#onlynote

Every year on the 13th of November, ladies all over Canada and the US are given the opportunity to break (unspoken) traditional dating customs by asking men out on dates and dances. This eight-decade-old tradition is called Sadie Hawkins Day, and it’s become the inspiration for school dances, company names, rock songs, TV shows, film characters, and movies.

So how did Sadie Hawkins Day really start?

On November 15, 1937, cartoonist Al Capp introduced Sadie Hawkins Day to the US via his satirical hillbilly comic strip Li’l Abner. Sadie Hawkins was a character who lived in Dogpatch and was known for being the “homeliest gal in all them hills.” Desperate because his 35-year-old daughter is still unmarried, Sadie’s father Hekzebiah declared Sadie Hawkins Day and rounded up all eligible bachelors of Dogpatch for a footrace.

The rules were, as Hekzebiah poetically put it, "When ah fires [my gun], all o' yo' kin start a-runnin! When ah fires agin—after givin' yo' a fair start—Sadie starts a runnin'. Th' one she ketches'll be her husbin."

Sadie Hawkins Day went on to become an annual feature of Li’l Abner.

The image of a confident woman who knew what she wanted and who was willing to (quite literally) chase it was something people apparently admired. Without even knowing it, Al Capp launched an annual folk event, a pseudo-holiday, a dance tradition, and a nationwide movement that encouraged women to break free from society’s dating norms.

But that was 80 years ago.

Fast forward to 2017, after a grueling fight for gender equality, women have become empowered in so many areas of society—the dating scene included. And in a world where women can practically ask men out on dates at any time of the year, you can’t help but think, is Sadie Hawkins Day even relevant anymore?

In this day and age, we’re fortunate to be in a society where it’s generally acceptable for ladies to make the first move. But the thing is, even though ladies know they’re free to ask guys out on dates, not all of them are comfortable with the idea—and this is where Sadie Hawkins Day comes in.

Sadie Hawkins Day is that one day of the year when ladies all over the US are reminded that it’s okay to make the first move. It’s okay to be a strong, confident woman who asks a guy out on a date. It’s okay to tell him you like him. It’s okay to bare your heart to him.

I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “But what if I get rejected? What if I get stood up?”

Well, what if he says yes? What if you go for it and it works out great and you have the time of your life?

And making the first move doesn’t even have to be that hard! The best part about celebrating Sadie Hawkins Day in 2017 is that we’ve got technology to help us out. You can ping your crushes, send them a Facebook wave, chat them up, like their Instagram photo, send a text, or give them a call.

If you want to make things a lot more meaningful this year, though, you can try OnlyNote. It’s a unique messaging app that helps us relive the experience of giving and receiving letters. Sweet, sentimental, and certainly something a modern-day Sadie Hawkins would use.