Every year at GBHS we do the same old thing, “Homecoming.” In past years, they’ve crowned the highest-voted girl and guy. This year they decided to crown the two highest-voted people, with gender not playing a role.
When I first found out who won Homecoming royalty I was very confused. At first, I thought it was two homosexual guys which would have been understandable in an attempt to promote inclusivity, however, that was not the case. It just so happened to be two heterosexual guys who won Homecoming court.
There are many things wrong with this picture. The first problem is the process in which people were elected.
Traditionally there is a queen and king who wins the Homecoming court, meaning everyone gets two votes, one vote for a girl and one for a guy. There were 10 seniors who made it to the last round of voting, four guys and six girls. If most students decided to continue the traditional voting practice by choosing a girl (queen) and a guy (king) when voting, then there is a higher likelihood that two boys would gain a greater amount of votes.
In today’s society, many people are pushing for female empowerment. By crowning two men, what message does this send to the women running for Homecoming court and young women at this school?
By trying to make the royalty “gender neutral” and more inclusive it’s caused more harm than good and proved that no matter the attempt, men are always going to be in power ahead of women. Also what message does this send to young girls who have always wanted to be a real “princess?” This was their one chance to achieve their childhood dream, now that will never become a reality.
Overall I felt that the election process was wrong and not promoting inclusivity at all. The outcome has left a lot of people seeing Homecoming as even more of a joke. The lack of tradition in our Homecoming routine has been criticized for years by students wanting a formal experience like other high schools receive.
Not having a formal dance has been a problem for years and GBHS disregards the idea every time by saying, “Our formal dance is Winter Ball.”
The Homecoming dance is what everyone looks forward to when it comes to Homecoming. Yes, the spirit week is fun as well as the Bonfire Rally, but I feel like everyone would be a lot more enthusiastic about Homecoming week if we had a formal dance to finish off the week. I don’t understand why we can’t just have a formal Homecoming and a formal Winter Ball like other schools.
When I was talking with one of my friends from Oakmont High School, I learned though they are also in the Roseville Joint Unified School District, they have two formal dances. Not having a Homecoming dance jips us of the full high school experience. Though we have a Homecoming after-party it’s not the same as having an opportunity to dress up and take pictures with your friends after the long week of events leading up to nothing.
Homecoming spirit weeks would be a lot more fun and people would be a lot more enthusiastic about participating if we had a formal dance at the end of the week to look forward to.
Anonymous • Nov 15, 2023 at 1:46 pm
First of all, both homecoming winners are very handsome, intelligent, and deserving of the win. Who cares what gender they are? They are the two cutest candidates, and cuties should win the crown
An • Nov 6, 2023 at 9:30 pm
“I encounter a lot of people who tell me that they never knew the word ‘gypped’ had anything to do with gypsies, or that it’s offensive — especially when the word is heard not read,” says University of Texas at Austin professor Ian Hancock, who was born in Britain to Romani parents. “My response to them is, That’s okay. You didn’t know but now you do. So stop using it. It may mean nothing to you, but when we hear it, it still hurts.”
– Nat’l Public Radio
no name • Nov 6, 2023 at 1:15 pm
Last year, two girls won for the freshman class and no one was upset. We vote differently, but that’s not a bad thing. There is nothing about female empowerment that changes this. Homecoming is a popularity vote. Yes, I would prefer if we did it traditionally but you shouldn’t be upset with who won because we did it differently. This article is shaming them for winning, and telling them they don’t deserve it. There were so many better ways to approach this topic, especially with more sensitivity.
anonymous • Jan 11, 2024 at 12:36 am
the girls are a different situation, the underclass men and junior royalty isn’t as sought after and important as the senior royalty. As well as the fact that they are not shaming the winners, they didn’t choose themselves to be winners they were stating that it was not fair for them to win.
Anonymous • Nov 3, 2023 at 5:08 pm
Your argument of “men are always going to be in power” only happened by luck. If the reverse had happened then maybe two girls would have won. Then wouldn’t you be praising female empowerment? Your argument is flawed and only happened by chance. Not to mention that many students probably didn’t vote in a traditional sense as you didn’t take into account the students who voted for both of their friends or the male to female ratio of the vote. I get it, I agree that the whole thing should go back to a traditional sense. But when you go and say that it’s a result of “male empowerment” then it starts to go a lot further than your opinion on Granite bay highschool homecoming royalty