Insider has taken it upon itself to show the 16 most offensive Halloween costumes of the year, and why they’re offensive (I didn’t see any of these in person, but I didn’t go to a party or trick-or-treating). Insider‘s description and comments are indented.
I’ll ask you to vote on each costume in a poll following it: is it offensive or not? (You can view the results after you vote.) PLEASE VOTE, as I’d like a decent sample size (of course the readers here aren’t a random cross section of Americans!)
If you have no opinion, don’t vote. You are likely to find at least one or more of these offensive, so please give your reactions to any specific costumes in the comments. Here we go!
“Sexy Shooter Happy Hour”
This Yandy offering comes complete with a “poncho-style” minidress and a sombrero, both of which draw on exaggerated stereotypes of Mexican culture and could be considered offensive.
“This Dream Catcher Costume could be considered cultural appropriation”
“Men’s Arab Sheik Costume.”
It’s harmful to reinforce negative and misconceived notions about a region, religion, or group of people, like this Kmart costume does.
The “Golden Geisha” Costume
Wearing a geisha costume, like this one from Yandy, could be seen as cultural appropriation.
“Rasta Costume Kit.”
This Walmart costume includes a dreadlock wig that could be deemed offensive.
The site that was selling it under the name “Anne Frank costume” removed it, but you can still buy it (under the name of “World War II Evacuee”) from Walmart.
If you’re not Mexican, it would be offensive for you to dress in Day of the Dead-inspired garb, like this costume from Yandy.
Try to avoid costumes that could be interpreted as body-shaming, like this one from Target.
This mock uniform from Spirit Halloween manages to be both ageist and body-shaming to women at the same time.
Although it might seem topical, this Yandy costume, which is intended to look like a reportedly pregnant Kylie Jenner, also has body-shaming implications.
Yandy makes the controversial “Upside Down Honey” costume, which some argue unnecessarily sexualizes Eleven’s iconic outfit by lowering the dress’ neckline while shortening its hemline, swapping sneakers for platform heels, and replacing ankle socks with thigh-high socks. [JAC: This appears to come from a t.v. show, “Stranger Things”.]
“Sexy Convict.”
Incarceration is not funny, though this Yandy costume tries to suggest otherwise. [JAC: The note also says the costume “could be interpreted as trivializing the U.S. prison system”.]
By presenting a straightjacket as a joke, this Yandy costume downplays a serious issue. [JAC: The description adds that “this reinforces harmful misconceptions about mental illness in prison.”]
Homelessness is a serious issue, although this Wonder Costumes getup does not present it as such.
On its own this Yandy costume is fine, but implying that it is the animal that was controversially killed in 2016 would be problematic.
This Yandy costume not only appropriates Middle Eastern culture but also has disturbing sexual undertones. [JAC: ???]
h/t: Melissa
They’re the “most” offensive ones??
Any maybe I’m out of date, but aren’t Halloween costumes supposed to have a scary ghosties and ghoulies theme?
So out of date! You can’t manufacture offense and victimhood out of traditional ghosts and ghouls.
What about ghosts being white?
Some are tasteless but to me none are offensive. Unless someone has slandered me, I don’t find anything offensive except blood and guts in movies. The tastemehoney is exactly what fashion models look like in magazines! Anorexic knockneed angry zombies!!!! Perfect for Halloween. So some people get offended by some images…..big DUH. I personally am offended by burqas, nijabs and all those other straitjackets forced on Muslim women.
Take them off please….PLEASE!!!
+1
To me, all the costumes are wonderfully offensive, like they should be,to provoke a smile call out the prudes. I personally would object the the “Anne Frank” getup if it really was made to be such, and not a “WWII refugee”.
Insanity.
I’m definitely more on the ‘offended’ side than the average, but come on people, surely we can at least agree the Anne Frank one is in unforgivably bad taste! Renaming it ‘evacuee’ isn’t fooling anyone.
