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What the Sexy Costumes?!

By Rachael Penchoen-Lind

Sexy nurse, sexy construction worker, sexy little red riding hood…there’s a seemingly endless list of “sexy” costumes for woman and teenage girls to wear on Halloween. The fact that sexy costumes are the only option for women on Halloween seems to reinforce the idea that women must be sexy in our society. The problem, though, is not that there are sexy costumes. The problem is that there are ONLY sexy costumes. 

If you want to dress as a “sexy” whatever for Halloween, that is completely your choice. But what about those who don’t feel comfortable--or just don’t want to--dress up in a sexy costume? Where are the choices for those people?

The problem here is that it is engrained into women’s minds that they must wear revealing costumes in order to be appealing to men. Yet those men that want the women to wear the revealing costumes moan and complain about how Halloween is just a night for “sluts to be sluts with an excuse.” Why can’t girls wear revealing costumes without being deemed “sluts”? (I feel like we’ve talked about this before… ) And *ahem* where are the non-sexy costumes for women??

 

If a man wants to dress as a nurse for Halloween he gets scrubs, a hair cover, etc. If a woman wants to dress as a nurse she gets fishnets, a tiny dress, and a cute hat. This goes for just about every costume ever, too. Sexy Bert and Ernie (Sesame Street…really?), sexy murder victim body bag (I wish I was kidding…), sexy Scooby Doo… you get the idea.
 
Many women and girls are not comfortable wearing these sexy costumes on Halloween and *gasp* may want a realistic outfit to wear! It is also very cold in October in many places, and sexy costumes aren’t exactly conducive to trick or treating in the snow. There are already plenty of choices for those who want to dress in sexy costumes, but costume shops seem to have forgotten the people who want more variety. It’s about time that we push for non-sexy, realistic Halloween costumes for woman and girls. It is more than ok to keep the sexy costumes, but we must teach girls starting at a young age that they don’t HAVE to be sexy on Halloween and they have a choice as to whether or not they dress as such.