My friends and I recently went to the local Halloween Express in search of a Disney Princess costume, but we didn't find one. Actually, we did find some but they were either for four-year olds or outrageously short or low cut. We could not find one costume in our size that was not overly scandalous, something our moms–and ourselves–cannot agree with wearing.
It made me not only sad, but angry. It is fine if you want to be "Pochahottie" or the "Strip Search Sheriff" for Halloween, but if you don't want to dress that way you have no choices otherwise. It is sexist to only provide girls with short low-cut costumes. It is definitely not encouraging us to respect ourselves.
Domestic violence is an ongoing problem across America and encouraging girls to dress scandalously could be part of the problem. Dressing in a way that is overly sexual is not showing respect to yourself. If you do not hold respect for yourself, how can others be expected to respect you? Respect is important in relationships, workplaces, and even schools.
If our great-grandmothers saw where costumes have gone, they would have heart attacks. If those women who worked so hard to earn suffrage through the 19th amendment saw how little respect we as a generation have for ourselves they would probably cry. Susan B. Anthony herself would be rolling in her grave if she saw the objectification that we have embraced.
Wearing shorter costumes that is exactly what we are doing: giving into objectification. However the companies give us no other choice.
This is partially our doing. At one point girls must have called for less conservative costumes, but why would that justify the complete elimination of modest costumes? It shouldn't, and we should be given the option to choose to wear the costume or not. What has happened to our generation that we would so readily undo the work of women before us? Our great-grandmas, grandmas, and even moms worked to give us rights and privileges that we now take for granted.
Some may think that dressing sexy is empowering, because that is what the media says. But it is not empowering, it is objectifying. What is empowering is using logic, making decisions, and standing up for what you believe in. Dressing sexy is just asking to not have your ideas realized as clear, brilliant thought.
If you want to wear shorter, sexier costumes you absolutely can and no one should judge you for it, but if you don't you should have options to buy something else. Currently if you do not want to wear a short costume there is no choices for you; costume companies have found a way to make even Snow White scandalous. Why is it that girls are not given a choice to buy a costume that is more conservative?
It is your right to dress how you want (within reason), but if a company does not supply anything near what you would actually want to wear, what is it that you can do?
You can take back Halloween by not relying on the costume shops and making your own costume. Not only can you bypass the scandalous costumes it is also cheaper. To add to that, most homemade costumes are incredibly clever and really easy. Take a cardboard box, glue, and markers and the options are endless.
We can show those companies how we really feel about ourselves, what we really want to look like. If we do this than maybe next year we can find an innocent Disney Princess costume.