Unless the tag says Anne Frank, it’s unlikely anyone would know what the costume represents. But knowing the identity, that was one that stuck out as truly distasteful. I also found the Rasta costume offensive and the Hooters costume in bad taste but not offensive.
Without the label I would have said “That’s an American Girl doll costume.”
What offends me is that these are all stock photos/models. To be truly offensive they need to be shown on the actual wearer, who paid money for them and probably thinks s/he’s clever.
No one would get the Ann Frank reference, and if you have to explain how you’re trying to be offensive… it already didn’t work.
BTW- *None* of these can compare with the *vileness* in costumes the year Obama was elected president.
Downvoted the Snake Charmer, as the “snake” looked like a *dog,* making it offensively stupid.
I don’t think that’s right. Offensive is in the mind of the beholder so there’s no limit to what would be considered offensive to someone. Which illustrates how shallow this whole “offensive costume” think is.
Agree about the Anne Frank. Without a label on it, nobody would get it.
It’s a Halloween costume, anyway. They’re supposed to be offensive (and as a consequence, I didn’t find any of them so far beyond the limit as to be offensive – to me, in context.)
cr
Nothing wrong with an evacuee costume, but labelling it Anne Frank is in very bad taste. In the UK everyone would instantly recognise it as an evacuee, (complete with label and gas mask box) from all the WWII movies and TV series we get here
The interesting thing is that I felt like I really recognised it from a picture of her and I went searching for it but I must have been imagining it. There are a couple of images here that are similar but it’s definitely not as straight a copy as I thought. http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/event/75th-anniversary-of-anne-franks-birth-50823310?esource=SEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect#-picture-id3208606
The rasta one was another one I thought was fairly obviously offensive too, although it’s hard to define why it’s significantly more egregious than the Native American or Arab ones, both of which also went in the ‘yes’ category for me.
Thought the Rasts costume was just silly. I regularly wore dashikis from the 60s into perhaps the 80s, though in the 80s it was perhaps more as performance dress (I’m a jazz musician). I know reggae musicians who dress a bit like that, but they’re not Rastafarian and they are white, even blonde (with dreds too).
Oh, and the ‘sexy Eleven’ costume was also unforgivable for me. If you know the show (and if you don’t, why not? It’s one of the best SF shows out there!), it’s unambiguously sexualising a young child. That’s way over the line as far as I’m concerned.
This is the reference image, just to make it clear. Definitely inappropriate.
https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/strangerthings8338/images/f/ff/ElevenImage.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20161021182816
A Norwegian minister got in a load of trouble for this type of thing…
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaMKSqKlWr1/?taken-by=sivjensen
oops – did not know that would embed – apologies for breaking da roolz 🙁
I don’t there is a rool that you broke.
Jerry, I really can’t imagine what was offensive about rasta man. Why do you find that one offensive?
BTW, I did vote a few as offensive, including the first two, mainly for the “punching down” effect. But I don’t see that this would apply to rasta man.
Funnily enough the costume itself is completely inoffensive (at least to me). Only when I read what the costume was meant to depict did it give me a cause for thought.
So to get some offense, I now have to conjure up some intent for the costume.
Essentially the claim seems to be is we can’t make fun of some recent distasteful history. If we had a costume where some Tudor dude who was carrying his beheaded head would probably be OK.
Offensive to Kings…
I think, what it comes down to is whether Halloween costumes are making fun of the subject or whether they are in honour of the subject.
About the only costume I found offensive was the Droopers one.
As an aside, I can’t believe they censored the nipples on the obviously fake breasts.
I can understand why it would be offensive to some, but it made me laugh out loud. I can guarantee that my mother would laugh her ass off if she saw it.
Do we have no sense of satire? Droopers is making fun of the whole concept of Hooters, not the specific women who work there.
Do you think people would find it offensive if I dressed as an ATM dispensing $100 dollar bills?
