Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love getting free candy and being able to show off different costumes. However, issues can rise when certain costumes are outright offensive. Here are some reminders of costumes that are never okay:
Anything involving blackface or impersonating a race that is not your own.
Halloween is meant to be a fun time of year where you can dress up and be someone else. This does not involve making fun of another person’s racial identity. It is not a joke it’s called being racist :)
Any form of transphobic costumes
It may be funny to see a guy wearing a dress when he appears to have all traits of masculinity, but this may be offensive to some.
Objectifying Costumes
Again, this may be funny to a certain audience. For example, a guy using sex appeal as a joke. However, women are constantly objectified by society. The costume would just be problematic at best.
A homeless person
Homeless people are disrespected everyday and not even giving the basic human decency of saying “hello.” Creating a costume making fun of homeless people would just project that they do not deserve rights; that they’re just a joke.
Any costume making fun of mental illness
Mental illness is a real struggle for the majority of the human population. A costume that makes fun of a mental illness such as depression, anxiety, or an eating disorder could negatively strike the wrong chord with someone deeply affected by a mental disorder.