With Halloween coming up, chances are you’ve at least browsed through the costume section at your local store or maybe searched for a few online. Sure, there are a few options that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to wear around your parents, but the more you look, the more you notice how limited your options really are. The majority of costumes available for women are a bit risqué: tight fitting body suits, short dresses that put much emphasis on your chest, crop tops paired with booty shorts…okay, maybe more than a bit risqué. What’s more troubling than the fact that costumes designed for women are often racy is that men’s costumes are not.
Mean Girls might have said it best: “In the real world, Halloween is when kids dress up in costumes and beg for candy. In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it.” There is a definite divide between what people consider appropriate and even expected from women on Halloween than what is expected from everyone else. We, as women, are expected to dress provocatively. And if you enjoy doing that, that’s great. However, there are many women who are not comfortable with showing that much skin. What are they supposed to do for a costume? Of course, they could always just make their own costume, but my question is why should they have to resort to that? A lot of women, including myself, have no idea how to sew and couldn’t make a decent-looking costume if we tried.
As I’ve said before, Halloween costumes designed for men are often times the opposite of women’s. When put side by side, the difference between the costumes is astounding.
The women’s costumes have one thing in common: they are all sexualized (some more than others). While, again, it is completely fine if you enjoy wearing sexy costumes (I personally think the gnome outfit is super cute!), the fact that practically all available costumes are intended to show off women’s sexuality is dangerous. In our society, victim blaming is a perpetuated component when discussing instances of sexual violence. Often times, victims of sexual violence are seen as “asking for it” due to the revealing nature of their clothing. Having such a plethora of sexy Halloween costumes only reaffirms the idea that women should not only dress provocatively, but that they should not be upset when taken advantage of sexually (because, hey, they’re the ones who decided to wear that sexy witch costume even though that was the only witch costume available). These Halloween costumes also feed into the cultural idea that a woman’s value as a human being should be based off appearance. Men’s costumes are often humorous, playing off the idea that men are valued for their intelligence.
Thankfully, there is a great website designed to help women come up with Halloween costumes that emphasis things other than their bodies. Take Back Halloween is a project created by Susan Scoggins, a writer and feminist who specializes in women’s history. Their version of Halloween entails costumes that “celebrate your heritage,” “channel the goddess,” make you “queen for a day,” “honor your favorite heroine,” and “try out some red carpet glamour.” Visit their amazing website here. For more pictures comparing men and women’s costumes, check out this tumblr based blog.