In the song, “prom dress” by mxmtoon, the lyrics say, “I’m sitting here, crying in my prom dress. I’d be the prom queen if crying was a contest.” 

The first time I heard that song, I subconsciously started having the mentality that prom would be miserable. Now, over a year later, I am just a few anxious weeks away from my first prom. 

The preparation for prom isn’t just the night before or the day of. Girls (and some boys) spend weeks, even months, and hundreds of dollars on one night. I am definitely guilty of this. I have a dress and have started a new Sunday routine: self-tan, whiten teeth, pluck eyebrows. However, as I have been navigating the new waters of prom, I have also noticed some interesting (and more toxic) patterns.

I’ve noticed a lot of girls who go on strict diets the month before or start an intense workout regimen to get abs the week of. While it is always good to better yourself and your health, the fast and intense nature of these “traditions” is just not a healthy way to do that. Some even take pills to try to achieve the body they so badly desire. So many girls want to have the perfect body and that desire is magnified on this night. Prom becomes an excuse to commence these unhealthy habits.

This is why, to me, prom just seems like an excuse for toxic diet culture. Another reason to starve yourself. Why can’t prom instead be a chance to embrace yourself and your flaws? A time to feel beautiful, but beautifully flawed. Everyone has imperfections and prom should be a time to love them even more. This year, I’m trying to make my Sunday routine one for myself. Not one to fit it with standards or to please a boy; I am taking healthy actions  like practicing self-love and being positive so I feel beautiful, yet still myself. 

So instead of crying in your prom dress and comparing yourself to other girls/boys, this year take time to appreciate the body that God gave you. Full of imperfections, full of love.