Halloween has changed since I was a kid.
It was the one night of the year that my parents allowed my sisters and me to stay out after dark, and we freely roamed for hours on end. Today, more parents take their kids trick-or-treating at shopping malls than in their own neighborhoods.
My biggest worry was whether my mom would give me a pillowcase instead of a plastic bag so that an older kid couldn’t pop a hole in my bag and steal my candy. Today, local police agencies and hospitals offer screening programs to ensure that candy and other Halloween goodies are safe.
I always had homemade costumes. I’d put on one of my mom’s lounge dresses from the 1970s, add some costume jewelry, blow out my hair, and BAM, instant Diana Ross. One year, short on both time and money, I wrote Excedrin on pieces of paper and pinned them to my clothes. What was I? A headache with Excedrin written all over it. Today, retail costumes are big business. In fact, this year my son said he wasn’t having any of that homemade costume jazz, so for a mere $10 he will be a red ninja.
I’m not saying that I long for the “good old days” of Halloweens past. Times change. Move on. But, it’s hard not to notice that the primary requirements for costumes for pre-teen and teenage girls are short and tight with bare midriffs, exposed thighs, plunging necklines, and high heels. Think I’m joking? Check the ads for any party store, and you will find an assortment of costumes sexualizing girls as young as eight. Trust me; I’ll never look at fairy tale characters in the same way again. And the costumes I find most disturbing are the occupational costumes that promote working women as borderline prostitutes. Isn’t it every girl’s dream to grow up to be a “Hospital Honey” or a “High Seas Hottie”?
Little girls play dress up every day—putting on costumes, makeup, and other items—pretending to be other people, often adults. But what type of adult is being emulated through the marketing of girls as sexual objects? And why do girls choose to wear sexy Halloween costumes at all?
I recently asked my five-year-old niece what she was going to be for Halloween. She enthusiastically yelled, “Cleopatra!” That’s right. If you must be an object of desire, at least pretend to be a powerful queen.
Thanks for a great post, Peggy. Also for a great resource, Holly. Teaching Tolerance Project and the Southern Poverty Law Center still does such good work on so many fronts.
I’m not opposed to adults (although I understand the college issue Christina addressed) choosing sexualized costumes for Halloween if they so desire. However, the sexualization of costumes for little girls…well, that really gives me the creeps.
As a college student I can definitely say that campus around this time gets quite scandalous.
I am proud to say that I have consistently gone against the “norm” and dressed up as something cleverer than a sexy cop or sailor. That would just be too easy.
It is also difficult to encourage other women, such as my roommates, on campus to not go that route. They are looking to attract that hot guy or girl, and if all the other girls are dressed in that manner then they feel even more pressured to be as “sexy” as possible.
What we need is more education on campus, more alternative clever costume ideas. (maybe a whole blog Halloween movement). Do we really want someone to like us just because we dressed as a sexy whatever for one day, or because we are so clever we dressed up as a let’s say Rihanna and promoted the end of domestic violence (my costume!).
I’m not a prude in any way, but seeing young girls walk around in sexy costumes kind of kills the Halloween spirit.
A long time ago, maybe 47-48 years ago, we lived in a community which was built on immigrants, mostly irish. In my first trick or treats, before we moved to the suburbs, we were expected to learn a poem or a little song or dance, to perform before any treats were given.
Great post, Peggy. The sexualization of young girls is disturbing and is part of a larger societal trend, as the APA 2007 report on the Sexualization of Girls showed: http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html.
I just came across this lesson plan on Halloween Costumes from Teaching Tolerance http://www.tolerance.org/activity/what-do-halloween-costumes-say and I think it’s a concrete way that elementary school educators can work to address the sexualization of Halloween costumes and other stereotypes they illustrate.