Jill Baer
What does the average teenager think of when they hear the word “Homecoming?” The dance, perhaps? Short glittery dresses, cheesy signs written in Crayola marker? Or maybe it’s the football game? An onslaught of school colors, big dudes in football uniforms. (Listen, there’s a reason I don’t cover sports.) Well, I personally think of Homecoming royalty. Y’know, the thing you voted for during that one extended third period? What does the student body think of it? Why are there monarchies for school dances? How have these archaic traditions evolved in inclusivity since the early 20th century when they originated? And finally, what effect does this popularity contest-esque tradition have on the student body, especially girls? These are all questions people in my third period class had. So I, local nosy neighbor, decided to find out.
First off, let’s talk about the why. The first Homecoming celebration was held at Southwestern University on April 21st, 1909 in a park near the school. It was vastly different from the Homecomings we are used to today. However, when I looked into when the tradition of royalty started, I was met with little information. The earliest records of a Homecoming I could find was way back in 1946, at the University of Georgia. The first high school queen was Ms. Ida Katherine Sadoz Landry, who was crowned in 1950 at Erath High School. So, as you could probably gather, this is a very old tradition. But, is it so old that it is not seen as important with today’s student population?
I got a mix of responses when I asked this question, ranging from “I think it’s great, there are no issues.” to “This is idiotic, and it needs to stop.” An interesting take I got was from a group I interviewed. “I think it’s fine, because if you want to be nominated, someone will nominate you, and if you don’t, then you just… won’t. Y’know?” Her friends all nodded in agreement. However, I found a contradiction to that. One student, who wished to remain nameless, opened up to me about her desires to attain a crown. “There’s some part of me that wants it, you know? But then, I know I’m not popular enough to get nominated, or pretty enough. So I just don’t say anything. But, sometimes, we all wish, right?” That we do. Some girls that I asked did wish to be nominated, but felt they were not high enough on the social ladder, or were just simply too “ugly” for the part. It was truly heartbreaking to see the self-esteem of all these amazing and beautiful individuals plummet whenever royalty was brought up. Others simply did not care. On that side of the issue, fellow staff member Ashlynn Johnson gave me their thoughts while waiting for the activity bus. “I mean, it’s just a popularity contest, right? I don’t think it’s super interesting. It’s just a popularity thing. I don’t care.” The theme of “I don’t care” persisted with me in my other interviews. It seems that most students have bigger fish to fry than who gets a plastic crown at a football game. That is, until I found Mariam. Mariam, (my boss) is a perfect human who manages to do everything all at once. One of the things she finds time to do is be on WHS ASB. This year, you might have noticed that instead of Prince or Princess on our ballots, we had two genderless “Highness” positions. Mariam told me how much work the ASB had put in to make the roles more inclusive this year.
“I understand that some people may not like royalty, but we worked really hard this year to make it more inclusive. We had the Knight and Wizard and stuff like that. We worked really hard to make everyone feel welcome.” Despite the variety of opinions on Homecoming, I think everyone could agree that this was a welcome, uncontested change. This way genderqueer students can feel welcomed, and students can nominate anyone they want, regardless of gender.
All in all, Homecoming doesn’t seem to consume the minds of WHS students, but it does bring to attention, yet again, female students’ insecurities with their bodies. According to the National Institute on Media and the Family, “one study reports that at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are ‘unhappy with their bodies.’ This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen” (Washington EDU). Truly this begs the question, why is Homecoming royalty still a thing? It has the possibility to pit teen girls against each other, but perhaps even more detrimentally, pits teen girls against their own bodies. At the end of the day, is the positive inclusivity of Homecoming worth the jealousy or insecurity that comes along with it? That’s up to the WHS student body to decide. In my opinion, there is no wrong answer. It depends on the person in question.
Happy Homecoming everyone. You don’t need a cheap crown to be worth something. Now, go Falcons!