Dressing as an ATM trivializes the damage that a capitalist society does to its citizens. It also mocks minorities because capitalism is a white supremacist system.
[/s]
Don’t you use touch – RFID tagged cards – to pay? Does anyone still use cash?!
Bitcoin all the way.
The “sexy whatever” costumes seem more sad than offensive to me. If there was a pattern to what offended me it was the costumes that made fun of physical characteristics, rather than those that celebrated a different culture.
None of those rattled my cage. Although I’m on what Matthew’s tweet yesterday showed as the British attitude to Halloween/trick or treating. I sat and nursed a drink and let my wife (who for some inexplicable reason likes this stuff) deal with the incessant doorbell ringing, last night.
At least it didn’t go on late, and this year there were no pictures on the local website of coyotes following the kids around the neighborhood – which did happen last year (wildlife in the Chicago suburbs) It’s about the time of year that the cat stops going outside unsupervised.
I find none of those costumes offensive. Who cares about bad taste, it’s Halloween. The entire point is to shock and scare or just dress silly.
If you’re offended by a Halloween costume that’s a good thing. Maybe it will get you to ask yourself why you’re offended.
Absolutely!
I find Halloween silly (as I do many other traditions). But part of the idea of Halloween is, I guess, to dress in weird or shocking or risque costumes. It’s all in the context. As such, a Halloween costume would have to be waay beyond the pale for me to find it offensive.
(Confession: I started out with the presumption that I was going to say “No offence” to all of them. And as it happened, I was able to honestly say no to each one without even a twinge of self-doubt that I was deliberately skewing my replies.)
Would I find a realistic Adolf Hitler offensive? Or Joe Stalin? Or Caligula? Or Donald Trump? No, it’s Halloween!
cr
Me too. I hesitated over the Anne Frank one, but only because it was thus designated.
Your Adolph Hitler comment reminded me of Springtime for Hitler – bad taste perhaps, but not offensive, and actually very funny.
The Inflatable Ballerina made me literally laugh out loud.
I thought that and Anne Frank were the worst by far. I don’t like people laughing at others for their appearance. I think it’s cruel.
Ditto, with “Droopers” added to those two.
All TV and movie characters are fair game, which covers a lot of ground.
I didn’t like the prisoner restraint one, but if you make it Hannibal Lecter, then it’s good.
I thought of it as Hannibal Lecter, and as such, I didn’t have a problem with it.
Agree in the case of the ballerina. In the case of Anne Frank, no. I think whoever use that costume probably will be informed about the Shoah and that is a positive.
I didn’t have any problem with all of them, except the ballerina by the reasons cited by Heather Hastie.
A third category was needed: Bad taste.
I actually voted No on the Anne Frank costume because of the WWII evacuee wording. When I think of WWII evacuee, I think of the kids sent to the country from London etc. If I saw the costume, I wouldn’t think of Anne Frank. It looks like any kid of the era to me, not specifically her. I didn’t notice the label. As an Anne Frank costume, or any kid sent to the camps, it’s definitely offensive though, hence my comment above.
The label is what defines it as an evacuee costume. It stated the child’s name, home address, school and destination.
same here!
I voted offensive on the ballerina because I tought if my body naturally looked like that, I would be really sad to see the costume.
About Anne Frank, I just find to be strange that parents would like their children to dress up like a world war victim…
But now I guess I’m understanding why both of this can be offensive. Is only offensive if you are dressing as something that might be a struggle for others. Maybe, no one would find funny if somebody dressed as a Cancer victim…Some fat people might be ok with their body, some not. I think to be part of a ethnicity / culture shouldnt be a struggle for anyone. If it is, something is wrong…stereotyping is stereotyping, not offending..
I voted no on all of the costumes. We’re adults, and part of the point to Halloween — at least for me and many others I know — is to push the envelope of good taste and offense. Even so, only one of these costumes seems to seriously push the envelope toward purposeful offense, and that’s the Anne Frank costume. The rest of the costumes fall into the category of offensive only if one is looking for offense.
