Interview 1(Summarized): The person that I chose to interview from our age group who has not been to prom is my friend Stephen. When I asked Stephen what he expected prom to be like he immediately being smiling. He described going shopping with his friends to get his tuxedo, getting the freshest haircut of his life, summing up the courage to ask a girl to prom, paying for his limo and hotel room, and just celebrating what may be the last time he ever sees some of these kids. When I asked Stephen why he wanted to participate in prom he explained to me that it's basically one of the most important things in 12th grade. It' s going to be one of the best nights of his life, and he wants to spend it with his friends before he never sees some of them ever again. He even went far enough to say he would consider himself lame if he didn't go to prom saying only losers and people who can't get dates do that. When I asked him what his thoughts on the dominant social practices of prom were he didn't really know what to think. He said to me what does that even mean? Prom is just set up the way it is because kids need some significant event in their life before they go to college.
Interview 2(Summarized): The second person that I chose to interview that is a freshman in college is my cousin Cory. When I asked Cory what he experienced at prom, he described it as literally being the best moment of high school. He got to hang out with his friends outside of school, he got to hang out with his teachers outside of school and see them as real people instead of authority figures. To him this was truly the fun part about prom since he thought his teachers were interesting and cool people, he really got to see this during prom where everyone is dressed professionally but is still chilling. When I asked him his thoughts on the dominant social practices about prom he was confused. He realized like most people he had never really thought about it.He began asking himself questions out loud. Some of his questions for himself were why did I feel the need to dress up, why were the teachers and staff even there, why did I have to ask my date out why couldn't it be the other way around? I left him in the room by himself so that he could take a step back and analyze himself. He needed the time to himself.
Interview 3(Summarized): The third person that I chose to interview was my mother. When I asked my mother what she thought about the dominant social practices of prom she described kids being forced to act into gender roles. "The men have to seem big and brave and force up the courage to ask the women to go to prom. The women have to try and pick out the most beautiful/revealing dress which is often very expensive so that they can impress the men and out do the females. The prom industry knows this and they make millions off these kids. Limousines and hotel rooms it all tricks these kids into thinking that their grown ups, that way they don't mind as much. Kids even have an easier access to alcohol specifically at prom. This is the most outrageous aspect to me drugs at a social event such a prom. It's all a joke. Me personally I didn't even go to prom when I was a kid. I saved a lot of money and time.It didn't set me back socially, mentally, or emotionally because anyone that tried to tease got their a**es beat. It's really just a personal decision that everyone has to make. Do you or do you not want to go, simple as that?"
Analysis Paragraph: While reviewing my interviews I began to realize I had some interesting unexpected responses. What a joke it was predictable the kid who did not go to prom was extremely exited for prom. He had his own Disney like idea of what to expect. All the cliches wrapped around prom could be found from Stephen's interview. As for my second interview with Cory who went through prom already as expected he had a blast it was the best moment of high school for him. Instead of mainly enjoying the company of his peers he enjoyed the company of the adults around him. Could prom be the reason for this? Was he so caught up in the "moment" that he considered himself an adult already? His rite of passage was complete already. Last but not least was my mother's interview the educated older women who seemed fixed on bashing the prom industry, and kids interested in prom all because she decided to not be part of it during her childhood. It was a waste of money to her and simply unimportant. She turned out fine for the most part completing her rite of passage into adulthood in her own unique way.
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