maybe edmonton

An attempt to fall in love with Edmonton, Alberta (plus added diversions)

Posts tagged appropriation

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It’s Sexy Halloween time again! From teenagerie.com —- Culturally Insensitive Halloween Costumes: “Store bought Halloween costumes are a nightmare, and I don’t mean that in the spooky, trick-or-treat sense of the word. Literally, if there is an industry that is more sexist, more offensive, and less culturally sensitive than that which produces Halloween garb, I have yet to discover it. I’m not going to harp on the fact that Halloween has just become an opportunity for people to dress in as little clothing as possible. To be honest, Mean Girls expressed the sentiment better in saying, “Halloween is the one night of the year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” Furthermore, I’m not one to dictate how an adult woman should dress. If dressing like a Sexy Sailor/Bumble Bee/George Washington is what makes you feel attractive, by all means carry on. Choose your choice girlfran! I’ve chosen mine (it does not include lucite heels, nor a polyester corset and animal ears). What does continually irritate me, though, is that the Halloween costume industry is one of the last places where it is still entirely acceptable to be culturally intolerant and willfully ignorant. Consider for instance, the large number of ethnicity/heritage based costumes. These costumes essentially caricature a culture, playing up one element that usually does not represent the culture as a whole. Furthermore, manufacturers totally trivialize/sexualize the cultures in question, making costumes that are tight, tiny, and pay little homage to the clothes they are actually attempting to mimic. Or maybe I’m totally off base; perhaps there was an era in history in which all cultures adopted thigh highs with bows and fishnets. Here are some pictures of ethnicity/heritage based halloween costumes, as compared to the actual traditional dress of the culture they aim to “represent.”

It’s Sexy Halloween time again!

From teenagerie.com —- Culturally Insensitive Halloween Costumes:

“Store bought Halloween costumes are a nightmare, and I don’t mean that in the spooky, trick-or-treat sense of the word. Literally, if there is an industry that is more sexist, more offensive, and less culturally sensitive than that which produces Halloween garb, I have yet to discover it. I’m not going to harp on the fact that Halloween has just become an opportunity for people to dress in as little clothing as possible. To be honest, Mean Girls expressed the sentiment better in saying, “Halloween is the one night of the year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” Furthermore, I’m not one to dictate how an adult woman should dress. If dressing like a Sexy Sailor/Bumble Bee/George Washington is what makes you feel attractive, by all means carry on. Choose your choice girlfran! I’ve chosen mine (it does not include lucite heels, nor a polyester corset and animal ears).


What does continually irritate me, though, is that the Halloween costume industry is one of the last places where it is still entirely acceptable to be culturally intolerant and willfully ignorant. Consider for instance, the large number of ethnicity/heritage based costumes. These costumes essentially caricature a culture, playing up one element that usually does not represent the culture as a whole. Furthermore, manufacturers totally trivialize/sexualize the cultures in question, making costumes that are tight, tiny, and pay little homage to the clothes they are actually attempting to mimic. Or maybe I’m totally off base; perhaps there was an era in history in which all cultures adopted thigh highs with bows and fishnets.
Here are some pictures of ethnicity/heritage based halloween costumes, as compared to the actual traditional dress of the culture they aim to “represent.”

#sexy halloween #racism #appropriation