--- title: Girl Kicked Out Of Prom For Wearing Pants description: Shafer Rupard should have known better than to show up to a prom in 2014 wearing pantaloons. canonical: https://time.com/74193/girl-gets-kicked-out-of-prom-for-having-the-nerve-to-wear-pants/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-23T19:53:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:03.231Z og:title: Girl Gets Kicked Out Of Prom for Having the Nerve to Wear Pants og:description: Shafer Rupard should have known better than to show up to a prom in 2014 wearing pantaloons og:url: https://time.com/74193/girl-gets-kicked-out-of-prom-for-having-the-nerve-to-wear-pants/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Girl Gets Kicked Out Of Prom for Having the Nerve to Wear Pants twitter:description: Shafer Rupard should have known better than to show up to a prom in 2014 wearing pantaloons twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Girl Gets Kicked Out of Prom for Having the Nerve to Wear Pants by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Apr 23, 2014 7:53 PM CUT by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Apr 23, 2014 7:53 PM CUT For whatever reason, prom season has become a marker both of how far we have come as a society and of how far we still have to go. Signs of advancement (a [Massachusetts high school elected a transgender girl prom queen in 2013](http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/22450749/2013/05/29/middleborough-high-teen-becomes-schools-first-transgender-prom-queen "undefined")) are regularly met with opposition to progress (a group of [Indiana high schoolers joined together to try to ban gay classmates from a “traditional” prom](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/02/11/indiana-high-schoolers-push-to-ban-gay-classmates-from-traditional-prom/ "undefined")). Today’s story that will make you feel right at home in your poodle skirt? A [North Carolina senior was asked to leave her prom](http://www.wbtv.com/story/25303959/high-school-senior-kicked-out-of-prom-for-wearing-pants "undefined") because she dared to wear… pants. And not just any pants. Skinny jeans. If you can handle this BSFW (barely suitable for work) photo, here’s how Shafer Rupard looked at her Cherryville High School prom: > [](https://twitter.com/wsbtv/status/458776741650391040) There are many obvious problems with this situation, not the least of which is that Cherryville High School didn’t even have [dress code requirements for its prom](http://www.gaston.k12.nc.us/schools/cherryvillehigh/schoolinfo/School%20Information/CHS%20Student%20Handbook%202013-14.pdf "undefined") (which the school acknowledged to Rupard’s mother Shawn McQuaige, although never actually apologized for). Beyond that, as McQuaige put it to [WBTV News](http://www.wbtv.com/story/25303959/high-school-senior-kicked-out-of-prom-for-wearing-pants "undefined"), wearing pants is just the way Ruparb “feel\[s\] comfortable in her own skin… We want to put out the message to all teenagers that you should be allowed to be yourself.” ([WBTV](http://www.wbtv.com/story/25303959/high-school-senior-kicked-out-of-prom-for-wearing-pants "undefined")) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/74193/girl-gets-kicked-out-of-prom-for-having-the-nerve-to-wear-pants/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/74193/girl-gets-kicked-out-of-prom-for-having-the-nerve-to-wear-pants/"},"headline":"Girl Gets Kicked Out of Prom for Having the Nerve to Wear Pants","datePublished":"2014-04-23T19:53:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:03.231Z","description":"Shafer Rupard should have known better than to show up to a prom in 2014 wearing pantaloons","url":"https://time.com/74193/girl-gets-kicked-out-of-prom-for-having-the-nerve-to-wear-pants/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Living","society","fashion","North Carolina","Prom"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/74193/girl-gets-kicked-out-of-prom-for-having-the-nerve-to-wear-pants/","name":"Girl Gets Kicked Out of Prom for Having the Nerve to Wear Pants"}}]}] ```