Hype for the Future 72E: Why novaTopFlex Fears Judgment at Prom

Preamble

Not a single person can know for sure why the novaTop Identity is conflicted at prom culture. Maybe the situation is based on appearances? Judgment? Deception? Or maybe the entire novaTop experience is an optical illusion? But in all reality, the prom experience was a very high-stakes experience with a tradition of promoting coupledom, as with most of banquet culture at large.

Introduction

While “prom” culture is heavily derived from European banquet cultural traditions, the modern idea of prom culture has only existed within the United States of America since the 1930s. Even then, the prom procession was for a slightly older age group than today, though the overall traits of banquet culture, most notably the judgment based on heteronormativity and traditional gender roles, have remained well intact throughout the experience.

Possible Theories

Maybe the novaTop experience at prom actually was based on fear of being seen improperly, but even without the fear of impropriety, the experience was perhaps one of the only experiences where gender had mattered in public without an obvious legal enforcement as is the case in legally-segregated spaces. Or maybe, the experience at prom was based on just not being accustomed to traditional, heteronormative prom etiquette, as more casual dance events and formal social events have occurred without the romantic assumptions.

Possible Tracebacks

Traditionally, prom culture has required “mental hygiene” films to be displayed for public consumption. Since the earliest of films have been displayed, modern prom etiquette continues to remain quite similar, though the entirety of the experience has become increasingly evident of a capitalist system. Under capitalism, an increasing number of eligible participants can get priced out, and capitalism itself also traps the middle class into a working-class cycle of paycheck-to-paycheck living and always facing failure at every wrong turn.

According to History.com, the experience of prom was not initially intended to be classist. However, under capitalism, the classist dynamics of the promenade and related banquet experiences have compounded, with the ultimate result becoming concerns about classism as a social issue pricing an increasing number of eligible participants out. Segregation was also an issue, even in proms after legally mandated integration, with several segregated proms continuing to occur in the Deep South, unfortunately, possibly even to this day, based on the myth of “race” as a biological construct (race is not actually a biological category, by the way). Society also continues to conflate gender with sex, and enforces traditional roles as if the two statements are synonyms, thus stifling the freedom of identity and expression for the modern participants and effectively resulting in stricter enforcement of amatonormativity and heteronormativity alike, however antiquated.

Hype for the Future 52H: The Prom Experience

Preamble

After researching the Berkshire venue of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, novaTopFlex has asked the venue about how best to support an art exhibit specifically dedicated to the prom experience of novaTopFlex. The exhibit shall include all the personal feelings as well as all the fears of judgment at the promenade, including, though not limited to, the obvious fears that result from violating tradition in a traditionally-coded event such as the promenade.

Location

The Prom Experience of novaTopFlex shall be an exhibit located at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art under ideal circumstances. The Porches Inn at Mass MoCA is an important place to stay while effectively remaining on campus overnight. Of all the contemporary arts venues in the United States, the location in North Adams is the largest such location by count of population. Though North Adams serves the role of the smallest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, novaTopFlex is specifically targeting a designated area essentially centered around North Adams while also expanding throughout all of New England, as well as throughout the eastern side of the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly regions such as the Hudson Valley, the Susquehanna Valley, and the northern half of the State of New Jersey.

Attendance Zone (Catchment Area)

Technically, as a contemporary art museum, there is no geographically designated district nor attendance zone. However, the catchment area that novaTopFlex is attempting to focus energy on generally correlates with the eastern side of New York, the northern half of New Jersey, and the eastern side of Pennsylvania.

Catchment Area for the novaTop Prom Exhibit; the black plus is at the approximate location of the Mass MoCA.