The Prom, Part 3
If you haven't been to a prom in a long time you may have forgotten how long the preparations take. Most girls visit the salon the morning of prom and have their hair swept into elaborate updos. Boys get haircuts and lectures from their fathers about using condoms. Everyone spends more money than they anticipate. And it was money that pushed my Avon Prom Bash idea into motion. Most of my son's friends live in the barrio, and didn't have the same resources as many other young adults in town.
I have a daughter in college, and she hates makeup and girly girl things. She hangs out with the intellectual bunch, reading Sartre and Tolstoy and other authors I've never read, hair in a ponytail, legs scratched from the chain on her bike. She and her friends skipped prom in high school, and took the coaster train to the alternative theatre and watched subtitled French films, ate mashed potatoes and veggie burgers in a retro diner, and drank red wine on the beach as the morning sun rose. She has no regrets.
I thought about her as I set out my Avon makeup in the dining room. She would roll her eyes if she saw the potions and colors and sparkle powder I placed at each seat. She would tell me that makeup is a ploy to keep women under the heavy hands of men. She would quote bell hooks and other feminist authors, tell me that I'm on the highway to subservient hell. I would make an evil grin and roll my eyes and say, "C'mon honey, just a little definition around your eyes."
The girls at my makeover bash weren't like this. They like makeup and glitter. They like the ways boys stare, the ways boys try not to stare. They applied Planet Spa mud masks and sat on the deck, soaking their feet in an old blow-up kiddie pool filled with scented bubbles. The boys did this, too, and screamed when I brought out my camera.
I watched the girls paint each other's faces while the boys applied concealer to stray zits. The smell of makeup mixed with the ocean and I sat on a green bean bag chair, giving them some distance, letting them imitate the young actresses on television.
It was nice, watching the girls and boys together, sharing lotions and advice. My daughter would approve of this part, I thought.
8:11:42 AM 
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