Jezebel 
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New York, 2:54 PM
Thu Dec 3
69 posts in the last 24 hours
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03/27/09
03/27/09
I think you may be the one with some misguided priorities. You've definitely never been poor and treated poorly due to your appearance.
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03/27/09
It's amazing that in Los Angeles, you could be inches away from gang territory and poverty and at-risk youths and not even realize it. By showing the positive community outreach that these organizations are doing, helps to shed light on things we otherwise may have taken for granted.
03/27/09
03/27/09
Should charitable donations be funneled toward books and education? Well, as a public school teacher, I'm gonna go with a 'yes.' But one of my main complaints about charity is that it deprives those receiving it of choice.
The girls (and maybe boys - if the nontraditional gender expressions among high schoolers in DC are anything to go by) who get these dresses have very few choices. Generally, they cannot choose the food they eat (school subsidized), the education they get (tenuous at best), their location (geographic mobility is very limited) and many other things in their lives. This charity seems frivolous, sure, but it does allow for a modicum of choice.
I'd also like to point out that the ability to afford clothing has a huge impact on some one's sense of self. I'm sure many of the posters here mix thrift store, vintage, and retail. Try shopping ONLY at Goodwill or through clothing donations. I teach at a racially and economically integrated school - but you can tell who's rich and who's not immediately (generally by shoe quality) and it's used for social stratification among teenagers, like it or not.
Having to learn the hard lesson that there are some things they cannot afford is a lesson I'm guessing most of these girls have learned early. Please, stop being patronizing. People who are poor are aware of their own poverty and the limitations it causes.
And for those of you who chose not to attend prom - yeah, I chose not to eat ice cream for breakfast, but that's not going to help the person who cannot afford breakfast.
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Just because some girls are spoiled with $400 dresses and salon treatments, doesn't mean the girls from less fortunate families can't enjoy their moment. I wouldn't say prom makes or breaks someone's self esteem (it's called perspective), but there is something to be said for really dressing up for the first time and having pride in your appearance.
And frankly, I'm sort of disgusted by the posters on here who are judging those girls for caring just because they hated high school. Get over it.
03/27/09
But I still hated prom!
03/27/09
03/27/09
I would think people could stop being so bitter and cynical and realize how good it must feel for girls to get dolled up and have a night on the town, instead of comparing it to their own apathy towards prom and what low income people should and shouldn't do according to them.
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I don't think people realize a lot of people aren't afforded the luxury of going to swanky events and having wild weddings. Prom is the closet event to those for a lot of people.
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03/27/09
That's a symptom of our culture of excess and networks like MTV that glorify the Super Sweet Sixteen sort of behavior. Teenage girls with the means wont be able to resist the urge to keep up with the Jones's and that's when parents need to step up and be a parent.
03/27/09
There are talks of holding all dances next year in the school gym and having the events be free, which I totally support.
03/27/09
That being said, I think programs like this have their hearts in the right place; the extravagance probably isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and to provide girls with a chance to participate (as much as i loathe the entire prom culture) is a truly great thing.
03/27/09
Kids go to prom who won't graduate or go to college.
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03/27/09
It appears I was not good enough to stalk.
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03/27/09
But I'll be damned if some poor girl is going to cash in her V-card while wearing ill fitting, payless shoes. She may have to make due with Boone's Farm. But she sure as hell doesn't have to sacrifice her feet.
Think of the Children, people!
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Life's hard, huh Aaron?
03/27/09
If you have access to funds and find a worthy cause, donate. Otherwise, STFU.
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03/27/09
I can only imagine the pairs of shoes Zappos could be giving to these folks.
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03/27/09
I had absolutely no idea that people shell out $300+ for gowns and limo rides. None. I did not know that this was a thing that was considered normal.
I am actually a little gobsmacked from reading some of this. I bought a dress because I thought of attending the Banquet, but I didn't go. It was $49.99 at Sears. In 1998. I still have it.
I had NO IDEA. Agh, I feel clueless and old.
03/27/09
03/27/09
I'm more worried about these girls not getting a math or science education than I am about the dresses, tbh. Prom is one night. Smart is forever.
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03/27/09
My prom was held in the cafeteria of my school. We packed up all of the lunch tables and had the DJ play near the place where we dropped off our trays to be washed. Tickets were $10.
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So I get you, but I think they can learn a lesson about not being able to have everything, but still be able to have fun at a dance.
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I thought learning was the point of high school...
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03/27/09
Some of y'all are being way harsh. So what if a low-income girl has her heart set on going to prom? Donatinge an effing dress and making her day doesn't seem like too much to give.
Jesus. Prom was lame, I didn't even buy a dress for my senior one - I borrowed a friend's - but gosh, even cynical me knows that it's an important night for some kids.
03/27/09
I am in favor of everyone experiencing the event if it means something to them. And, no matter how much I support education, it is simply heartless to tell kids, "here's a book. Read that, and it will be better for you than a night out."
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And now I have to remember this the next time she drives me crazy retrieving a half-eaten apple from the garbage...
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