Halloween is the one time a year when everyone can dress up as whatever they want and have fun with it, unless you happen to be a woman. Purchasing costumes can be difficult if you don’t want your look to be “sexy.” If that is what you’re going for, you’re in luck then.
Scrolling through pages and pages of costumes without running into several sexualized ones is almost impossible when looking through the women’s category. Some of these looks are just the same costumes offered to juniors but tighter and more revealing. Is there some unspoken expectation that a woman should start wearing sexier costumes once she reaches a certain age?
If you want to wear a sexy costume on Halloween and feel confident doing it, then more power to you. I don’t mean to shame girls who like these costumes but the costume stores who offer what seems like few alternatives.
Also, stop sexualizing things that should definitely not be sexualized. By this, I am referring to costumes such as a “sexy school girl” or a “sexy ladybug.” Ladybugs do not have any sex appeal, and frankly, neither should a school girl. Other costumes that should never have been made include the “sexy Ebola containment suit” and “sexy Ebola nurse” costumes from 2014 that sparked a lot of necessary controversy.
A similar controversy happened in September when Yandy, an online retailer, decided to release a “brace red maiden” costume, which was really a sexualized version of the uniform worn by women forced into sexual slavery in the show The Handmaid’s Tale based on the novel of the same name. Fortunately, Yandy removed the costume after receiving so much backlash.
Even couples costumes can’t escape being sexualized. Although there are some cute and creative options available for couples, stores can’t resist offering ones with plays on penetration and sex appeal that target women as the source of the appeal.
Halloween is meant to be a fun night of dressing up, eating candy, and spending time with friends. Instead, it has become another night for women to be targets of degradation and called “sluts” for wearing the costumes made for them.