Halloween - Let's Discuss!

Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. 

There are many reasons for this and here are some:  

1. CANDY, 

2. Caramel apples, 

3. fall air 

4. PUMPKIN! 

5. Horror movies 

6. My husband and I began dating and 

7. Dressing up

As I was thinking about what to be for Halloween, just as I do every year, I wonder what ridiculous costumes I will find in stores. Of course, I run across this on Buzzfeed  and this at Huffington Post.  I have difficulty determining how I feel about the issue of “sexy costumes.” One time I dressed up as a “school girl,” but to combat the “sexy school girl female stereotype” I decided to make the costume bloody and look like a zombie. Last year, I created my own Red Riding Hood costume, which was an easy, comfortable costume, yet fun. This year, I am planning on making my own costume with a cool dress I found at Hot Topic. I found a cool Pinterest idea for a DIY costume.  I am not completely against wearing sexy costumes. I just have a debate within myself and have not decided where I fall on the topic. For me, the debate is between empowering female sexuality and body pride versus society’s sexualizing of females and perpetuation of stereotypes. I think that females should be proud of sexuality and should not have to hide it. I also think women should be proud of their bodies and not feel ashamed. However, on the flip side, I feel that society sexualizes women and sometimes reduces women to “sexy” or body parts. Many times, people are more concerned about females’ looks than intelligence, strength, or other characteristics.  Also, many of the costumes perpetuate stereotypes. I have not seen an engineer or scientist costume for women (they may really be out there somewhere), but I see plenty of nurse and maid costumes everywhere. I also think people should have a choice and determine if they want a sexy costume or not and when I go to the Halloween store, there never appears to be any costumes that are not sexy, but are still fun. I think choice is a key word for me. Another big deal to me is that women are choosing to show their sexuality for themselves (empowerment) and not just because of someone else or because they feel it is necessary for society (sexualization). Also, sexy does not have to be skimpy. It can be, but doesn’t have to be. And I hate paying $100 for less material or a costume that does not fit my body type. I seriously cannot even fit into most of the costumes anyway.

I would love to hear opinions and comments on this and whether or not others have the same debate. Please be respectful of those with differing opinions because there really is not a right or wrong answer here, just opinions. I would also like to know what others think can be done to change how people think about costumes or change what types of costumes are available (make a greater variety).

- Written by Savannah LeBarre