Reminder to avoid offensive Halloween costumes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello, Halloween costume troll! How was your year?

I am not a troll. This is a serious issue.

You think trolls don't post about serious issues just to rile people up? Can we have a little perspective about what constitutes a serious issue? My three year old dressing up like her hero Pocahontas...it's not that. The VA state legislature trying to police history and what our kids learn? That. That's serious. When you make everything serious nothing is serious.

Years ago I posted asking if my daughter could dress up as Pocahontas and was annihilated on here.

I’m ordinarily pretty lax about this stuff but the Pocahontas stuff sort of creeps me out because she’s an actual person that has been totally co-opted in a way that is kind of weird and uncomfortable for me. I wouldn’t judge you for letting your kid dress as Pocahontas, but I think i noxed it for my own kid because it just makes me thiink of a young girl who was kidnapped as a teen, married an older man under circumstances that probably weren’t totally voluntary, and died of some awful disease when she was only 20, far fell her home and family. And everyone treats her as a happy cartoon. It’s just icky to me. It’s my least favorite disney movie.

This is a different concern. Dressing as Pocahontas is not racist. You are uncomfortable with it because her story is sad, and I think some tribal leaders have expressed that the white mythology around her is so insensitive that dressing like her is hard to do respectfully. But it's different from putting on a wig with feathers and saying you're an Indian.

It's Halloween. You don't have to be "respectful."

Or, just say it's not Pochahontas and you're dressing like an injun squaw.

Yeah, just be openly racist — Halloween is like those free passes the kids get to say racist stuff

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, a general rule is do not put on costumes that feature clothing, body modifications, or hair that are common to another ethnicity but not your own.

Example: non-Black people should not wear afros, non-Indian people should not wear bindis

How am I going to go as Richard Simmons, then? Or is that offensive now, too, since he kicked it recently?

Or, gee, I don't know. MAYBE I WILL WEAR AN AFRO ANYWAY AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT YOU CAN SUCK YOUR TEETH.

You don't police me. I'll wear what I want to.

I think that person is ridiculous. My daughters wear brains all the time and we aren’t Indian. And my kids have natural “fros (is it an Afro if you’re not African in heritage?) because of recessive genes from the Mediterranean.
I agree no black face but honestly, hair is hair. If you want to go as Cher, you really can’t do it without the long black wig. And if an Asian kid wants to wear a big blonde bouffant to be Cinderella, I’m cool with that too.

Uhhh

😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it ok to dress up as P Diddy? Asking for a friend.

Dress as Diddy's bottle of lube. But don't black face a diddy costume.

Because joking about raping young teen girls is typically ok (or any women really), but joking about black face is never ok.

Now you get it! That is why minstrel shows are BAD, but drag shows are GOOD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know OP does sound kind of un-fun but I actually am glad for the political correctness around Halloween costumes these days and here is why:

For a while the deal with adult Halloween costumes was that they were supposed to be "clever" and since most people are not very clever this result in a lot of deeply stupid Halloween costumes that were also borderline (or not borderline) offensive.

Specifically I used to see a weird number of costumes that referenced or tried to make a joke of pedophilia and sexual assault and this is... weird? Disturbing? Completely lacking in any sense of humanity?

Like once people were donning "couple's costumes" featuring a catholic school boy and a priest carrying a sex toy I just think it was time for everyone to go sit in the corner and think about what they'd done.

And yes also all the offensive Native American and Asian costumes.

Keep sitting in the corner until you figure this out folks. Just do what kids do and dress up like a superhero or cartoon character. It's not that hard. Stop trying to be "edgy" or "clever" or "sexy." You ruined it for the group.

I mean, yes, for a lot of those, that was the point. To be offensive. They must have been thrilled that at least one person was offended.

Right that's what I'm saying. There used to be this idea that being offensive was a way to show you were edgy or funny. But at some point it's actually just you being a dick. Dressing up like a pedophile with a child victim isn't funny or edgy. And it shouldn't take much thinking to be like "oh wait this isn't funny it's actually horrible." But for a time people didn't do that.

Like what if someone showed up to a halloween party this year dressed like a dead Palestinian or an Israeli hostage (or both as a funny couples costume!). It sure is edgy. But it's also yes OFFENSIVE. I like that as a culture we've turned the page on using Halloween to try and shock people with how insensitive and cruel you are. It's stupid. Don't do it.

This is awesome! Thank you for the great ideas. I will modify my zombie costume with a keffiyeh. Brilliant!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone is definitely going as Hezbollah's beeper.



Shalom!

