October is the most exciting month of the year. Fight me.
It becomes colder, but not too cold. Pumpkin patches and haunted houses open to delight us. And ... there is Halloween.
However, let us not get too excited about Halloween and all of the other spooky joys that come with October.
Let’s take a minute to talk about Halloween costumes.
I have overheard so many people talk about how they have never known people to be so sensitive or easily offended. I think it’s fair to say that I haven’t known people to be quite as offensive or lacking empathy in the past few years.
With Halloween comes extremely offensive costumes.
Every year is the same. People will think it’s funny to dress up as their favorite rappers and actually paint their faces black. Or, a group of girls won’t know what else to dress up as other than Native Americans.
While many people are genuinely not aware that their Halloween costumes are appropriating cultures, I believe the responsibility falls on to costume stores or larger chains that provide costumes to fix this.
A few weeks ago, Disney released costumes based on the upcoming movie, “Moana.” The costume released for the male character Maui consists of a grass skirt and two parts that are brown with tattoos.
Almost immediately, there was an outcry against the costume.
Thankfully, Disney has since then pulled the costume from its stores.
However, many costume companies still sell incredibly offensive costumes. I saw a new one on Twitter today and that mocked the transgender population.
Sometimes, I feel like these companies really know what they’re doing and just hope enough ignorant people will buy the costumes anyway.
It’s also on those of us who are aware of the issue to make others aware of what they are doing.
Some people may not feel comfortable with telling one of their friends, “Hey, you’re culturally appropriating my culture in your costume, and it’s actually really offensive.”
If you are putting together a costume that is deliberately playing into stereotypes of a culture or ethnicity, why would you consider wearing that?
It’s not that difficult to look up what is and isn’t offensive.
Sure, some people are more sensitive or prone to offense, but that doesn’t take away from their feelings.
There are many costumes to choose from outside of those that are culturally specific.
Another costume choice that makes me cringe is sexualized costumes.
Stuff like “Sexy Harambe” — yes, that is now a costume available — make me want to never celebrate Halloween again just so I can avoid seeing these costumes.
Go ahead and be the sexy nurse of your dreams, but please, please, leave children’s characters and animals alone.
If the concept has already been fetishized from the dawn of time, there really isn’t anything we can do about it at this point other than hope people quit.
Also, kids’ costumes are becoming smaller and smaller as the years go on. No longer do kids’ costumes allow kids to be just kids. Overall, Halloween costumes have just gotten cringey, and they make many, many people uncomfortable. Maybe we should just make our own costumes for a few years.
Despite all of this, the costume I am least looking forward to seeing this season is a clown.
mmgarbac@indiana.edu
