Today is Sadie Hawkins Day \u2014 or, maybe not. The date of Sadie Hawkins Day can vary. Some people celebrate the day on the first Saturday in November. Some choose November 15 because that\u2019s when it actually \u201coriginated,\u201d (more on that later) and many choose today \u2014 November 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sadie Hawkins Day has been around since the year before I was born, but actually came into prominence in 1939 when \u201cLife\u201d magazine published a two-page spread about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I was little, I always heard about Sadie Hawkins Day, even though it didn\u2019t mean much to me. Nowadays, you don\u2019t hardly hear it mentioned\u2026. maybe Sadie Hawkins Day just doesn\u2019t seem relevant today. So what the heck is it, and how did it come about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It all started with a comic strip called Li\u2019l Abner, drawn by cartoonist Al Capp. The comic strip was set in a fictitious town called Dogpatch. On November 15, 1937, the comic strip introduced the idea of a day when all unmarried ladies, including the character Sadie Hawkins, could pursue their men. If the men were caught, marriage was unavoidable. This finally led to an annual \u201cgirls-ask boys\u201d day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So here\u2019s the whole story as pieced together from my extensive research:
This whole thing started from a plot line in Al Capp\u2019s comic strip \u201cLi\u2019l Abner.\u201d The comic strip was set in the American South. The story involved a rich man\u2019s daughter named Sadie Hawkins in the fictional town of Dogpatch, Kentucky, who was so \u201chomely\u201d that she was still unmarried at 35. Her father was worried and gathered all the bachelors of the town together and set up a sort of race, with the men running ahead of Sadie. The one she finally caught would have to marry her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The original Sadie Hawkins \u201cLi\u2019l Abner\u201d comic strip was printed in 1937 in many American (and foreign) newspapers. Al Capp didn\u2019t intend for his comic strip story plot to gain so much social momentum, but after he revised the storyline in November of 1938, American college students started to honor the idea of gender role reversal by holding Sadie Hawkins dances and other events. Then in 1939, \u201cLife\u201d magazine published a two-page spread with the headline, \u201cOn Sadie Hawkins Day Girls Chase Boys in 201 Colleges.\u201d And from that\u2026 the tradition was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Capp received tons of fan mail, and he went back to the Sadie Hawkins theme every November \u2014 and put a new spin on it each year. One year there was a \u201cSadie Hawkins Eve dance,\u201d where the women wore hobnail boots and stomped on the men\u2019s feet, to make them run slower in the next day\u2019s race so they\u2019d be easier too catch and marry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, Sadie Hawkins dances became popular, not only at colleges and universities but at high schools and junior high schools\u2026. probably most of the young participants weren\u2019t even aware of the old comic strip storyline.
Of course today the idea of women \u201cneeding\u201d to be married \u2014 at any age, is an antiquated point of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I should mention that Sadie Hawkins Day isn\u2019t the only day associated with the \u201cgirls-ask-boys.\u201d A similar tradition is associated with February 29 in leap years. Long ago, Leap Day was also known as \u201cLadies Day\u201d or \u201cLadies Privilege,\u201d the only day when women were free to propose to men. No one knows for sure, but the event may have been based on a Scottish law in the 1200s or on an Irish legend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But today is Sadie Hawkins Day for a lot of people and its one of those holidays that you may celebrate or criticize as you see fit\u2026..
\u201430 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today is Sadie Hawkins Day \u2014 or, maybe not. The date of Sadie Hawkins Day can vary. Some people celebrate the day on the first Saturday in November. Some choose November 15 because that\u2019s when it actually \u201coriginated,\u201d (more on … Continue reading