So yeah, it’s Halloween. Cue gasps of horror at sexualized children’s costumes, cue hurrahs at non-hetero couples costumes (even if they’re still pretty lame), cue spasms of slut-shaming and victim-blaming about girls who wear revealing costumes.
Do I think it’s silly when girls decide a mini-dress and mouse-ears make a costume? Yeah, a little bit. Have a little fun! But do I think they should expect harassment for their wardrobe choices? Of course not, that’s classic victim-blaming and it’s capital-N, capital-C Not Cool.
If there weren’t so much pressure and judgment heaped on how women dress every day, Halloween wouldn’t be such a big deal. We spend so much time trying to look good (but not slutty), attractive (but not like we’re trying too hard), that on Halloween it’s almost a relief to be able to attribute your sartorial choices to an external holiday.
Halloween is a chance to be ridiculous, to set aside for a minute the constant pressure to look a certain way. For me, that means wigs and stickers, cardboard Scrabble games, and bandanas. All I want is to be able to look back at my photos and be like “Fuck yeah! Leslie Knope!” Has anyone ever said, “Fuck yeah! Sexy kitten!”?
My instinct is to be sad for women that don’t take advantage of that temporary freedom from looking sexy. But hey, maybe for them, the mini-dress and bunny ears is what they’ve been craving for months and months, and with the temporary free pass of Halloween, they finally feel allowed to do it up right. What do I know?
My Halloween was outstanding, largely due to this series of photographs:
Effie Trinket drives a car
Effie Trinket does yoga
Effie Trinket know’s what’s up
Effie Trinket and Leslie Knope, BFFs
Related Post: Halloween 2011
Related Post: Even pumpkin-carving gets weirdly sexual around Halloween.
I agree about having fun and actually going with a SCARY costume. All of mine are anyways.
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