I don’t find the Anne Frank costume offensive because, as I was remarking to someone last night, if somebody showed up to my door dressed as Hitler, I would give them all my candy just for having the guts to do it (assuming they were wearing the costume as a provocation/mockery, not in honor of the man).
Same here .. voted NO on all …
Well said.
As for Anne Frank – if it had a big label on it, maybe. That’s probably the most controversial one. But it’s Halloween. (In practice I don’t have a clue what Anne Frank looked like, so the cossie itself would leave me slightly baffled.)
cr
When did American adults start dressing up for Halloween ?
For parties!!!!!
If I ever get invited to a party where the “Sexy ____” costumes are prevalent I’m going to have to go as ‘King Leer’ ( as opposed to King Lear) because I will without a doubt make a fool of myself by looking too much.
but that’s stare rape
Well played.
I dress up for all my kids’ Halloween parties! Why not, it’s fun?
Can’t say I was really ‘offended’ by any of these except, perhaps, the Anne Frank. Some of them were ridiculous (e.g. the so-called Geisha), but, isn’t being ridiculous within the somewhat extended bounds of Halloween dress?
You can buy a costume to dress up as Anne Frank for Halloween? Speechless.
It’s generally sold for school plays, but gets tossed in with other costumes for Halloween on the website. Besides, many people dress as people they admire. Einstein, MLK, Lincoln, etc. Why should Anne Frank be excluded?
Well put. Anne Frank post-arrest would offend me (as would Lincoln post-shooting).
Exactly. I’m a little surprised that so many people find the Anne Frank costume offensive. I suppose for many it may be that they feel that Anne Frank is too serious and tragic a subject for something as frivolous as Halloween. I can understand that, but I think it is difficult and possibly uncharitable to try and guess someone’s motivation for wearing a given costume. Especially a young child’s.
Several of the costumes violated my two main costume criteria: 1) does it interfere with eating/drinking (most masks do this), and 2) does it make going to the loo excessively difficult/time-consuming, taking time away from eating/drinking. As for specific costumes – I’m with Stephen on LOLing at the inflatable ballerina. I also think the WWII evacuee with her little tag pinned to the collar crossed “the line of appropriateness.”
Judging by the voting, I found more costumes offensive than most people. However, in real life whether l found the few I thought were offensive actually offensive would depend a lot on who was wearing them. For example, if someone I knew was racist was wearing a Native American costume I wouldn’t like it. But someone I knew meant nothing by it wouldn’t worry me.
I think you’ve hit on the key factor, context. Just about any costume anyone could think of could be reasonably judged offensive in the right (wrong?) context.
I found several to be offensive, but I would keep it to myself and not try to shame the person.
Good point — and I think really the central point of all this.
Perhaps I’m being pedantic, but I’m not “offended” by any of them. Arguably, the sexy costumes are exploitative; though beyond that stipulation, I don’t think “convict” is worse than, say, “geisha.” My personal line is drawn at “Anne Frank” – not fun, not funny, not mischievously scary, etc. I abstained from that vote.
Oh… and “Droopers.” I don’t’ get that one at all.
It’s a depiction of an ageing “Hooters” waitress, who are forced to wear tight shorts and show off their pulchritude. I gather that this is supposed to show what happens when a “Hooters girl” gets older.
Okay. But… if I vote “offended,” am I commenting on the costume, per se, or the real-life (aging waitress) basis for the costume? (That seems nasty.) Indeed, if I vote “not offended,” perhaps I’m actually *supporting* the sisterhood of aging waitresses!
Dang, being a regressive leftist is hard.
I don’t see why it’s offensive. We all know what happens to older women and older people in general lol.
I think it’s funny because we know someone like that wouldn’t have that job for multiple reasons
Ahem. Some of us here are already older people. Watch it! 😉
That’s a dreadful case of gynaecomastia the poor guy’s got.
