You May Have Worn The Prom Dress

[VVV]

The comments are gold though.

[JermajestyDuggar]

I've literally never thought of my husband's going to prom. Because when he went to prom, I was still in elementary school  Boy am I glad I didn't go to prom with him. Talk about awkward.

[Howl]

HuffPo explains it all for you: Author Of Viral ‘Prom Dress/Wedding Dress’ Reveals Why She Really Wrote It

Quote

Victoria Higgins wants you to know that she’s not a jealous psychopath, she’s just a writer who needed to meet a deadline.

The 22-year-old Missouri State University senior writes a weekly column for The Odyssey, a website that posts blogs targeted to various colleges and universities.

Last week, she was suffering writer’s block until she remembered a conversation she had with a friend a week or so earlier.  Click on the title for full text. 

 

[GeoBQn]

Of course my husband went to prom with someone else.  We lived in different states and didn't know of each other's existence until grad school.  So yes, he went to prom with his high school girlfriend and even lost his virginity to her that night.  It's something that I never think about and it never comes up.  (Ok, I will admit to teasing him about being a high school movie cliche for losing his virginity on prom night when he first told me about it.)

The guy I went to senior prom with is still a good friend, now to both of us.

[Ivycoveredtower]

17 minutes ago, Howl said:

HuffPo explains it all for you: Author Of Viral ‘Prom Dress/Wedding Dress’ Reveals Why She Really Wrote It

 

the follow up article makes her sound more crazy. sure sweetie it wasn't from you it was just a "Character" you were writing . 

and then she says she was cyperbullied give me a break. 

[December]

2 hours ago, singsingsing said:

I'm trying to view this from the other side. If I were engaged to some guy who was hung up on who I went to prom with, or the fact that he wasn't the first man I'd kissed, or whatever, I would run very fast in the other direction.

I didn't go to prom, so I guess my husband has nothing to be jealous of!  In all seriousness, I can't understand the logic of missing out on events that happened in someone's life before you were in it. (Or is this from the perspective of someone who wanted to date the guy in high school but didn't until after?) Isn't the whole point of starting a relationship to make wonderful new memories together? 

[BunnyBee]

35 minutes ago, Ivycoveredtower said:

the follow up article makes her sound more crazy. sure sweetie it wasn't from you it was just a "Character" you were writing . 

and then she says she was cyperbullied give me a break. 

Ehhh she is young so I will give her a pass. I kind of understand that she was playing to her audience, especially a purity culture influenced, younger, and immature audience.

I also have written some extremely bad papers in college under the pressure of trying to meet a deadline. Thankfully, none of those papers were published on the internet!  

[catlady]

32 minutes ago, Ivycoveredtower said:

the follow up article makes her sound more crazy. sure sweetie it wasn't from you it was just a "Character" you were writing . 

it drives me batshit crazy when someone writes/says something publicly, gets this kind of push-back, then says it was a joke or had a misunderstood meaning or some such.  it comes across as unprofessional.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

49 minutes ago, Howl said:

HuffPo explains it all for you: Author Of Viral ‘Prom Dress/Wedding Dress’ Reveals Why She Really Wrote It

 

This makes me even more suspicious of the situation. Why does some online content mill have a 20yo college student "on deadline" to write oversharing first-person narratives? The Odyssey's about page -- which on the whole makes it look like this is mostly a content marketing scheme -- says that "community creators" have editors. But I'm browsing the columns from my alma mater (which is known for its writing programs!) and the quality is god awful.

IDK, stuff like this makes me cringe. The site and its sponsors have an interest in making content go viral-- and I really doubt that much if any of their ad revenue gets passed on to smaller contributors. And if your writing staff is a bunch of dipshit college kids, the best bet for drawing a lot of clicks is to let someone absolutely show her ass in public.

[Seahorse Wrangler]

Quote

Stop taking tragedies and making them into political agendas that do not even make sense. I hate the fact that I even had to refute the social media posts that I see, but that is what it has gotten to. You are not even letting people mourn. They have not even had time to BURY THEIR LOVED ONES and you are already discussing your campaign slogans for 2018 and 2020.

Wake. Up. America.

We can argue our sides later. Let these families figure out how to survive without their significant others and children. The last thing these families need is your negativity and selfishness. They need love because they just lost part of their hearts.

Shut up about your political agenda and show empathy for these people. We are all sick of hearing it, and you might actually get further in life if you show some respect.

I pray for these families and cannot imagine the heartache that they are feeling. They need time to heal and move on, although there will always be a hole in their lives. Let's come together as a country to support them, not fight against each other with politics.

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/stop-immediately-turning-tragedies-selfish-political-agenda

 

Empathy , Ms Higgins doth not hath it.

[Ozlsn]

It's taken me all morning but I finally worked out what the article was reminding me of. It's that godawful "Sk8er boi" song by the singer who my brain is refusing to remember because they hated that song and another of her songs So. Damn. Much. (She wore socks though, thanks brain.) It's the whole "nyer nyer look at me, I WON because he's MINE and you are just JEALOUS" theme that irritates me in both. I'm sure this author's prom date is going "he's getting married?! To her?!? Sucks to be him, pass me that mimosa..." in the same way that the song ex-cool girl was probably more "hey did you see what that dweeby kid from school's doing now?" rather than "oh I'm so devastated because he's famous and has a girlfriend who isn't me after I knocked him back a decade ago." 

tl;dr: both irritate me because they are pre-teen and convinced they are the centre of the damn universe. And both need to grow up.

tl;dr#2: (Wow I really do still hate that song with a passion.)

[AnnaSofia]

2 hours ago, Black Aliss said:

I have just one word for her fiance: RUUUUUUN!

