Sadie Hawkins Day is a day that started as a made-up holiday but ended up turning into an American folk event. An event that is celebrated annually on November 13^th, although in some places it is celebrated on other days.

On this day, it is traditional for women to ask men out on a date or to invite them to a Sadie Hawkins Dance. The purpose of this day is to empower women to take control of their lives.

History of Sadie Hawkins Day

Sadie Hawkins Day can be traced back to an American comic strip known as Li’l Abner, created by cartoon artist Al Capp, which ran from 1934 to 1977. In the comic strip, a resident of the fictional town of Dogpatch, Hekzebiah Hawkins, is very worried because he fears that his unmarried daughter, Sadie Hawkins, won’t be able to find a suitable husband.

So he decided to organize Sadie Hawkins Day so she could find a husband. Every year after that, all of the unmarried women in town celebrated the day to find a husband. The idea seemed to leap right off the page as towns and colleges all over the United States began organizing their own Sadie Hawkins Dances and declaring their own Sadie Hawkins Day.

In 1939, the holiday was featured in Life Magazine. By the 1950s, this holiday had been celebrated in almost 50,000 venues all over the country. Today, the holiday is one in which young women can take the initiative and ask a young man on a date. However, it doesn’t hold the same importance as it once may have.

That’s because women are now more independent and free than their predecessors were. Societal norms no longer shun a woman who asks a man out on a date – whether it’s Sadie Hawkins Day or not.

Sadie Hawkins Day Controversy

Over the years, Sadie Hawkins Day has been somewhat controversial to some people. These people argue that it never empowered women and that in fact, it has limited them. When it was first created, it was held up as a way for women to strike back against the social norms of the day.

However, there wasn’t anything preventing women from asking guys out in the first place. People also say that since the practice of women not being able to ask men out is now outdated, it is just holding them back.

Another aspect of this holiday that makes it controversial is that Sadie Hawkins is presented in the comic strip as being too homely to attract a man, which is why her father had to come up with the whole idea of Sadie Hawkins Day in the first place. Many women today feel that this is insulting.

Sadie Hawkins Day Customs & Traditions

All across the United States, dances are organized on Sadie Hawkins Day. It is customary for young women to then ask a young man of their choice to go to this dance. However, in areas where no such dance is organized, women should go ahead and feel free to take the initiative and ask the man of their choice out on a date.