whole thing out. But, a few weeks before the dance I was suddenly quite inspired with a wicked and vengeful idea. I would ask my ex’s twin brother.
I knew the twins were somewhat competitive because I had gone to school with them both since first grade. My ex was the less shy of the two so I wasn’t sure if his twin would agree to go with me. But, I mustered up the courage, with a couple good friends cheering me on—they, too, wanted to see me avenged in this small way—and made the ask.
My ex’s twin said yes. And isn’t that an interesting thing to deconstruct decades later? But, again, I think that’s a topic best left for my fellow armchair psychologists to contemplate on their own.
I immediately got started on the dress I would wear. Mom took me to the local fabric shop where we picked out a Simplicity pattern and the fabric. I laid out the pieces of the pattern, cut them out, and then stitched and sewed my way to a formal dress. I didn’t quite get the bodice right—made it a tad too large in perhaps a moment of some wishful thinking—but managed to hitch it up with a few safety pins at the last minute to make it work. I was taking this date seriously. I was going to look my best, if for no other reason than to make sure that my ex would suffer when he saw the photos.
My date brought me a corsage that Mom helped to pin on the lapel of my dress. And that’s about the last thing I remember about that dance. Afterall, the climax of it had happened long before he came to pick me up because “the ask” was the thing when it came to a Sadie Hawkins dance. “The ask” was everything in that I had not only been accepted, but I had delivered a message loud and clear.
Thankfully, I think my date was completely aware of my motives and not the least bit bothered by them. He seemed to be quite happy to place his hand with mine on the proverbial knife and give it a good stab into his brother.
I think this story may be the very definition of what it means to be sophomoric.
Copyright DJ Anderson, 2019
