Halloween is that wonderful time of year when it’s socially acceptable to be someone else for a change. This change is achieved by a wonderful and magical clothing item called a Halloween costume.
The best part about the costume is it still shows your personality and personal preference while allowing the wearer to have a bit of fun. However, society does dictate the general wear of a costume, especially for women.
Reflecting on my own costume past, I’ve noticed a slight trend. I went from dressing as a cute princess and vampire as a child to a sexy geisha and action heroine as a young adult.
My costumes went from conservative and adorable to skin-tight and slightly revealing. Ask any other woman about her costume transformation through the years and she’s probably notice the same trend.
Why you ask? Because by society’s standards, women are supposed to dress “sexy” on Halloween.
As a result of this social mentality, Halloween has become a bit of a catch-22 for women everywhere. Whether we decide to take the sexy route or the conservative route, we get judged harshly on our costume choice.
If we dress sexy, we’re automatically branded as a slut and have “loose” morals. If we dress conservatively, we’re considered virgins and prudish.
We simply cannot win by society’s standards, so I say we give the middle finger to society.
If dressing a bit sexier on Halloween allows you to feel more confident or empowered, then do it! The same goes for dressing conservatively.
Why should we let society dictate how we choose to express ourselves during this holiday? Actually, why should we let the opinions of other women dictate our tastes in costumes?
Ladies, don’t try to deny it. When you see someone dressing outside of what your idea of appropriateness is defined as, you judge them.
I will be the first to admit to judging someone based on how they’re dressed. It’s human nature. We are judgmental creatures.
However, we as women need to support one another and remember that we all have different standards and values.
We need to stop making the snide remarks and comments. We need to let other women be confident in who they are, and let’s be real — how you dress does correlate with how you feel about yourself.
Halloween is supposed to be a fun holiday full of costumes, trick-or-treating, and partying, but for a lot of women, it can be a living nightmare. As soon as we put our costumes on and walk out the door, the judging begins.
So my fellow Eagles (especially the ladies), I beg that this Halloween, instead of judging that naughty nurse or Roman goddess, stop and mind your own business.
I beg that you can recognize that it’s a woman’s right to wear whatever costumes she wants to wear. Just like it’s your right to be wearing yours.
All of us just want to have a fun and memorable Halloween. Don’t be a jerk and ruin it for someone just because their idea of a good Halloween costume doesn’t match up with yours.