When I was in third grade, I wanted to be Princess Jasmine for Halloween. As I excitedly perused the numerous princess costumes in Party City, I noticed my mom’s lips purse a little bit. “Unbelievable,” she muttered, “These costumes are sexualizing eight year olds.” To me, an elementary school-age kid, she was overreacting. I wore my gymnastics leotard underneath my two piece costume and that was that.
A few years later, as a young teenager, my perspective changed. As I was shopping for a Halloween costume, I realized that everything being sold looked like it was made for a girl in her twenties and I wasn’t able to find any that I felt comfortable wearing in public. While Halloween has long been advertised as the one day per year where girls can wear as little clothing as they want and not be judged for it -- the lack of clothing is practically a costume in and of itself -- I wasn’t ready to make that leap into adulthood quite yet.
As a college student, the costumes that my mom wasn’t comfortable with me wearing as an eight-year-old and that I wasn’t comfortable wearing as a 13-year-old have suddenly become much more available to me – they are primarily marketed towards my demographic. Take any costume idea you can think of, add the word “sexy” in front of it, and I can almost guarantee that you will be able to find it readily available online. After seeing countless sexy cats, police officers, and "Risky Business" costumes a few nights ago, as well as a few original ones that are more weather-appropriate, it made me think about what Halloween has become.
For a child walking door-to-door through a couple neighborhoods with parents, siblings, and friends in tow, is a provocative costume really necessary? I understand the desire to look and feel more risqué than normal on Halloween when you’re a legal adult and looking for a cute guy more responsible for your actions, but I also think there should be more appropriate options for children and girls who don’t feel like showing as much skin. Whether your Halloween consists of trick-or-treating or drunken party-hopping, the holiday is about having fun, and people should have the option of doing that in whatever ensemble they feel most comfortable wearing.
