Prom Daze

Although I can barely remember my days in high school on most days (64-67). Prom is a different story. And, my-my-times "are a changin'" Take Maka Brown (below) in Utah 

Maka Brown Utah Transgender Prom Queen
From left: William Floor, prom prince, Jasper Clayton, prom king, Maka Brown, prom queen and Liliana Huettlinger, prom princess

Who would have "thunk it?" I can safely tell you NO ONE when I went to my junior prom in 1966 and Senior prom in 1967.

I am actually getting ahead of the curve a little this year with my annual "prom" post. Actually, in "years gone by" here in Cyrsti's Condo, I have been "taken to task" for writing about my Prom experiences at all. After all if I went to prom as a boy how trans could I have been?.

To me though, back then prom was the pinnacle of feminine privilege. After all, the boys were expected to ask the girl out and pick up almost all the tab for the evening. Then (to those of us who cared), the girls were the ones who were allowed to wear the fancy clothes, makeup and hair. My primary color for the evening was green-with envy.

Of course back in those days (and for years after) I didn't realize the grass on the other end of the gender divide wasn't necessarily greener. My date not only had to worry about me but how she presented to all of her friends too. Plus, I had no idea then of the expense she had to put up for the evening. (Hair, nails, dress, shoes, accessories -etc.) Plus, it wasn't until years later I learned the pain of waiting for someone to ask you to Prom was as bad as the insecurity of asking.

Plus, these days, I can't imagine what the "social media" generation goes through. Somehow, I can't believe Maka Brown's selection as promo queen was met with universal approval and bullying can take so many different paths than it used to. (Another blog post.)  

In future posts, I will write about Senior Prom.

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