On March 8th, 2025, the Lakota West National Honor Society will host its annual Sadie Hawkins dance. This historic dance, which has existed since 1939, has been hosted in nearly 200 colleges around the country. Almost 90 years later, the concept of Sadie Hawkins has become outdated and lost the interest of students. The concept is simple: Students go to a dance, typically in the early winter months around or after Valentine’s Day. The twist, however, is that the gentlemen aren’t the ones to ask out a partner. Instead, the ladies take the chance to ask the guy they want to go to the dance with, flipping the status quo of what a typical power dynamic looks like in relationships.
At the time, the concept made perfect sense. As time passed, however, students criticized the idea for being misogynistic and attempting to put down women, pushing the concept of women’s decisions being inferior unless the man allowed it to happen. At the end of the day, allowing women one time to make the decision acts as a backhanded opportunity, instilling the idea that they aren’t good enough to ask someone out whenever they’d like. Sadie Hawkins is a reminder that the men, who voluntarily take the inferior role, will still end up on top.
In 2025, many people don’t care about who asks who out. At the end of the day, being attracted to someone is simply that: no strings attached. If you want to ask someone out, there shouldn’t be rules about how to do it. The 2023-2024 school year demonstrated exactly why students were tired of the dance. Held two weeks before spring break, students were cramming for the end of 3rd Quarter, with numerous teachers holding presentations, tests, and projects. Prom was just a month away, and invitations were already out for their theme, “Met Gala.” Along with a cliche Disney theme, Tangled, the excitement for Sadie Hawkins just wasn’t present. The dance had fallen flat, and the ticket sales showed it: the dance was nearly canceled due to low predicted attendance, and was moved to the cafeteria to accommodate the minimal crowd size.
Sadie Hawkins has to go, but what can we do to replace it? Well, I think it’s time to introduce a Winter Formal. The idea is fresh, isn’t connected to any outdated traditions, and can still be held at the school. One major difference is that there is no theme to the dance; students barely choose outfits based on the theme in the first place, so why try and give the idea that you have to fit the specified theme that 90% of the student body has no say over? A lack of theming would also allow for the same decorations to be used each year, with a small new addition every so often. This would save the school money, less time to be planned, and allow for the dance to have a recognizable image, giving students a reliable dance to participate in. Students might care about dressing to the color scheme if it stays the same each year!
Acting as a dance between dances, rebranding would not only make people say “hm, I wonder what this is all about,” but also allow students to create social buzz surrounding it, letting them come up with their own image for what the dance should look like. With NHS running the dance, it won’t have to abide by the same mental rules Homecoming or Prom has to follow. If students are supposed to show up, you have to make it different.
Sadie Hawkins has proven to be an outdated idea that simply isn’t getting the same attention it used to. Holding a Winter Formal is an event numerous other schools hold, and it still allows for a bit of freedom in how it’s run. It’s time for Sadie Hawkins to go, and address the growing problem of early winter dances. Rebranding is the only option to revive any type of 3rd quarter dance. Can Lakota West pull through, or will Sadie Hawkins continue to get worse as every year passes by?
