During the past few decades, there’s been a trend of Halloween costumes gradually being sexualized. This is done through costumes with low-cut tops, padded busts, short skirts, or accessories such as fishnet stockings. Why is this happening, and why is it ramping up now?
Many factors contribute to this ongoing trend. However, the first big contributor to this would probably be the increased sexualization of women in the media. Modern media has leaned towards representing women in a more bodily expressive way, such as Sydney Sweeney’s recent sports betting advertisement with Novig.
While the advertisement for the application itself may have been solely about trying to gain users, her figure was seemingly used as a marketing tool to attract a particular target audience, which seems to be a trend in modern media.
This broader trend also applies to representations of women in modern and dated films. Our modern clothing style has started normalizing things such as bralettes in everyday outfits and no longer exclusively in a sensual context. Given what’s happening here, various movie producers have come out and said that sexual appeal sells.
Hollywood Marketing
A realization that some movie aficionados have come to realize is that Hollywood utilizes snippets of women without their heads involved and only their bodies in a lot of their movie posters. This phenomenon has been dubbed the “Headless Women of Hollywood.” This could be a great technique to promote media that focuses on this erotic content; however, in terms of a film, it just seems like women have been hypersexualized as a marketing scheme.
In addition to this presentation of women for promotion’s sake, producers have also made it a point to get quick cash flow when filming as well. Movies like Transformers, Jurassic World, and Suicide Squad have all gained criticism for the seemingly unnecessary posing and costume choices for their main female characters. These angles and outfits have gotten feedback for being impractical and unnecessary to the storyline.
The presentation of women in films seems to run pretty parallel to the gendered marketing of Halloween costumes. The original purpose of Halloween was to celebrate the end of a Celtic harvest season. The costumes came from their belief that the living and spirit world would get thin on Oct. 31; thus, everyone should wear costumes to blend in with the spirits. Their original costumes mainly consisted of animal skin or heads.
They were meant to be a bit scary and unsettling, but that’s far from the purpose of costumes now, as people now mimic modern media. Halloween costumes now arguably follow the rendition of let me do this character, but make it sexy. Disney Princess costumes have evolved from long, flowy dresses to a cinched corset and corresponding skirt. Even then, if someone wanted to wear a more traditional and conservative costume, they’re getting increasingly hard to find in stores.
Modern Character Costumes
Major Halloween outlet store Spirit Halloween has also gained criticism throughout the years for sexualizing tween and teenage costumes as well. There’s a prevalence of female costumes and even a subsection labeled “Sexy Women’s Costumes.” Even costumes not explicitly advertised as sexy often include elements that make them seem that way, like a low-cut neckline or a skin-tight bodysuit, based on characters who never previously had that.
This goes hand in hand with modern decades being more in tune with sexual expression. It’s been a general trend that individuals are more comfortable wearing revealing clothes, and some women embrace this and genuinely enjoy the fashion. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that on its own. Still, female costume manufacturers have noticed this voluntary enjoyment and shifted the Halloween costume market to follow suit.
I’m not trying to shame anyone’s costumes. However, I think it’s important to understand how and why this representation trend is happening and how it may, in the future, very much affect your choice of a costume or your ability to find one you actually like!
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