It’s that time of the year again when I ask myself, “Do I really want to dress up like a sexy baseball player, or should I stick with a good old fashioned zombie?” That’s right, friends, it’s almost that super scary holiday when young women feel pressured to exploit their own bodies, because that’s completely normal on the day designated to celebrate the dead and have small children go door to door collecting candy.

Halloween used to be my favorite holiday. I loved coming up with super weird characters that no one would understand and collecting treats with my friends. But as I got older, the vibes started to change. Year after year, skirt lengths got shorter and necklines started to disappear. I remember at about 14 I wanted to be an evil cheerleader, so I looked up costumes online. I found one that I thought would work pretty well, but my parents found it unsuitable for a girl my age and said that I should keep looking. It was like a natural progression from innocent kid costumes to eventually looking up “vampire costumes for women” and getting links to costumes that look better fit for Adultmart. Plunging necklines and short skirts (if there were bottoms at all) seemed all that was available to women my age and size. As I continued looking, trying for zombies, witches, and mummies, the results generally stayed the same.

Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that some women want to look sexy on Halloween. It can be the one night they let loose and show off some skin. That is totally fine, and one year, I felt that way as well and got myself a sexy sailor costume. But the thing is, for young women, starting in their teens, those are almost the only options. I actually have to dig through sites to find costumes that aren’t marked “sexy.” When the norm is “Heartthrob Nurse,” “Booty Boot Camp Army Lass” and “Drop Dead Sexy Grim Reaper,” one gets a little discouraged.

I want to dress up like Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls. That costume rocked! I want to be gross and gory and weird on Halloween. I don’t want to feel pressured to look hot. Growing up Halloween got less and less fun because people think it’s weird that I want to drench myself in fake blood. I don’t want to go on a website for costumes and be offered a coupon for a lingerie set to go with it (yes this year, that actually happened to me. Twice). I want whimsical and mystical and slightly frightening. I am sure I can’t be the only one who feels this way.

What’s frightening is how society expects women to behave on Halloween. Put on spandex, a fluffy tail, and be something everyone wants to look at. Like Cady Heron said, “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” But should they have to?

I know I know, Halloween as we know it today is just a ploy the candy companies and party stores came up with to get more money and I shouldn't be so up in arms about it. That is a whole different story I could write about. However, this is a direct reflection of how society wants women to behave and it’s a little disgusting. Young women should have more options for costumes and not have to be the object of someone else's fantasy on Halloween.