Halloween is the one night of the year to be someone else. But that doesn’t mean you can impersonate a cop nor should you wear an offensive costume that mocks a group of people, especially marginalized groups.The Mean Girls rule that “nobody can say anything” does not apply to costumes that are straight-up offensive.
Avoid costumes that attempt to represent an entire culture, religion, race or ethnicity.
If your costume mocks cultural or religious symbols, then you should reconsider it. Some examples of these symbols would be:
- Dreadlocks
- Headdresses
- Afros
- Bindis
You should also completely avoid representing a race by wearing a costume with dark face paint or light face paint, commonly used in Blackface and Whiteface costumes, which are extremely derogatory.
Avoid costumes that trivialize human suffering, oppression and marginalization.
If your costume attempts to represent people with mental illnesses, disabled people, refugees or people someone from the LGBTQ community, it should be avoided entirely.
Some examples of these costumes would be:
- Caitlyn Jenner’s iconic Vanity Fair cover look or any costume that represents someone from the LGBTQ communityWhile Jenner’s iconic look is one to remember, it should not be worn as a costume because it is transphobic. Not only is it a form of mockery of the transgender community but it also creates a stereotype of a trans person. Any other group from the LGBTQ community should be avoided as a costume, too, for similar reasons.
- Syrian refugeesSyrian refugees are desperately attempting to flee from their home country in search of a safer home. Mocking their painful and complicated journey trivializes their suffering and makes their living situation a joke. Imagine being in that situation and having people in Western countries, which you are desperately seeking help from, mock you – it isn’t nice.
- Mentally illMental illnesses are not a joke, nor something that people without one can easily understand. Wearing a costume of a “mad” or mentally ill person stigmatizes the illness and trivializes the mentally ill’s suffering. This stigma causes mentally ill people to stay quiet about their illnesses due to the fear of rejection or humiliation and prevents them from seeking help or talking about their problems.
- Disabled peopleNobody can truly understand the struggles of disabled people in a society that treats them differently due to their disability. Dressing up as a disabled person for Halloween is offensive because it mocks people with disabilities and makes their living conditions a joke, which is not funny at all because it is the reality for many people.
Avoid costumes that sexualize a marginalized group.
Hyper-sexualizing marginalized groups, such as Native Americans or First Nations people is offensive because it takes a group which is already underrepresented and continues to dehumanize them.This Halloween, avoid a costume like:
· Sexy Native costumeCultural appropriation through Halloween costumes is offensive because it is an attempt to represent a marginalized groups such as Natives, but in doing so, can be a wrong representation or racist. As well, sexualizing these groups can only further reduce them to “exotic” individuals, when they have an entire history of being raped, ravaged and robbed of their land and dignity.
While wearing any of these costumes may seem funny or unoffensive to you at first because a number of retailers are selling them, think twice about their implications and the way they affect the people who you are attempting to represent.
This Halloween, wear a scary costume, not a scary racist, or LGBTQ-phobic personality.