In some ways this article is a follow-up to my earlier discussion about whether girls are growing up too quickly, yet in other ways this is an entirely different issue in itself.
Traditionally, Halloween is a time where everyone has fun, eating or drinking lots (or both) and of course you can’t forget the main theme: dressing up. This in particular can cause a whole number of emotions, primarily stress and excitement; from choosing what to wear, to going out to buy a costume or items needed to make a costume. Recently however, more and more young girls are beginning to wear highly sexualised outfits, from ‘sexy dead school girls’ to more erotic adaptations of traditional Halloween costumes, such as a ‘sexy devil’.
On the online blog “http://blogs.newmoon.com/parent-girls/2011/girls-now-halloween-sexualization-hurts-imagination/” the writer states firmly that “Girls’ imaginations are crippled by the narrow, outdated, powerless roles the costumes imply”. It is striking and worrying that young teenage girls and even children are steered towards wearing something ‘sexy’ as opposed to engaging their imagination and creating something entirely unique or even crafting their own special version of a popular Halloween costume (such as a skeleton or zombie).
Personally, I have always preferred trying to create something unique, and if not, then I buy a costume which I think no one else would have. Of course the choices available and the way Halloween is approached can be slightly different for males, yet it strikes me how many girls I see on Halloween night wearing hot pants or ‘sexy maid’ outfits. Give me a walking gravestone or cardboard robot any day of the week; just hold off the extremely short skirts and revealing leotards.
The reason behind this apparent rise in the amount of girls wearing revealing costumes can of course be attributed to the media and marketing (which I won’t go into as my previous article goes into depth with this). This is the initial ‘spark’ and from this there is, almost, a chain effect; “Mummy, Lucy (I choose this name at random) is wearing that so can I get it, I’ll look stupid in anything else”. Immediately you become part of a minority if you’re not wearing something that’s tight fitting for example.
Unfortunately these styles of costume are becoming deeply embedded into Britain’s Halloween culture; year on year the amount of young girls wearing ‘sexy’ outfits is increasing. It is evident that there needs to be a drastic change in the way Halloween is perceived and marketed if this situation is to improve.
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Sources:
http://blogs.newmoon.com/parent-girls/2011/girls-now-halloween-sexualization-hurts-imagination/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10393148/Sexy-Halloween-costumes-6-alternatives.html
Edited by Luisa Parnell