The Horror: New Adjective Please

Mean Girls was right about many things, but I don't want it to be right about Halloween. It may be a time when "girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it," but I'm not one of those girls. I don't want to be a sexy Indian princess, a sexy Spongebob babe, a sexy cowgirl, or a sexy anything else! I just want to play pretend for a night, and I'm neither out there enough nor repressed enough to feel that I need to put myself on display for my one costume party a year. Halloween can happen without miniskirts and thigh-high stockings. (Besides, October 31st is generally cold in Indiana.)

The whole phenomenon is so infuriating, I can't even put it into words. Let's alter course and just for kicks, look at the men's versions of these costumes: Native American, Spongebob, cowboy. They're downright Victorian when it comes to covering the body. Arg!

Comments

Robin said…
I feel like I'm the kind of person who should be on the anti-slut wagon, but I find it to a be a ton of fun. I actually get tired of the backlash against it. I'm all for cute, innovative, non-trashy Halloween costumes for women who want that look. But I'm personally reaching for a slut-in-a-bag costume and then modifying it so that it's a little more quirky and fun (this year I bought an Eve dress with leaves all over, and threw out their freaky stuffed animal-looking snake and cheesy apple purse. I bought a better rubber snake, added leopard print shoes and made a felt apple hair clip).

I'm so focused on the balance between fun and trashy all year round. It's great to be able to get a little goofy and trashy and not worry about it! However, I agree we shouldn't reach for the slut gear just because it's Halloween. I do find the intense emphasis on sex clothes a bit oppressive.

I guess the point to my (long!) rant is that my inner feminist is peeved, but my inner show-off looks forward to the loose standards of Halloween all year. To each her own.
Jael Paris said…
I think part of what bugs me isn't that these outfits are sexy but that they look like stripper costumes. It doesn't help that the models are inflated and overly made-up.

If you're comfy with the sexy Sponge babe, wear it, but I would like more options.
Robin said…
Oh, most definitely. The selection is extremely skewed in the stripper costume favor. And that Eve dress I bought fit me entirely differently than the model because her fake breasts were enormous.

I would love to see at least 50% of women's costumes be non-stripper. To make the choice you and I mentioned, there would have to actually be another option. There isn't much of one now, I totally agree.
Kschenke said…
Truth be told, I looked up, "Geeky woman costume" and it turned up an overly sexy nerd costume. I wanted to find a cool Firefly costume idea, or maybe a movie reference. No good.

If I do dress up this year, I'd dress as a Hogwarts student, with a gold and maroon tie, a button down white shirt and some cute jeans... that's right, not a school girl uniform. You can be cute and flirty without looking like a hooker.
Unknown said…
I feel the same way. Not only is it so cliche to be a sexy anything on Halloween, but it's just kinda trashy in my opinion.
Anonymous said…
i agree with the post. i think dressing trashy just shows a lack of creativity. i mean, people can dress trashy and act skanky everyday of the year, and many do...no spongebob theme necessary. it's too predictable.
Elizabeth said…
I had a lot of fun going as Emma from Glee to a party (friends went as Sue and Rachel). It's about as anti-slutty as you can get :)

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