Some males find, to our dismay, that any surplus, errm, fat, inevitably gravitates towards our boobs. As any observation of persons whose displacement has developed in tandem with their age will sadly confirm.
🙁
cr
Wot, me? No, never. And you can’t prove it.
I can accept an offensive costume if it’s something clever that the person has used some creativity and imagination in putting together. But buying an ‘Anne Frank’ costume off the shelf is just lazy and what offensiveness it contains is not mitigated.
Yep, agree. I’ve seen some very tasteless costumes that were unique and creative rather than store-bought. If you’re going for shock value, try and do better than buying mass market.
If it wasn’t labelled as “Anne Frank costume” I wouldn’t have known, and instead thought ‘French girl’? ’50’s flight attendant’?
I laughed at the ballerina.
Droopers was the only one I considered offensive, and just because I wouldn’t want to keep seeing the costume at a party.
Personally the concept of cultural appropriation is ridiculous to me. When two cultures interact, they exchange ideas, building on each others work. We wouldn’t have rock music without white and black cultures interacting. Arguing “you can’t do that because that’s my culture” means that some of you shouldn’t be allowed to participate in Hallowe’en, or you can’t use paper if you aren’t of Chinese descent, etc.
None are offensive. Well, some are to good taste, I suppose.
I found the Rasta costume offensive. Everyone knows he should be holding a joint.
Spleef.
I think life is too short to be seriously offended about these costumes. (The “Anne Frank” name for the one seems poor, especially for “sexy” costumes, but the costume itself isn’t.)
I think my offense energy is better spend opposing the privatization of our public lands than on this stuff.
Even if they’re offensive, so what? If I see one being worn I can think “that’s pretty tasteless” and then get on with my life 🙂
The zombie, blood spattered ones are pretty grim though. My son, who has Asperger’s is completely terrified by it all.
Actually, for him and other people who find social stuff difficult, living in a world full of people desperate to take offence, is not going to be easy…
No offense on any.
The “droopers” one is just awful, but I’ll get over it.
I found it offensive and hilarious. Really depends on which party you wear it to.
Context is everything.
cr
I voted “offensive” on a few, the most egregious IMHO being the Anne Frank reference. If there had been a “stupid” or “in bad taste” button, those would have gotten more of my votes but “offensive”, not so much.
Oh for the love of…no. Just that. No. Idiots.
I’m disappointed that the Anne Frank costume wasn’t hyper sexualized for little girls.
As someone who’s BEEN incarcerated (in Florida State Prison), I can definitively say that not only is the Sexy Convict costume NOT offensive, I would have loved it if some of the convicts had looked like that.
As someone who’s spent a lot of time in stir during the course of legal visits (including at Raiford), it occurred to me that none of my incarcerated clients would complain about that outfit either.
Can’t say what women inmates might think, as I haven’t spent nearly as much time in their company.
Before reading other comments:
Yes to the mexican “shooter” girl. It does play on Mexican stereotypes.
Same with the “dream catcher.”
No to the sheik, geisha girl (yowza!), rasta man.
Yes to Anne Frank – too soon! It’s just not a subject to be made light of.
No to the rest, except the “Eleven” girl from Stranger Things. That’s disturbing because it’s sexualizing a little girl.
I also don’t find a single one of these offensive. Granted it’s kind of annoying when people think they’re clever or funny just because put on some “shocking” pre-made costume. But like others have said, the point of these costumes is to push the envelope and it’s ridiculous to take it seriously or act like it’s affecting people’s real attitudes towards things like mass incarceration.
I also like how it’s apparently okay for a Mexican to dress in Day of the Dead garb but no one else. So this writer is admitting there is nothing inherently offensive about the costume, but it’s wrong for a white person to wear it because cultural appropriation I guess. Yes, cultural appropriation is so horrible. Instead, let’s keep all cultural groups completely divided and isolated from each other. That will make for much better relations between them and it’s not like they have anything to gain from each other.