 

Except I'm pretty sure that if he tries, she'll track his ass down and boil his pets....

[GreatScott]

@Ozlsn you’re thinking of Avril Lavigne and I totally agree with you. 

This is such a strange topic to have such a strong opinion on. I know my husbands prom date, like her, and really don’t give a shit. That was ten years ago, three years before we met. It has no bearing in our lives currently aside from his mom having a photo of her in her photo albums. Which stresses me out so much /s

Just now, AnnaSofia said:

 

Except I'm pretty sure that if he tries, she'll track his ass down and boil his pets....

Then she’ll write an article to her ex-fiancés new wife ‘you’re welcome for teaching him eveyething’  

[picklepizzas]

haha we were reading this out loud and laughing about it at work this morning. i highly recommend one of her other recent posts: "5 reasons spring break actually sucks" soooo whiny

[NakedKnees]

Her reply via Huffpost is interesting. I get it that she's an immature writer who was targeting an immature audience. However, she has a lot to learn about criticism if she thinks readers need to understand how different she (the author) is from the narrator, particularly via needing to explain the context. Its just poor storytelling. That piece clearly couldn't stand on its own to her liking, let alone to anyone else's.

I think the "respect that I feel differently from you" is the new "freedom of speech!!!11" refrain. It's just a weak "don't criticize meeee" that never seems to apply to anyone who actually feels differently than the person claiming it.

[BunnyBee]

1 hour ago, Seahorse Wrangler said:

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/stop-immediately-turning-tragedies-selfish-political-agenda

 

Empathy , Ms Higgins doth not hath it.

I take my empathy back.............

[keen23]

Her HuffPost reply is such bullshit when you read her other essays and realize that she’s just all obsessed with her man.

[MomKB]

She is young, but according to the HuffPo article she is 22 and a college senior. I was thinking she was maybe a freshman where prom would be more fresh in her mind. By now I would think other things would be more important, especially if she thinks she's mature enough for marriage.

[FeministShrew]

Mr. Shrew can't even remember who his prom date was.
To be honest, when I saw the thread title I was hoping for a post with pictures of horrible prom dresses to snark on.

[Shoobydoo]

18 hours ago, NachosFlandersStyle said:

This makes me even more suspicious of the situation. Why does some online content mill have a 20yo college student "on deadline" to write oversharing first-person narratives? The Odyssey's about page -- which on the whole makes it look like this is mostly a content marketing scheme -- says that "community creators" have editors. But I'm browsing the columns from my alma mater (which is known for its writing programs!) and the quality is god awful.

IDK, stuff like this makes me cringe. The site and its sponsors have an interest in making content go viral-- and I really doubt that much if any of their ad revenue gets passed on to smaller contributors. And if your writing staff is a bunch of dipshit college kids, the best bet for drawing a lot of clicks is to let someone absolutely show her ass in public.

Meh, that's how content mills work. They hire impoverished freelance writers and pay them a pittance to produce cheap "articles" at an absolutely ABSURD schedule. She may have had a single day to come up with this. Word count and speed of output are what's important, not quality. I believe that she crapped out an article because she was on a tight schedule.

 

However, I also believe that it was all 100% her real opinions.... Until half the internet disagreed with her, anyway. 

 

Please excuse any riffles, posting from my phone

[Seculardaisy]

37 minutes ago, FeministShrew said:

Mr. Shrew can't even remember who his prom date was.
To be honest, when I saw the thread title I was hoping for a post with pictures of horrible prom dresses to snark on.

Here, you can snark on mine. GREEN. I remember I thought this was the most beautiful dress on earth.  In keeping with the theme of this thread, unlike the author of this article - I am married to my prom date all of these years later.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

30 minutes ago, Shoobydoo said:

Meh, that's how content mills work. They hire impoverished freelance writers and pay them a pittance to produce cheap "articles" at an absolutely ABSURD schedule. She may have had a single day to come up with this. Word count and speed of output are what's important, not quality. I believe that she crapped out an article because she was on a tight schedule 

Exactly. I used to work in an adjacent industry and it sort of turned me off the whole idea of writing as a career, because those folks get treated like shit. And yet people are telling college kids that this is a good way to break into a creative field. Instead, they get paid pennies to put out a bunch of embarrassing bullshit that's gonna haunt their Google results forever.

[pook]

50 minutes ago, FeministShrew said:

Mr. Shrew can't even remember who his prom date was.
To be honest, when I saw the thread title I was hoping for a post with pictures of horrible prom dresses to snark on.

me too me too!

Whoever said they were second hand embarrassed for this young lady were spot on.  I felt exactly the same way reading this and it sent me back on a mind trip to my younger self which made me feel even more embarrassed.  My Mr. Pook, who is all mine forever and no one else can have him, because he is mine and no longer yours, was quite the ladies man in his younger days of yore.  He is and always was polite, considerate, sensitive and super good looking.  I don't have a jealous bone in my body (anymore) because I am (finally) secure in myself.  When I think of his past relationships and when other women are attracted to him it actually kind of turns me on, tbh, and for the record sex in your 40s is incredible.

15 minutes ago, Seculardaisy said:

Here, you can snark on mine. GREEN. I remember I thought this was the most beautiful dress on earth.  In keeping with the theme of this thread, unlike the author of this article - I am married to my prom date all of these years later.

That is so awesome!  You truly need to get this puppy out of the attic and wear it next St. Pattys.

 

[Seculardaisy]

@pook if only I was still a size 0! Lol! I’ve popped out four babies since then.  If I could still fit this puppy, I’d wear it just to celebrate. 

[Beermeet]

I honestly like your dress!  

This insecure girl needs to get her shit together.  She seems the sort to constantly think her man is cheating so much that he might as well cheat.