Halloween is full of haunted houses, pumpkin carvings, and a trove of revealing costumes. It would be pretty difficult to get through an eventful Halloween without seeing a woman dressed up as a "sexy" nurse, "sexy" cop, or any other character that has be fitted to reveal a lot of skin.
Halloween costume designers are always busy trying to find ways to turn even the most innocent non-sexual costumes into a piece for the seductive temptress. Playboy rounded up new "sexy" costumes based on John Oliver, George R.R Martin and, of course, Neil deGrasse Tyson.
The sexualization of women is not an isolated incident that occurs one day a year, but is a part of the larger issue of objectification. Objectification, according to the philosopher Immanuel Kant, is a process that "involves the lowering of a person, a being with humanity, to the status of an object." Feminist theorists have expanded on Kant's theories of objectification to describe how sexual objectification of women reduces women to objects that become a tool for the objectifier's purpose without any regard to their autonomy or rationality. When women become objectified, it is because they are seen only as bodies, and not as human beings worthy of respect.
At work this past week, I had two experiences that reminded me that objectification is rampant in our world. A guest at work was on his way out when he stopped to tell me that I was "a pleasure to look at." Later that same week, one of our male servers came up to myself and another employee and told us that when he asked his table if he can get them anything else, they replied with "one of your hostesses." Both examples exemplify the way women are treated as objects for the pleasure of men without any regard for their autonomy or consent.
You see it in advertising all the time
One of the main problems with objectification is the way in which it reduces a woman to her body, and then sexualizes her body and body parts. When I used to go out and wear shorts during the summer time, I would have male friends comment that I was "teasing them." This implied that no matter what I did, my body was always going to be seen as sexual. A body is not implicitly sexual, yet women's bodies are socially constructed to be that way.
This is why arguments saying objectification is perpetuated by women are so problematic. A woman wearing a sexy or provocative outfit is not the problem. The problem is the way she is treated when she chooses to don such outfits. When women are sexually assaulted, they are usually questioned as to what their appearance was at the time. This type of victim-blaming punishes women for what they wear based on the premise that their bodies and body parts are by nature provocative and sexual. It blames women for not protecting themselves against men who they are told cannot "control themselves." The onus is placed on the woman, not the objectifier. This is because objectification renders a woman's ownership over her appearance and sexuality invalid, by telling her that she cannot dress the way she wants because she will then be blamed for her own assault.
"Slutwalks" are a movement protesting against victim blaming.
This of course brings us back to Halloween. Halloween is a time of the year when women are encouraged to find the sexiest costume they can. It becomes normal to find the sexy bunny or sexy nurse walking or dancing around on October 31. The question one must ask themselves is why. Are women really making a choice when they purchase their costumes? Or is it that we live in a culture that sees women as objects for the pleasure of men? Women should be able to dress the way they want without being ogled by every person who walks past them.
There is no right way to fight back against objectification. You can either participate in Halloween knowing that the culture of objectification is what causes the proliferation of provocative clothes, and by donning a barely there costume are further perpetuating this objectification, or you could abstain, accepting the notion that women's bodies are sexualized and the best recourse is to cover up. That is the sad world we women live in.