If I was at a party with people wearing all of these costumes, I’d think nothing much of it. I’d probably label the man in the Droopers costume a bit of a tosser and if I was told that the evacuee girl was Anne Frank, I might raise an eyebrow.
If a costume is worn to a party and no one there takes offense, is it offensive?
Only if someone shows a photo of it after the fact. Then all hell will break loose.
The Rasta-man looks like a standard-issue Trustifarian, you ask me.
And, while you’re asking, the reality star looks more like a preggo Penélope Cruz than the less lovely-and-talented Ms. Jenner.
I have major major problems with the Anne Frank costume and fairly trivial ones with ones that imply “body-shaming”, and none with the rest!!
“World War II Evacuee” — I vote “not offensive,” but it gets my vote for worst new euphemism. 🙂
Have you not come across the term before, or am I missing the joke. WWII Evacuee is a standard description in the UK.
I’ve certainly never heard it. (I’m a USian.)
I think the point is, that it’s a known term in the UK, but the costume was (I assume) sold in the US.
So maybe it was conceived of as Anne Frank and the ‘evacuee’ was a retrospective euphemism.
OTOH, they could have left off the name tag and called it ‘French girl’ and it wouldn’t have seemed odd.
cr
Which raises the question of how would US marketers have come up with the term if it’s not well known in the US? 😉
I’ve heard “WW2 evacuees” used before regarding what’re referred to in the US as “displaced persons.” I’ve never heard it used euphemistically before for people killed in Nazi death camps.
Not so much a euphemism, as a possible alternative description of the costume. I wouldn’t recognise it as Anne Frank.
cr
Agreed.
I agree with cr. I don’t think the intention was to create a euphemism, more an attempt to limit damage caused, by changing the original description.
Honestly, last night I hardly spared a glance at the costumes the trick or treaters wore (although we didn’t get any Golden Geishas), and could tell what most of them were. I think I would have thought the little girl was a French schoolgirl. If it were one of my children, though, they would not have worn that costume.
One (wo)man’s offense is another’s parody. Or satire. Or homage.
Of all the things in the world to get panties twisted about, this one ranks as one of the most ridiculous.
Panties? You lowdown sexist bastard.
#bastardshaming
Some of these costumes are “offensive,” I suppose, if you squint at ’em just right (and I wouldn’t parade around in any of them myself). But I think you’ve gotta be walkin’ around daring people to knock a chip of your shoulder to squawk about anyone else wearing one.
Of course, I say that as someone whose own ox wasn’t gored by any of ’em. I mean, maybe I’d feel different if they had a “Dumb Bohunk” costume (the generic term for fellow people of middle-European descent my folks sometimes used affectionately, the way some black folk will call themselves the N-word). I’m pretty sure I’d laugh it off anyway — but then, being a third-generation, one-half “dumb bohunk” is at the periphery of my self-identification.
I voted the straight “no” ticket.
As 1/4 Bohunk I take offense at that. It’s the other 3/4 that is dumb.
I recently worked in Oman for a few years working for a large French company. Our huge, open plan office had up to 100 people in it at any time, about half of them Omanis, quarter Indians and the rest Europeans.
On the Oman national day each year, most of us Europeans wore the Omani traditional dress into the office and as far as I could tell it was much appreciated by the Omanis. I never picked up any bad vibes about it. I expect they would be baffled by any talk of cultural appropriation.
I agree. The guy looks great. If the clothes remind us of ISIS, that’s ISIS”s fault, not Omanis’ or other peaceful Arabic people. Some Muslims might object to someone getting wasted while wearing this, however. However, the offense would be the ‘getting wasted,’ not wearing the costume.
Most all kinda weird and far less creative than many homemade costumes I’ve seen. But why would any costume company even think of making a fat ballerina or Anne Frank – did they seriously think they’d sell.
