Personally, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love getting to dress up and play pretend that I'm something I'm not for a night. Halloween is the time to show your creativity and ability to crate awesome costumes. However, I think it needs to be clarified what costumes are acceptable to wear and what aren't. Many people don't really think about being offensive when picking out a costume, but it's very important to pay attention to what your costume represents, and if does represent anything like cultural appropriation or sexism, racism, homophobic ideals or anything else like that, pick a new costume. Here are some "do's" and "dont's" of Halloween costumes.
Do be something cute and fun. Maybe something from your favorite movie or your favorite actor or actress. How about a food item? There are tons of cute and fun costumes to pick that don't offend anyone!
Don't choose a costume that represents a culture you are not a part of or incorrectly represents that culture. For example, Native American costumes aren't cool, just like painting yourself a different race or being transphobic isn't either.
This is not a correct or accurate representation of Native American culture. The costume is hyper sexualized and an incorrect representation of a common stereotype that people take to be Native American, and can be offensive the Native American people.
Representing a different race by painting yourself a different skin color is also super not okay. It's not okay to try to represent yourself as a minoritized race, especially if you are a majority race that has not faced the same struggles as the race you are attempting to portray. This costume would've been great had she not gone "black face" for it.
Another don't. Making fun of a transgender person isn't just uncool, it's wrong. Don't judge people on their sexuality and gender they chose to identify with, and definitely don't represent them in a transphobic way.
Do pick a costume you feel comfortable in, have fun with your friends and have a safe Halloween! Just remember, there are so many costumes you can choose that don't offend or misrepresent anyone. Choose one of those!
