Every year around Halloween I see costumes floating around that pertain to different cultures. While some may think it’s cute or funny to dress up as an Indian or a Geisha or a Mexican sugar skull, they may not realize the implications of their actions. Cultural appropriation is something that occurs year round, but is especially prominent around Halloween.
The biggest example of this that I can think of is when people dress up as Native Americans. Sure, the headdresses look cool, but they actually have a very sacred meaning within Native American tribes. Wearing one without having earned it can be very offensive to the Native American community. All of those “Sexy Indian” costumes you see online are, in a way, mocking the increased rates of sexual assault on Native women; Native women are two and a half times more likely to be assaulted than women of other ethnicities in the United States.
Perhaps the biggest thing that people don’t realize about dressing up and pretending to be from another culture is that at the end of the night, they can take off their costume and the stereotypes that come with that culture. Meanwhile, those who belong to that culture are forever marked by those stereotypes and by those struggles that they face every day.
(Photo of Christina Fallin from nativeappropriations.com)