With Halloween coming up, you may have certain expectations about the infamous block party. And, for the most part, they are going to be correct. One of the biggest presumptions is that women will be dressed in less clothes than what the weather might suggest.
Why have we come to expect this on Halloween? According to Cristen Conger, host of the podcast Stuff Mom Never Told You, the reasoning dates back to the 1970s, when the Baby Boomers grew up and Halloween became widely celebrated by adults and children. Conger said there wasn't a term for it until 2004, when Mean Girls dubbed it “Slutoween.”
It's quite the evolution in our history, but it's come with a special culture of slut-shaming. The only difference is that while people are still slut-shaming on Halloween, it’s becoming expected and acceptable. Somehow, it has become acceptable in our society, on one night, for people to wear revealing costumes.
It's a confusing night. There are people who continue to judge and blame and shame those who choose to wear sexy Halloween costumes, and there are those who choose to view the night as a “get out of jail free card.” Like much of American culture surrounding sexuality, we have both the acceptance and desire for the revealing costumes, and the stigma against it.
Also, as a culture, we tend to set up a false dichotomy that the people who don't wear a revealing costume are pure and respectable, and those people who do wear them are less deserving of our respect, and that they are somehow “dirty” and “used.”
It's confusing because you're told that it's perfectly okay to dress as revealing as you want, but there are still other people telling you nasty things about that choice. My philosophy is this: you're allowed to wear what you want. Don't listen to those people telling you off and calling you names. If you want to dress up as Slave Princess Leia, go ahead.
I believe that people have the right to wear what they want year-round, without being shamed for it. There should be no shame in nudity, like our culture suggests that there is. And I certainly believe that you should be able to dress how you want on Halloween. It is a night of dressing up and playing pretend, despite if a person is more adventurous or more sexy than you are. It may also come with a night of pretending not to be cold, but if that's what you want, I want the world to accept you for it.
Bailey Breece is a junior studying English and German. Email her at bb463711@ohio.edu
