Sadie Hawkins dance

[2] This is contrary to the custom of the guys typically inviting the girls to be their dates to school dances such as prom in the spring and homecoming in the fall.

These dances are primarily a United States event.The Sadie Hawkins dance is named after the Li'l Abner comic strip character Sadie Hawkins, created by cartoonist Al Capp.

[6] The Tolo Dance in the Pacific Northwest began several decades before Capp's comic strip.

The word tolo comes from the University of Washington's Mortar Board, which began as an all-women's honor society called the "Tolo Club", named for a Chinook Jargon word that allegedly means "to win", "to earn", or "to succeed".

To raise funds, the group first held a dance where women asked men in 1909.