💥BAM! 💥bwahahahahahahahahahaha

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So can I not go as a pregnant cheerleader or pregnant nun?

I am a former pregnant person, former cheerleader and former Catholic.

pregnant catholic school girl with dirty man on Halloween is the best part of being pregnant! Outside of making and then having the baby. My husband dressed in a prisoner’s costume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello, Halloween costume troll! How was your year?

I am not a troll. This is a serious issue.

You think trolls don't post about serious issues just to rile people up? Can we have a little perspective about what constitutes a serious issue? My three year old dressing up like her hero Pocahontas...it's not that. The VA state legislature trying to police history and what our kids learn? That. That's serious. When you make everything serious nothing is serious.

Years ago I posted asking if my daughter could dress up as Pocahontas and was annihilated on here.

I’m ordinarily pretty lax about this stuff but the Pocahontas stuff sort of creeps me out because she’s an actual person that has been totally co-opted in a way that is kind of weird and uncomfortable for me. I wouldn’t judge you for letting your kid dress as Pocahontas, but I think i noxed it for my own kid because it just makes me thiink of a young girl who was kidnapped as a teen, married an older man under circumstances that probably weren’t totally voluntary, and died of some awful disease when she was only 20, far fell her home and family. And everyone treats her as a happy cartoon. It’s just icky to me. It’s my least favorite disney movie.

Agree with you on the movie; it’s premised on a rather horrific historical event!

But it’s hardly the first movie from Disney which was tremendously racist and offensive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello, Halloween costume troll! How was your year?

I am not a troll. This is a serious issue.

You think trolls don't post about serious issues just to rile people up? Can we have a little perspective about what constitutes a serious issue? My three year old dressing up like her hero Pocahontas...it's not that. The VA state legislature trying to police history and what our kids learn? That. That's serious. When you make everything serious nothing is serious.

Years ago I posted asking if my daughter could dress up as Pocahontas and was annihilated on here.

I’m ordinarily pretty lax about this stuff but the Pocahontas stuff sort of creeps me out because she’s an actual person that has been totally co-opted in a way that is kind of weird and uncomfortable for me. I wouldn’t judge you for letting your kid dress as Pocahontas, but I think i noxed it for my own kid because it just makes me thiink of a young girl who was kidnapped as a teen, married an older man under circumstances that probably weren’t totally voluntary, and died of some awful disease when she was only 20, far fell her home and family. And everyone treats her as a happy cartoon. It’s just icky to me. It’s my least favorite disney movie.

Agree with you on the movie; it’s premised on a rather horrific historical event!

But it’s hardly the first movie from Disney which was tremendously racist and offensive

Disney made a cottage industry out of racism for decades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it ok to dress up as P Diddy? Asking for a friend.

Dress as Diddy's bottle of lube. But don't black face a diddy costume.

Because joking about raping young teen girls is typically ok (or any women really), but joking about black face is never ok.

Now you get it! That is why minstrel shows are BAD, but drag shows are GOOD.

But drag for Halloween is blatantly transphobic and really NOT ok.

[Anonymous]

If you are serious about this, parents.com has a useful guide

https://www.parents.com/holiday/halloween/navigating-questionable-halloween-costumes/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it ok to dress up as P Diddy? Asking for a friend.

Dress as Diddy's bottle of lube. But don't black face a diddy costume.

Because joking about raping young teen girls is typically ok (or any women really), but joking about black face is never ok.

Now you get it! That is why minstrel shows are BAD, but drag shows are GOOD.

But drag for Halloween is blatantly transphobic and really NOT ok.

Thank you for that perfect example of the hypocrisy in all of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fall can be such a fun season, but it is important to remember: we are all in this together.

As you select costumes for yourself and your child, please avoid costumes which are culturally insensitive, as well as costumes that are racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, sizeist, or ageist.

Just ruled out all of costumes.

[Anonymous]

I had the best idea for halloween as a couple, and my husband vetoed it. I wanted to go as the two stranded astronauts and carry signs like "Earth or Bust" and carry a copy of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, pretending to hitchhike home. He said "this is a serious situation, that's not funny at all."

I thought it was.

[Anonymous]

Fan of local football team so I plan to dress as an Indian brave wearing a naval commander’s cap and a sash with the letters WFC.

[Anonymous]

Last year, my 3 year old wasn't interested in trick or treating until about 10 minutes before we were supposed to go out. He didn't want his costume. So I improvised. I got him a sheet to be a ghost and he was going to drive his tractor around dressed in a white sheet. I thought better if it, though, since we live in a majority black neighborhood.