With the new year starting up, Winter Carnival is on the clock at Chelsea high school. Along with Homecoming and Prom, it’s one of the school's three biggest dances. Commonly in male-female relationships, boys adopt the role of proposing to girls for dances, but Chelsea couples have been breaking this tradition, sparking conflicting opinions among students. This year‘s shift to having girls propose has sparked mixed reactions among students, including senior AJ Smith, junior Nia King, and sophomore Eleanor Hoonhorst.
“I’m proposing to my boyfriend AJ,” King said. “He really likes going to Moe's so I was thinking, I'm gonna make a little card, and it's gonna say, ‘Want to Moes-y on over to winter carnival?’”
According to King, she enjoys having the role of proposing and likes how winter carnival feels more relaxed compared to other school dances. She believes the new tradition works best when the couple already feels comfortable with each other.
“I like how girls do the proposing for winter carnival,” King said. “I think it's fun and light- hearted, especially if the girl has been dating the guy, and they’re comfortable with each other.”
Smith and King have been dating for quite some time now, and Smith is expecting his proposal. He isn’t so sure how it’ll happen, but he has some guesses based on past proposals.
“I’m expecting a proposal this winter carnival,” Smith said. “My prediction is that I’ll get a sign that maybe has something to do with my dog, because my proposal to Nia was about her dog.”
Smith believes that having girls propose helps relieve some of the pressure that usually falls on boys, so having a lighthearted and unique tradition can be super fun, especially if you're feeling certain about the answer to your proposal.
“I like that the girls do the proposals for winter carnival,” Smith said. “I think it takes a lot of stress off of the boys’ shoulders because it can be kind of stressful, especially if you don’t know if they’ll say yes or not.”
Some girls are deciding not to propose this year because of unsure feelings about the new tradition. Many feel it is not completely socially acceptable yet, which makes a full proposal feel unnecessary to them.
“I probably won't be proposing to anyone this year,” Hoonhorst said. “I just don’t think it’s normalized and it’s not socially acceptable yet I feel like.”
Even though she does not plan on proposing, Hoonhorst still believes the tradition is fair. She believes it’s a nice way to balance expectations between between school dances.
“I think it’s fair that girls have to do the proposing for winter carnival,” Hoonhorst said “It makes sense that they would since boys have to propose to the girls for all of the other dances.”
