The weather is cold, the leaves are changing, pumpkin flavored everything is everywhere: It's October and besides my birthday there is something else that I love and that is Halloween. Halloween was originally celebrated by Celtic people and Halloween was known as Samhain; the reason for this celebration was to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter and they also believed that the changing of seasons was a invisible veil between the living and the dead. Wearing costumes would deter the spirits from harming the living until the night was over, but over the years this holiday has become less about tradition and more about the candy. When I was a kid, I loved Halloween because I would come home with a few pillow cases full of candy that we would have until the next year; like a normal teenager I stopped going out around fourteen and stayed inside to watch scary movies.

As I get older and shop for my son's costume, I am starting to realize how slutty costumes have become; a classic witch has become someone with a pointy hat and a dress hiked up to her crotch, a medical nurse has become a girl with a big bust wearing a tight dress too small for her, white fish net stockings, and white high heels, and anything you could think of can be turned into a slutty costume. A person who upholds the law now has turned into a woman whose dress stops right below her butt and a healthcare professional is now a slutty prostitute with white fishnet stockings and platform shoes. When I was growing up, Halloween was a time to dress up and to get candy and it was so much fun, but as I got older I was more into watching the horror movies and I did when I turned 14; I would sit inside on Halloween night and watch my movie marathon from 6pm up until midnight and it was great.

Now, as an adult, I go out with my son and see many teens dressed as slutty nurses and police officers and I think about their parents; how could you let your daughter walk out of the house wearing something so skimpy? Kids are being sexualized too early and this is what is happening: they think the sluttier the better, but what does this message send to other children? That it is ok to dress like a prostitute? That it is ok for guys to see this and think that this is how women are supposed to dress? Having these sexy costumes only promotes sexuality before it is time to address the issue; teens should not be allowed to wear these costumes and parents should not be alright with their girls wearing them. I know if I had a daughter and she wanted to wear a sexy costume I'd tell her no and if she bought one anyway, I'd throw it out; I'm not going to have boys think my daughter is a piece of meat and other parents should be thinking the same way. Halloween has turned from a celebration to a greedy and oversexualized holiday; people should be educated on what Halloween represents and parents should be diligent and pay attention to their girls and what they are wearing.