Halloween is just around the corner, and sometimes it’s an opportunity for people to cross the line from creative and funny to disturbing and offensive. Here are some guidelines of what to always avoid when coming up with a costume:
Halloween is my favourite holiday. And it’s not because the costumes, but the fact that it’s mandatory to offer guests Halloween candy at parties. Every year, the week leading up to Halloween is when my inner Martha Stewart comes out and I craft elaborate costumes from Dollar Store items.
My favourite thing to do at parties – other than picking all the Cheetos out of the Party Mix – is to guess what people’s costumes are.
According to Yahoo, the majority of costume ideas every year involve characters from Disney or blockbusters released that year, celebrities, and super heroes.
Others are inspired by culture, religion, or traumatic/ controversial news events for their costumes.
(“Sexy” Native and “sexy” Niqab costumes)
We see “sexy” versions of culture and religion sold in stores so often that we’ve become desensitized to their problematic nature. This appropriation trivializes elements of a culture (which often belongs to oppressed groups) without acknowledging the existence of its original source or the oppression these groups face.
(This blackface Nicki Minaj costume went viral earlier today)
It’s really sad to see that blackface is still being used in costumes today: the photo of Nicki Minaj and Kanye West which have surfaced this past week are testaments to the blatant racism and senseless appropriation of prejudiced practice of blackface that exist today.
Historically, blackface was a symbol of the control white people had over the perception of black people in entertainment and culture.
Blackface is not funny, nor should it be a costume. We need to do better than appropriate a practice that’s synonymous with discrimination for the sake of a “punny” costume.
Then there’s those who use events in the news as an inspiration for costumes. Above, we see two white men who somehow thought it would be appropriate to dress up as Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman 2 years ago. The problem with this is that it reduces a horrific occurrence and all those impacted by it into a costume that trivializes the institutional challenges, racism, and violence black people every day. It takes violence and erases it into a pun.
(Rihanna and Chris Brown)
Costumes like this disregard the lifelong trauma, and emotional and physical pain victims experience. It reduces horrific experiences like the hitting and the bruises into mere accessories in a picture.
Above is a costume of Michael Jackson with a pillow as a young boy on his crotch that, again, reduces a traumatic event into a pun – a “clever” costume that drunk people at a party can get a laugh out of.
Here are some things to avoid when coming up with a Halloween costume:
A “sexy” version of someone’s culture or religion.
Anything to do with violence or abuse.
Anything involving gender issues or trans people.
Anything involving eating disorders.
Anything that involves blackface.