What’s Wrong With Sexy Halloween Costumes?

This is a question I’ve been asking myself for a long time. Everyone knows I despise sexy halloween costumes almost more than anything else. I really really do. But when I was asked this question for a feminist podcast I was confronted with the opinion that my strong distaste for this might be decidedly unfeminist. Shouldn’t women be allowed to express themselves sexually however they want? Isn’t it part of the problem that this sort of thing is so stigmatized and negatively labelled “slutty”?

Well I was reading an article on the lingerie addict and it made a totally great point. If you’re wearing your sexuality as a costume, doesn’t that say something about us as a society? You’re not owning your sexuality, you’re using it as a one night a year disguise. If you truly own your sexuality, you should be free to express it every night of the year. Dressing up sexy only on halloween turns the whole thing into a joke, and I feel like this does the opposite of what many feminists think it does. You just don’t dress up as yourself for a halloween costume. Sexuality isn’t supposed to be put in such a ridiculous light. I’m not saying you need to take it super seriously all the time, but this is just giving the wrong impression. We shouldn’t need to use halloween as an excuse to express this part of ourselves. I think this is contributing to why “slutty” is seen as a bad thing. I hope I’m being eloquent enough to get my point across here, I’m not always so sure I am.

The second thing I want to mention once again is what I’ve been saying forever. Halloween is supposed to be a scary time. If you fill it with strippers dressed like bumblebees, you’re taking all the fun out. Well, the kind of fun halloween is supposed to be anyway. Scary stuff is awesome. Fear is a very primal emotion, and it’s exciting. And if you really insist on the whole “sexy” part of it, it can even be a powerful aphrodisiac. If you take the scary out of halloween, what exactly are you left with? This holiday is going to die. Why would you want the most awesome day of the year to die??

What I propose is not my idea. I read it on another blog years ago. But it’s that we separate this whole business into two holidays. If women really feel the need to be all shy and demure 364 days of the year, let there be some kind of sexy holiday in the heat of august. Not Valentine’s day, but just a day where you can ho it up like nobody’s business. Sure, I’d take a bite of that. Let your inner slut shine. Then give halloween back to it’s spooky roots. This would be better for everyone.

But really, don’t be ashamed to express your sexuality in appropriate ways all year round. The ways to do this are so many I can’t even begin to get into it. But let me just say that you can ooze sexuality every minute of the day without looking trashy or inviting a sexual harassment lawsuit. You don’t have to show a lot of skin, you don’t have to bump and grind. It’s about your essence and how you feel about and carry yourself, and if you want to wear stilettos and a micro mini out to da club on the weekends do it up. Just don’t be stupid and freeze your ass off doing it outdoors in a Canadian late October.