With Christmas Dance fast approaching, Clear Creek junior, senior, and select lucky sophomore girls are anticipating one of the most exciting events of the school year. Christmas Dance, to be held December 19 this year, is an exceptionally anxious time for Creek girls, as Creek celebrates this dance Sadie Hawkins style, where students break from tradition as girls ask guys to be their dates. But where does this tradition come from and why is it labeled “Sadie Hawkins”?

Well, the pastime can be traced back to a modest cartoon strip from 1937, Al Capp’s Lil’ Abner. As told by Lil’ Abner, Sadie Hawkins was a homely girl living in the hills of Dogpatch who, after being sick of waiting for boys to court her, had her father hold an annual Sadie Hawkins Day. On this special day in November, a footrace was held wherein unmarried girls chased the bachelors of Dogpatch. The result: if a boy was caught, they were married to their captor and couldn’t refuse. Though high school students aren’t claiming matrimony rights, the tradition continues to this day, as many high schools and colleges participate in Sadie Hawkins Day festivities.

This simple cartoon strip was an empowering force for girls, giving them the opportunity to confront their male counterparts in a sexually oppressive time, long before the feminist movement.

Creek junior Sarah K says she enjoys the Sadie Hawkins Christmas Dance because, “It gives girls a chance to think up a fun date instead of guys,” and adds that because guys have to wait in anticipation to see who they will be asked by, “they know how girls feel about homecoming.”

Reversing the roles of men and women, Capp’s comic strip was far ahead of its time in comparison to social standards. The strip was also welcoming to the era, for in the midst of the Great Depression, students could afford Lil’ Abner themed hillbilly costumes of rags and overalls for the popular Sadie Hawkins dances.

While Creek’s Christmas Dance is Sadie Hawkins themed, students do no dressing down. Considered by some to be more formal and anticipated than prom, Creek has adapted this colorful holiday to a more mature nature.



Different regions celebrate Sadie Hawkins Day in their own unique manners, taking this fanciful event to a national scale. Some towns contrast their Sadie Hawkins dances to Creek’s homecoming, as girls give their dates lavish, extravagant, and gaudy corsages to wear to the dance as Creek boys give their homecoming dates mums.

“I think mums are nice and all, but I’d feel pretty humiliated if I had to wear one,” says Creek senior Aaron M. Well no worries, Creek has not yet adopted this eccentric tradition for its Christmas Dance, giving most guys a sigh of relief.



Sadie Hawkins dances always prove to be an exciting time for everyone involved. From the day’s witty conception, to the irony that it’s creator, Al Capp, was in fact an amputee and unable to dance, Sadie Hawkins continues to stand the test of time and leave schoolboys nervously awaiting an offer.

This December, Creek girls will have the upper hand in the Christmas Dance, paying homage to a quote by Jill R, “No one should have to dance backward all of their lives.” And thanks to Sadie Hawkins, girls won’t have to.