By Emily Lakehomer
Halloween might be old news by now, but it’s just far enough away that as you browse through the night’s photos taking stock of who partied most, whose costume didn’t make it through the night and who got the most “candy,” one detail’s bound to pop up: Who had the sexiest costume?
Suraj Nair/VANGUARD STAFf
According to Cady Heron, the protagonist of the cult film Mean Girls, “Halloween is the one night of the year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.”
Derogatory use of “slut” aside, Cady’s right. Right around the beginning of September, something happens in the aisles of department stores: Halloween mania takes over—decorations, assorted candies and, of course, costumes.
Halloween’s got major appeal. But why do costume companies feel the need to add “sexy” to the title of every costume? Sexy witches, sexy vampires, sexy pirates, sexy ghosts…anything you can think of can be sexy-fied for Halloween. The trick is that these costumes aim at those of us who identify as female.
For the past few years I’ve wanted to be Red Riding Hood for Halloween. Why I haven’t done it yet: Prepackaged costumes are a little too sexy for my taste, and I have absolutely no talent for sewing.
Go all-out-sexy for Halloween, by all means. As Cady says, it’s the one night we can really, truly get away with it. The root problem is that costumes are being assigned “sexiness” while at the same time being engendered. Shouldn’t males be given the same opportunity to be sexy and look their best on Allhallows Eve?
Apparently not. I’d like to know where Sexy Darth Vader and Sexy Frankenstein’s Creation are every year.
These “sexy” costumes have questionable objectives: to give female-identifying individuals a boost of self-confidence and to appeal to the fancies and whims of a male audience.
It’s no secret that we still live in a man’s world. Anyone who denies that needs a crash course in feminist theory, and probably a privilege check as well.
Nearly everything manufactured is for the convenience of men. If this sounds biased toward feminist thought, that’s because it is.
The existence of a little thing called patriarchy means everything in our material world can be traced back to men, and to how men will almost always be favored in any situation.
Wikipedia defines patriarchy as a social system wherein males are the central authoritative figures over, well, everything. This includes family, government and property. Men are in charge of and have a say in everything. Despite all the progress of the past 200 years, we still live in a patriarchal world.
It would be awesome if “sexy” Halloween costumes existed solely to make us ladies feel and look good for ourselves—and just ourselves.
Sadly, that’s not the case. The really awful part? We can’t do much about it. Sure, we can boycott these sexy costumes, but where’s the fun in that? It’s a vicious cycle with no way out.
One solution: Don’t feel the need to be so overtly sexy on Halloween.
This year, rather than using my grocery money on an expensive “sexy” costume, I dressed up as the Log Lady from the cult show Twin Peaks. The Log Lady’s matronly sweaters and flannels aren’t exactly eye-catching and conventionally sexy, but pairing that ensemble with some black thigh highs and lace-up boots added enough oomph to keep me happy.
Plenty of other costume ideas can be more empowering than the typical run-of-the-mill costumes we see in stores every year. Rosie the Riveter is always a great choice, or perhaps an updated version of Emily Dickinson? Give Google a go and see what you come up with.
Halloween’s a fun holiday because we get to pretend to be something entirely different for one night.
Sultry and sensual costumes aren’t bad choices, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. No one should ever be ashamed, or be shamed by others, for wanting to look hot on Halloween.
Always keep in mind, though, who you’re trying to appeal to, and think about patriarchy and those damn interlocking systems of oppression, because they’re constantly at work trying to ruin all the fun things in life.