Cady from "Mean Girls" summed up it up best she said, “Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.”
It’s the one day a girl can put on lingerie, add a pair of bunny ears, a tail, and go out. Now I'm all for self-expression and empowerment, so if walking around with pasties on your nipples, hot pants, thigh highs, stripper heals and a pair of mouse ears, makes you feel good, then you rock it girl. Empowerment varies from person to person, but just make sure a sexy costume really makes you feel good.
I understand sometimes feeling sexy is nice. Who doesn’t want to feel irresistible? But before you spend over $50 on that sexy pizza rat costume this year, ask yourself, do you really feel good in it, are you just trying to fit in, or are you afraid to wear something else?
I’ve worn my fair share of sexy Halloween costumes and I remember very vividly feeling pressure to do so. I was in sixth grade when I started thinking about being Red Riding Hood, not because I was inspired by a girl whose grandma was eaten by a wolf, but because it was the only costume with a fake corset my parents would approve of when I was 11. My parents and I decided a dead cheerleader would be more appropriate. I agreed. It still allowed me to wear a short skirt, but without being overtly sexy. Still, though, I couldn’t help feeling inferior when I saw two older girls out trick or treating dressed as sexy sailors.
After that year, even though my parents would take me trick-or-treating, my costumes consisted of less and less material. Of course, they never crossed the line (they still had to be Dad approved), but looking back, I would have had so much more fun dressed as something else.
Instead of running from house to house, I spent my teenaged years trying to keep too short skirts from riding up, trying to keep thigh highs from falling down, trying to breathe in corsets, and shivering through many Michigan October 31sts. Of course, I still had fun on Halloween, but now that I’m older, I wish I would have made different choices.
My breaking point was my freshman year of college. I wore a little green military outfit with a pink corset in the front and back. It was short and tight and still mom approved. But she wasn’t going to have to walk around with me trick-or-treating that year, so it didn’t matter as much. I put on my sultry makeup, squirmed into that little dress and tried to keep my butt from falling out all night. I thought about putting a shirt on underneath the corset, but decided that a push-up bra was the better choice. This was college anyways and I was finally able to wear something sexy and not have to worry about what my parents may think.
I stared at myself in the mirror and thought it was almost too much. This was really pushing my boundaries and I considered changing one last time. My friends, though, were ready to go so I said heck with it and shivered all the way to the party we went to.
Once we got there, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were girls with close to nothing on…compared to them, I was covering up like a nun and for a second, I thought I should have pushed it even further. I could have pushed my boobs up a bit higher, threw on some heels and showed some more skin. In comparison to everyone else, this was barely sexy at all.
That was the turning point for me. On Halloween, they sexy standards are different. Wearing a tight dress that meets your finger tips won't cut it. You have to throw in fishnet tights, meant for the bedroom; your outfit can barely cover your butt, and just in case, some costumes come with underwear to match the costume. Basically, unless you’re going naked, you're bound to find someone wearing less. And if the only way you will feel the sexiest is by wearing the least, then you might as well give up the fight now.
So this year, no more shivering. No more fighting to keep my thigh highs pulled up all night and my boobs pushed up to my chin. No more garters that rub against my skin and hurt, and no more matching costume panties that society pressures me to show.
No more sexy costumes.
Instead of showing off my body, this year I will be showing off my makeup skills. Instead of shivering I will be laughing. Instead of pulling up my thigh highs, I will be having fun. Maybe I won't have people tell me how "cute" I look, and I'm sure I won't hear any catcalls, but I will be having fun.
So this is what I ask of you. I don’t doubt that there are girls out there who feel awesome about themselves when they wear a sexy Halloween costume; lots of you ladies to look fierce, and to you, I say rock on! But to the girl who's experiencing Halloween without her parents for the first time, or to the girl getting ready for her first Halloween in college just ask yourself: are you dressing sexy for yourself, or are you doing it for an expectation?