Or maybe I’m insufficiently underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
Most of the voters were men, right?
Why do you assume that?
Women aren’t allowed to vote?
Probably most readers are man. I’m a woman! interesting question. what is the gender ratio of jerry’s readers??
I have no idea. But we could take a poll! That’s a great idea!
A binary choice poll won’t work. You need a sliding scale representing the gender spectrum. 🙂
These day sex/gender distinctions are not good enough. Some days I identify as a horse, dog, or cat. With winter looming in Chicago, I self-identify as a bear and am preparing for hibernation.
None are offensive on their own. For one they are all intended to be used as Halloween costumes. Second, some are parodies of extreme stereotypes (fictitious by default), third, others represent outright fictitious charterers, with or without some extra poetic license who aren’t going to be offended, and the rest may just say more about the wearer’s tastes and propensity to troll or pay homage to than they are offensive. I have better things to do at Halloween than to go looking to be offended. One at least might want to ask why first, before judging on appearances alone.
German Railways (Deutsche Bahn) has just named one of their railway locomotives “Anne Frank”. I can see why they did it, as an act of remembrance, but I think that they could have thought that one through a bit …..
Having costumes portraying real people (Frank, Jenner) and people that does not look as yourself offend my sensibilities. Why only women in the first case, and why make fun of different body types instead of enjoying the experience?
But I would not prohibit their wearing. After all, a Trump costume would be truly scary and fitting.
I actually found none of them offensive, per se. I found many of them in poor taste or just plain sad/pitiful. I am curious what the results would have been if the poll choices included poor taste as an option? I am not offended by poor taste, though I sometimes am by the people that exhibit it.
The only one I voted “yes” for was the “Droopers” one. I wasn’t necessarily offended, nor do I agree with the implication that old women have saggy breasts is “body shaming” since it’s a fact of life, I just found it a bit crass to be wearing in mixed company. At a college Halloween party, I have no issue with it. At a family Halloween party, I think I’d ask them to put pasties on…
I will admit that my initial reaction to the Anne Frank costume was a bit surprised and a bit offended. After a minute’s thought and looking at the costume, I quickly realized that I didn’t actually find it offensive and that I actually found my initial response to be more inappropriate than I found the costume. Many young readers read Anne Frank’s diary and she is considered a hero by many, so why wouldn’t you honor her by imitating her? Kids “honor” superheroes all the time, why not actual heroes? More kids should dress up as real icons.
(side note: there was a teenager trick-or-treating in a “League of their Own” costume in our neighborhood last night and I thought that was a great choice that, I would be willing to bet, very few teenagers would even recognize.)
Cornish pasties, presumably.
Handed out way too much candy and the only interesting costumes I saw were inflated Tweedledum and Tweedledee. They don’t sell these puppies in Fargo!
I think at some point I would like to have a discussion about how the kind of harmless fun that is involved in a costume is ‘harmful’ to a group of people, or why something is called cultural appropriation if it does not involve actual harm or loss to anybody whatsoever. (The original idea was taking over somebody’s IP without re-compensating them for its use because they are powerless to make a case for their interests, and that makes sense; but who in Japan loses one dollar if an American wears a kimono?)
It seems as if this works as follows:
1. You have a costume with a sombrero.
2. ????
3. HARMFUL TO MEXICANS!
To say it with science, this theory does not seem to come with a plausible mechanism of action.
Then again, I was made uncomfortable by the Anne Frank label, and I cannot really demonstrate any harm or loss there either, so maybe it works the same way for other people in the other cases.
Found none offensive and I’m very surprised at the offense taken of “Anne Frank”. As many I would not have thought of Anne Frank if it were not mentioned, but I fail to see how it could be offensive, it is not as if she’s being mocked.
I had most problems with the fat ballerina, bad taste, but it looks more uncomfortable than offensive.Same for tHe Hannibal lecter costume: no arm use, no drink….
