By Charlotte Smith
As the long awaited return of Halloween parties and events creeps upon us, women become stumped with what costumes to wear, how this will impact how they are viewed by society, and how to choose between the limiting choices of sexy or scary?
Why do women have to choose between Sexy VS Scary?
Since the early 2000’s, the media and the hyper sexualization of women have ingrained the idea into society that women should dress ‘sexy’ for Halloween in order to conform to their standards.
But what happens if as a female you decide to dress up scary? Well, it automatically labels a woman as unattractive and pushes them out of what used to be considered as the societal norm.
For the satisfaction of not only their own image but also for others, as women we typically dress up as ‘sexy’ for Halloween. Whether that be when we going out clubbing or even, when we were younger, trick or treating, girls typically can’t dress up too scary, as it’s unrepresentative of the typical female Halloween culture.
How are ‘sexy’ Halloween costumes considered as objectifying?
Since the early 2000s, sexy-fied versions of every female domesticated role have become ingrained in Halloween traditions.
Costume stores have even – over the past few years – started to create raunchy outfits out of what were once inanimate objects. This includes the popularity of the ‘Sexy Piñata Costume’, featured on Halloween Costumes.
However, costumes that misrepresent serious female jobs as sexy are a lot more objectifying than those that drive a sex appeal towards inanimate objects.
For example, the typical costume of the ‘sexy nurse’ becomes an issue, as it misrepresents qualified women who have worked tirelessly in that role as almost seductive to their patients.
The provocative nature of these costumes clearly objectifies serious and hard working roles, which misrepresents women, as until more recently costumes hadn’t been objectified for men.
Increasingly, more male occupations have been objectified, such as the ‘sexy priest’, supposedly seen as un-holy and breaking his devotion to God through his revealing outfit.
Still, male Halloween costumes still aren’t as inviting and alluring as the female objectified outfits, while female halloween costumes, such as the ‘Sexy Prison Dress’, feel like a must-wear.
How is the choice between Sexy VS Scary portrayed through the media?
Immediately when we think of the difference in sexy and scary Halloween costumes, the Mean Girls halloween party scene springs to mind.
In the scene, main character Cady Heron is shocked into learning that Halloween is the “one night a year where a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.”
Which still remains as true nearly 20 years later – it’s still considered unconventional to dress ‘scary’ like Cady in Mean Girls.
Now, in 2021 values towards a woman’s costumes are even worse and are heightened by the portrayal and trends of the media. Instead, the only way to defer from the Sexy VS Scary debate of costumes as a female is to take the feminist option.
So, what is the feminist option?
Ultimately, the feminist option is to dress up as anything empowering that doesn’t allow you, as a woman, to feel over sexualised. However, that can be hard.
The best way to take a stance against the objectification of Halloween costumes is to go as feminist icons and leaders that have inspired women of today.
“You can just be powerful and sexy.”
Some empowering and iconic characters to dress up, suggested by ‘Fairy God Boss’ include: Hermione Granger, Moana and Superwoman.
Richard Parrott in New York City, told Mic, more costumes now channeling ‘Katniss from Hunger Games or Daenerys from Game of Thrones’ means that “You can just be powerful and sexy”, as a woman on Halloween.
So, this Halloween take a stance against the objectification of female costumes and wear what makes you feel powerful.
Featured image courtesy of Jason Yonder on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes have been made to this image.
