Halloween is a difficult time of year for me. Not just because it falls around midterms, or because allergy-induced migraines have me in a painkiller coma, but because choosing a Halloween costume is, as a woman, a uniquely difficult endeavor.
I like to be dead things for Halloween. I couldn’t tell you why, but something about bloody makeup and choosing which inanimate object to impale myself with is thrilling. My usual tactic is to choose a random costume (marionette, hockey player, lumberjack, etc.) and gore it up.
In the past this has worked well for me, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed the costumes and expectations for women on Halloween are extremely disappointing. What options are available for those women who don’t want to stick a foam hockey puck in their foreheads?
The choices are scarce, literally. All it takes is a short trip around a Halloween store to realize that women’s costumes are divided into revealing or dowdy.
It’s a classic situation perfectly exemplified by the Halloween party scene in “Mean Girls.” Girls are expected to dress as either “skanky” versions of a costume (lingerie and mouse ears, anyone?), or wear something less sexy and be branded prudish.
Regardless, women’s costumes are under heavy scrutiny. To be sure, there are those of us who enjoy and are comfortable with showing more skin on what is supposed to be a fun night to dress up.
But when we take advantage of those costumes (which make up the vast majority of what we’re offered, by the way) insults start to fly. We’re slutty or attention-seeking or asking for it (whatever “it” is).
So then we cover up, finding one of the few more moderate costumes, or spending time, effort and money to create one ourselves. The result? Even more insults. This time we’re prudish or boring; we just need to lighten up like the girls in more revealing costumes.
If the revealing costumes are as horrifying and tasteless as we’re led to believe, why are they practically the only costumes to be found on any major store’s shelves? From sexy Angry Birds to flirty tantalizing tigers, everything marketed toward women is sexualized.
So if the alternative is better, why are women often shunned from holiday festivities or teased when they stray from sexy mold?
Unfair judgment is placed on women who choose to show more of their bodies. But these women are adults who are fully capable of making their own decisions. How about we start treating them with some respect instead of disdain, and keep in mind that it’s not our responsibility to dictate how others choose to present themselves?
Whether women choose to dress up, dress down or fall somewhere in the middle for Halloween, it’s important to keep in mind that no one deserves to be ridiculed as slutty, skanky, or anything else for dressing the way they choose.
This Halloween I’ll be goring it up as an axe-impaled lumberjack, which is already a pretty frightening concept. Here’s hoping that, sooner rather than later, blood and guts are the scariest part about Halloween, not being a woman in search of a costume.