I side with Lorna that the really offensive costumes are the burkas and niqabs worn in real life
I tend to give a lot of (though not infinite) credit for effort. Someone goes to the trouble of putting together a unique costume, and I find it in bad taste, well I’m at least going to appreciate that they tried. That’s sort of like failed art.
OTOH somebody grabs their batman print t-shirt from the back of their closet and puts it on, that tends to get a lot more disdain from me. There are certainly good yet simple costumes, but there are also a lot of people who don’t seem to try…and that bugs me.
That aside: I find many of the shown costumes in bad taste, but none of them would upset me to the point of saying something.
So, 7% found the Hobo offensive and 5% found the Snake Charmer offensive.
Why? I’m quite puzzled.
The only explanation I can find is a generic (non-)explanation – that whatever you come up with, somebody, somewhere, will manage to take offense.
cr
Downvoted the hobo as he looked more like an *evil* hobo, in the same way that *evil* clowns is creepier than a regular clown.
Downvoted the Snake Charmer for a hooded cobra that looked more like a dog.
And you found those offensive?
I quite agree the ‘snake’ looked quite unrealistic (I thought it was maybe supposed to be a mongoose) but that wouldn’t make me label it offensive.
‘Evil’ hobo – that’s kinda the point of Halloween, isn’t it? What would you say to a Dracula or a Freddie Kruger?
cr
Littering, poor signage, and orgs that refuse to take you off their mailing list all offend me. But I’ve never attended an adult Halloween party where the “point” was to deliberately and convincingly dress with the intent to offend.
Dracula and Freddie have their images copyrighted and protected, as do most mainstream popular, fictional characters. Which makes them a “brand,” and unoffensive to me.
Even a costume of the (currently) most offensive person I can think of – Martin Shkreli- has *already* been crowned “the most hated man in America.” So a costume in his image would not offend me either. None of the images here truly offend me.
I found the whole exercise to be exceedingly lame (except for the ballerina).
As far as the fat-shaming offense, it’s not fat shaming. It doesn’t depict any particular ballerina. Are we not supposed to watch the dancing hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibius) in Walt Disney’s Fantasia without shame? Are we not supposed to laugh at the comedy of Laurel and Hardy, Jackie Gleason, and Rodney Dangerfield?
The dancing hippo stopped enchanting me after I learned about Disney’s choice for modeling the character.
http://jimhillmedia.com/mb/images/upload/hipp-in-a-tutu-145-web.jpg
O geez. Historical context, offensive.
The “Arab Sheik” costume is actually quite accurate, closely resembling the items (bisht, agal,head cloth) a friend of mine received from Syria and showed me (though the K-Mart costume is doubtless of lesser quality materials). The sword, of course, is an obvious toy. The combination of clothing items is often worn as dress clothing by Arab men: google image “Saudi royalty” to see many examples.
I didn’t find the snake charmer costume offensive for SJW reasons. But am troubled by humorous depictions of snake charming. It is horrible animal abuse: the snakes’ mouths are sewn shut and they are incessantly tormented when not confined in tiny boxes.
Had no idea they sewed the mouth shut. I should have known…
sub
The only thing that I find offensive is the fact that all things “sexy” have something to do with fake boobs. How sad it is to live in a culture where the value of women is measured by the size of their breast implants.
No, they are extremely functional. Otherwise known as Bulgarian airbags after this report –
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/03/bulgarian_airbags/
cr
“How sad it is to live in a culture where the value of women is measured by the size of their breast implants.”
It is very sad indeed. You’d think that being handy with a floor mop and able to brew a decent cup of tea would count for SOMETHING.
!
Lol 😆😆
I’m not offended by any of them and maybe that’s because I just don’t see any use for that state of mind. I can certainly judge some in poor taste, perhaps.
I’m trying to think of a costume that would make me feel personally “insulted” or “offended” (as opposed to being ill-advised or in poor taste), and I’m coming up blank.