Big Box Shops Offering Our Daughters the Perfect Sexy Costume
At first when I saw this costume I thought it was for a streetwalker, but upon slower inspection I realized it was for a Sexy Native American!(?)! One of our local big boxed stores is suggesting ways our teenage (and tween) daughters can up their sex appeal this Halloween with several costume styles, included a Honey (pot) Bear and a Sexy Angel (Angelicious!). I know what my thoughts are (?!?!) … what are yours?
- Silas Holesovsky responds: Target should be ashamed!
- Lori Ann Kelterborn responds: I went into CVS a few years back and was APPALLED by the CHILDRENS costume of a “cheerleader” with midriff exposed and the little shorts under the skirt showing, with a 9-year-old that had a face FULL of makeup. We need to encourage children being children not 9 going on a 19 yr old street-walker… sorry for the huge ramble but this is a big issue for me.
- Crystal Cooper responds: I’ve been discouraged for years that it’s become difficult to find an adult women’s costume in stores that is not a “sexy” version of normal costumes. I am completely disgusted that these costumes have come into production for girls and teens. As if the media doesn’t already send the message that girls are only valued for their sex appeal… now they have an excuse to dress the part. So so sad.
- Shoshona King responds: The Halloween store next to Stop & Shop in Hadley has only sexy costumes for women. Not any reasonable costumes.
- Marianne Bullock responds: I wrote this last year after a confrontation at a local bar with some people dressed with hijabs and suicide bombs … “Dressing up as another “race” or “culture” for Halloween IS racist. — Traditionally Halloween is a time to express yourself through costume as something scary, funny, ironic or otherworldly – that is why portraying a Muslim or Indian is racist. Since when is it acceptable for people to cast native or Muslim people into the realm of the fantastical — wizards, fairies, goblin and ghosts? Who gets to decide that other cultures get to be degraded to a cheap Halloween costume? It’s offensive to reduce the diversity of 500 plus first nation cultures and Indian people’s identities to a cheap plastic costume with tacky feathers — OR WEAR a hijab with a BOMB strapped to you! None of the institutional oppression that people face as Muslims and Middle Easterners comes with the costume. — Messing with concepts of race and identity in the “safe” context of Halloween only allows white people to trivialize and reproduce racial stereotypes while supporting white supremacy and dominance. There is nothing “rebellious” about it, you are not resisting the restrictive social context of our society, you are supporting racism and racial hierarchy. – HERE’S A RADICAL IDEA! Why not portray something not racist, sexist or offensive for Halloween?”
TAKE ACTION: MAKE YOUR OWN
If you’re feeling crafty and would rather make your kids non-sexualized costume this year, there are a couple of costume making opportunities this weekend.
- On Saturday, Oct. 23rd, ETTA Art Studio in Amherst, MA is offering a three-hour class.
- And then on Sunday, Oct. 24th, The Art Garden in Shelburne Falls, MA is having a three-hour Halloween costume making party, providing supplies and sewing machines.
Birdie Bunny Photography is offering Halloween photo sessions too and taking appointments to capture your kid and costume creation forever in a fine art photograph.
And if you don’t have the time to make your own, The Toy Stop, an independent, locally owned toy store in Northampton, MA has a few non-sexualized Halloween supplies to choose from — a nice alternative to those big box shops!
Cathrine Karch said,
May 1, 2012 at 8:08 pm
This is why you’re better off making your own costume.
homemade halloween costumes are cheaper and you can make the costume to your desired dimensions.