Halloween is one of the few days a year when we can lie about who we are and actually get away with it. Ordinary humans can be superheroes for the night, and the middle class can try on a crown and see what being a royal is all about. But there’s a thin line between masquerading as someone else for a night and intruding on someone else’s culture. Cultural appropriation, or the adoption of specific elements of another culture into your own life, is a problem that tends to arise whenever there’s an opportunity for dressing up.
 This isn’t to say all costumes are offensive; in fact, quite the opposite. However, it’s important to know when your costume stops being funny and starts being disrespectful. Luckily, there are countless resources you can use to educate yourself about the subject of cultural appropriation (try this one from Kat Lazo). As important as it is to be aware of the problem, that’s not enough. Here are some tips you can use to evaluate whether your costume this year is culturally insensitive.
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Does your costume contain a piece or part that is symbolic or important in another culture or religion? If you don’t know, you should check. Be aware that not all items of clothing associated with another culture are inherently symbolic– like the daily kimono– but they should still be worn with respect.
Does your costume specifically represent another culture, religion or ethnicity? Make sure you’re dressing appropriately and not simply playing into stereotypes. As harmless and even “funny” as dressing up as, say, a Mexican drug lord may be, it only contributes to the marginalization that these other cultures experience on a daily basis. How would you like it if someone dressed as a caricature of you and spent the whole night laughing at your expense?
Are you familiar with the culture whose costume you are borrowing for the evening? We should have learned after centuries of imperialization that other cultures aren’t there simply when we find them entertaining or interesting. Your decorative bindi might be cute but if you don’t know the cultural importance or purpose of a bindi, you’re appropriating South Asian culture.
How would you explain your costume to a group of people from that culture? If you’d be uncomfortable in any situation explaining why your “ghetto fabulous” costume is funny, it isn’t actually funny.
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If you’re still not sure if your costume idea is culturally insensitive, you can always throw in the towel and go as something classic and completely harmless, like a cat (the classic college girl Halloween costume). You’ll feel good knowing that you can be sexy and fun without potentially offending an entire culture.
Read more about the cultural appropriation in your daily style in an article I wrote last year!