Mostly a commercial and secular celebration now, Halloween used to be the day to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, and it is also believed that this transition between the seasons was a bridge to the world of the dead.
Halloween is celebrated more enthusiastically in the West more than anywhere else in the world. Coming to the United States, the most prominent thing about Halloween for me was costumes. Some preferred trick-or-treating while others attended parties. While some visited haunted attractions, others enjoyed telling scary stories and watching horror films in groups. Regardless of the activities, the common theme that caught my eye was the costumes everyone was so religiously wearing.
Seeing everyone dressed up to enjoy and participate in festivities of Halloween initially came across as cute. But it didn’t take long before I had a feeling that there was something wrong about it. As the night went on and I met more and more people it became clearer. I realized that it wasn’t the haunted house that scared me for the night, it was something else. It was open sexism and wrong representation of cultures, which for some reason was not bothering others, which my mind openly refused to accept. I was uncomfortable when I met a “Muslim Terrorist,” a “Sheik,” an “Indian Sweetheart” and a “Geisha,” but it was just the beginning. While I was trying to give all those people the benefit of doubt because of their lack of cultural knowledge, I met “Ash and Pikachu” (I have a feeling this is will be very common this year). I had seen a few “Pikachus” earlier who happened to be kids or guys in their early teens but I had not seen an adult female version of Pikachu yet. It was then when my mind finally put everything together. It wasn’t just the wrong representation of cultures but also systematic sexism that was bugging me. To be honest, it wasn’t even the issues themselves that were the actual cause of my discomfort but the fact that everyone seemed to be okay and accepting of it. I couldn’t help comparing same costumes worn by different genders for the rest of the night and it just took away all the fun and excitement I started my day with. Below are some of the examples of what I am talking about:
Native Americans
Regardless of vast awareness campaigns carried out by natives throughout the country every year and being part of American society before it even existed, Native Americans are probably affected the most by the prevalent Halloween culture. There are many videos, social media and actual campaigns that unfortunately seem to have no drastic effect.
Asians and Arabs
While the trend to dress as Arabs or terrorists has recently picked up due to the reasons we all are very well aware of, Asians, and particularly Asian women, are being wrongly portrayed not only during Halloween but in entertainment industry for a while now. Either way, it is wrong and needs to be stopped.
Fictional and Miscellaneous Characters
Dressing up as different characters ties in to systematic sexism. While most of the costumes for guys are designed to appear either funny or actual representation of the character, women's costumes are mostly over sexualized regardless of what the costume is.
Professions
I do not understand the idea that when a guy dresses up as a doctor, he is portrayed as a highly educated professional, whereas if a girl picks the same profession, she is showed as a hot nurse. It is also prevalent in other reputable professions like teaching and police, etc.
Costumes Now Come With A Hidden Cost
This is the most troubling part. This culture is fed to kids' brains from a very young age. Adults ruining Disney characters and memories attached to them on Halloween is the biggest reason why sexism and ill portrayal of cultures can be seen from a very young age now. Kids do it because they think it is okay as everyone else is doing it, creating a vicious cycle of lack of respect and education.
Halloween is a great event to celebrate and have fun with family, friends and loved ones. I would request you all to keep these small things in mind and educate those around you. Your costume this year might ruin someone else night and offend him or her beyond your imagination. Happy Halloween!
