Costume-Shaming: The Worst Trend of Halloween
In the classic teen movie Mean Girls, heroine Cady Heron says, “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” I think picking a Halloween costume that’s a little on the risqué side is more complicated than that.
While every girl has the right to show as much skin as she wants, there is no need that she should feel obligated to. When shopping in the women’s section for Halloween costumes, all I see is sexy nurses, sexy vampires, even sexy Alexander Hamilton. Why is every women’s costume so provocative? Why can guys wear a silly costume, but a female is depicted as “weird” for wanting to be goofy rather than sexy on Halloween? Let’s go back to Mean Girls. In the scene where Cady attends a Halloween party, she was judged for dressing as a scary “zombie ex-wife” rather than wearing something on the more seductive side. Why should she have been expected to dress like a playboy bunny or sexy cat? Girls should not feel compelled to dress promiscuously just because a majority of women’s costumes that are available to them are revealing.
That’s not to say that a woman doesn’t have the right to dress on the sexier side if she wants to. Girls who feel best when they show off some skin should be able to wear a risqué costume, and should be not be judged as trying to seek attention. Halloween should be about wearing what makes you feel confident, but as a female it’s hard not to feel objectified for choosing to show some skin. Even on days other than October 31, women feel judged for wearing short skirts and low-cut tops.
Cady said Halloween is the only day that “girls can dress like a total slut,” but why can’t women dress the way that they feel most self-assured every day? Former Disney star Bella Thorne recently modeled for Playboy magazine and in her interview she said, "There's this effort to try to shame a woman's sexiness by pulling a cover over it, but I'm a woman who loves skin. I love skin on me, I love skin on girls, I love skin on guys. If you're confident enough to show off your body, you should. Be confident." it’s time for women to feel more confident with their bodies, on Halloween and every other day of the year. Whether they choose to conceal themselves or show it all off, it’s time to pay more attention to what qualities females have on the inside rather than what they wear on the outside.
Ladies, this Halloween dress the way you want to. Whether you want to dress as a spooky witch or a sexy one, just remember to have fun with your costume. It is, after all, the one day that we get to be someone other than ourselves, so we might as well wear something that makes us feel confident and reflects who we are.
This Halloween I may show a little skin, but don’t cat-call me just because I’m dressed as a “sexy” cat.
From left to right: Sexy Ali Hamilton Costume, yandy.com; Adult Nurse Costume, partycity.com; Sexy Cat Costume, yandy.com; Haute Hare Costume, walmart.com