IU, it’s time to get spooky, in moderation.
Everyone probably has their costumes picked out already, but just in case you don’t, let’s get straight to the point.
Don’t be offensive. Please.
That’s it, really. But as we’ve been learning lately, there’s a lot that goes into what constitutes offensive.
We live in a society now where almost everything is offensive. However, this corresponds with a lot of people constantly making offensive comments.
The older generations are claiming that our generation is a group of oversensitive pansies. Former president of the University of Chicago, Hanna Holborn Gray once said, ”The decision to treat young adults as fragile and perpetually vulnerable to victimization coincided with academia’s turn away from the world: Fifty years ago, student assertiveness concerned momentous issues of war and civil rights. Today, students have macro tantrums about micro-aggressions (e.g., sombreros).”
Although this older generation says we can’t take a sombrero joke, the bottom line is that we really don’t want to see racist and homophobic costumes.
The reality is that one of many ghosts haunting college campuses across the nation is the ghost of the ‘safe space.’
The idea of a safe space is a wonderful one. A safe space allows people to be who they want to be without being attacked for those identities.
We don’t think everywhere should be a safe space, but people shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate against several races on live television.
Do safe spaces take away from people’s freedom to say whatever they want? The answer is yes and no.
People should refrain from blatantly discriminating against others based on their race, religion and sexual orientation.
It’s okay to respectfully explain why you disagree with these “life choices.” (We use that term with some reservations because you can really only choose one out of those three, but society argues otherwise.)
The main issue with safe spaces lies with those who can no longer express their hatred.
Go ahead, you can still do it. As long as you are prepared to deal with the consequences of said hatred.
Halloween is a fun holiday where you can dress up as anything you want to be.
It’s meant to be a purely enjoyable holiday for all ages when we all come together and admire each other’s costumes or plan group costumes.
The same logic from before applies here.
If you have a burning desire to dress up as a culture, be prepared to meet resistance.
At the very least don’t paint your face to be a different skin tone. Not only does it offend an entire race, but you look stupid doing it, too.
While some may feel that Halloween is a way to express interest in a culture, you can show that interest every other day without wearing a sexualized kimono or a sombrero.
On the other hand, if you are someone who agrees that many Halloween costumes are incredibly offensive, don’t reduce your night to promoting social justice.
If you find something offensive, let that person know and move on.
It isn’t worth your time to fight with a drunk all night when you could be having fun with your non-offensive friends.
Save the social crusading for another day so you can make your points when they will be coherent enough to remember them.
Maybe that person will receive enough comments about how ridiculously offensive they look that you won’t need to make a scene anyways.
Just remember: have fun, don’t purposefully offend anyone, don’t ruin your own night by arguing with drunks, and be safe.
