Gender roles are a huge problem in our society, their appearances are no exception to our campus and they need to be broken. People will often excuse this problem by saying it’s “tradition”, but the world we live in is a world growing more mindful and open about others, regardless of these outdated practices. This however, is a generalization, as many still fail to accept others for who they are.

The background of the “traditional” boy-asks-girl role promotes male superiority and misogyny. We need to stop dividing the “masculinity” and “femininity” that labels men as dominant and women as submissive. They should each share and be able to do things for each other without being judged.

Since school has started and homecoming time (for many schools) is here, I often see homecoming proposals that go viral on social media. The boy usually makes a poster or buys gifts and everyone loves to watch in jealousy and appreciation. Boys have too much pressure put on them to create a nice proposal and act according to the “masculine” standard, which can makes them feel nervous or ashamed.

Girls shouldn’t be dependent or wait on boys to ask them. They should go out and do that themselves if they want to. It’s very rare to see that happen and when it does, the girl is subsequently labelled as “weird” while the boy is being called “scary” for not asking the girl instead. This reliance on traditional gender roles in modern society is still prevalent.  

Gender roles pop up in different ways other than dance proposals at school too. It’s very common to hear ignorant things like: “You look/hit/act/dress like a girl!” or “____ is (only) for girls!”. This behavior represents toxic and fragile masculinity meaning they restrict men from having certain emotions or mannerisms and sets social expectations so they don’t get called “gay” or “ a girl”. It categorizes women as weak and is an insult to us as being “feminine” or not caring about living up to the masculine standards is seen as inadequate.

When it actually comes to the school dances, it’s flooded with the normalized idea that everyone who attends will bring a date to fit the heterosexual standard. It’s not common to find LGBT+ dates because some of them are scared of showing off to everyone who they are and who they love. Dances and school events should be safe and nonjudgmental for everyone, no matter their gender or sexuality.

Homecoming and prom dances normally plan a “court” that nominates people to win the title “King” or “Queen”. That is also very heteronormative and uses the traditional straight titles. With these titles, it’s obviously rare and hard for LGBT+ to participate in aforementioned court and I’m sure schools could find better titles that are gender-neutral.

Everyone should be able to feel accepted at their own school, even if they are labelled as different.