As the one day of the year approaches that allows us to dress up as anything we want, we often take advantage of the term “anything.” By this, I mean we don’t take into account how our Halloween costume may impact others.
To make matters worse, parents often dress children up in offensive costumes, so a child is being insensitive without knowing any better.
As you get ready to dress up for a Halloween party, or are getting your kiddo ready for trick-or-treating, whatever you do, don’t wear these Halloween costumes…
1. Cultural Appropriating Costumes
We have all seen them- Native American costumes, Geisha costumes, Egyptian princess costumes, and so many more. The problem with these costumes is that if you are dressing up as a culture that isn’t yours, then you are appropriating it.
Even though you may see the costume as “cute,” or “sexy,”, or “cool,” or whatever opinion you have of it, that costume is depicting somebody else’s culture in a way that is not meant to be taken seriously. What you see as a fun Halloween costume can be seen to a person of that culture as a prepackaged, inaccurate, and offensive mockery of their culture.
While Halloween is the time to dress as something you are not, please leave cultural figures or statuses out of the pool of options.
2. Transphobic Costumes
Taking the step to transition for a transgender person is an incredibly emotional and life-altering decision.
Unfortunately, transphobic costumes have become very popular “funny” costumes.
There is nothing funny about a person going through the taxing emotional and physical journey to transition into a body that fits their identity. Mocking these people with your Halloween costume is not a form of comedy, it is honestly just distasteful and completely inappropriate.
3. Homeless Costumes
Strangely, wearing pajamas, ripped up clothes, or holding a cardboard sign have become a popular “homeless person” costume. I have even seen parents dress their children in this costume.
Homelessness is not a costume that can be worn and taken off after a day. It is an extreme level of poverty that strips a person or a family of their basic rights as human beings. I have a hard time understanding the comedy in that, as I am sure they do too.
Homeless costumes are just insensitive to say the least, so please find another source of inspiration for your “comedic” costume.
There are plenty of costumes out there that are light-hearted, cute, or funny without targeting a group of people. Mocking someone’s identity or way of life is not an appropriate way to get laughs or compliments on your costume.
These are the most common ones I could think of, but if you have others to suggest please feel free to comment and let everyone know!