Not sure what to dress as this Halloween? The holiday brings out the best in everyone’s creative side, but make sure to run through these questions below before you decide your costume.
Does your costume make light of violence towards women?
Having a topical Halloween costume is always a good choice. However, if you are choosing to use the headlines to decide what to dress up as, be very careful on what you think is a good idea. Want to dress up as a giant, bent iPhone? Sure, go ahead.
But if you are thinking about dressing up as Ray Rice and dragging around a doll (or your female counterpart), you need to stop. Just do not even think about it. In fact, why do you even still own a Rice jersey?
Wearing any sort of costume that turns a serious domestic violence issue into a “funny” costume is not going to make you the star of any (tasteful, socially conscious) Halloween parties.
On a related note, steer clear of an Adrian Peterson costume, too. Wearing his jersey and carrying around a switch will get you some attention, but surely not the type of attention you want.
Again, child abuse is also not funny. Imagine if you saw someone dressed as a child that has endured a life of abuse from his parents. Wouldn’t you question that individual’s morality?
Are you dressing like a race or culture that you are not a part of? Well for some people the idea of dressing as a caricature of another race or culture is quite humorous, but at what cost? Many costumes depicting stereotypical characters only spread the gross generalizations that many hold to be true of certain races.
Some groups have actually begun to campaign against the idea of costumes based on race, as seen in the “We’re a Culture not a Costume” campaign.
Does your costume turn a serious disease into a joke? This question has become even more relevant with the onslaught of Ebola coverage in the media right now. While many have taken the topic lightly the disease itself has claimed hundreds of lives globally.
Would the families of Ebola victims want to see the disease that took their family member’s lives be the punch line of a joke? Instead of letting a disease be your costume, why not just become the source of the cure and be a doctor?
Are you unnecessarily sexualizing any of the following: animals, food, cartoon characters or inanimate objects? People insist on wearing over sexualized costumes, but do people really need to dress as a “sexy taco?”
Costumes designed around bringing out the sex appeal of rather ordinary objects have become extreme recently as more children’s costumes have taken on this theme. Instead of dressing like a sexy corn on the cob why not dress up like Jake from State Farm?
Halloween is one of the more exciting days of the year because it brings out the creativity in those who dress up, but this year consider the tastefulness of your costume before going out in public with it.
And just one more thing to consider, if you are posting photos of yourself in these rather vulgar costumes just who might be looking, potential employers, family members, or victims of domestic abuse?
Jake Alleruzzo and Lauren Dwyer
Senior News Editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief
About Post Author
