Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Troubled by "slutification" of Halloween

By Skye Kalkstein

After conducting interviews with many young women about their Halloween costumes, I have to come an alarming conclusion… That Halloween has become “slutified.”

The women mentioned buying their outfits at Web sites like www.legavenue.com and www.forplaycatalog.com. The first image seen when opening one of these sites is a picture of a woman unzipping her costume to reveal her breasts. Next to this picture is text that reads, “SEXY COSTUMES.”

I decided to navigate the site and see these “sexy costumes,” for myself. Almost all of the images show women’s mid-drifts and or breasts.

What I find troubling is that beautiful, smart young women are willing to endorse these sexed-up Halloween costumes. In interviews, women placed emphasis on looking “cute,” or “hot,” on Halloween. Also, in many classes I have heard numerous girls talk about how they must start their Halloween diets, to be slim in their outfits.

It has become standard for girls to feel that they need to wear these costumes, and look sexy on Halloween. One source of this ideal could be the mass media, seen in 2004’s “Mean Girls.” The film’s protagonist says how Halloween is the one night of the year a girl can dress like a slut, and no other girls can say anything about it. If the mass media is endorsing this ideal, it becomes harder for young women to resist it.

Further, peers play a large role in influencing a person’s attitude and actions. If a girl’s friends are all purchasing these costumes, it’s likely that she will be motivated to buy one, too.

I do not mean to criticize young women who purchase and wear these costumes. If someone genuinely wants to wear these outfits… Good for them. However, if pressure from society and peers is causing them to wear them, that’s a problem.

This trend in sexed-up Halloween costumes will probably continue as Web sites like www.forplaycatalog.com grow in popularity. What I hope young women will do is ask themselves why they are buying these costumes, and hopefully realize they don’t need to be “sexy,” to have a great Halloween.

Back to J335 Freakfest Home page

6 comments:

staci said...

LOVE THIS ARTICLE! It is so true that Halloween is the one day out of the other 364 that slutty girls are given a good connotation. These websites open up with girls wearing close to nothing, persuading their viewers to dress as they do. Their logo should be "the smaller, the shorter, the less you wear, the better". It is absurd that some girls look at Halloween as something they should diet for. Especially on college campuses where most students are so inebriated they won't even remember it's Halloween. If a girl is slutty dresser, this is a great holiday for her; if not, don't try and be something your not because these clothes sure can't cover up the person underneath them!

Anonymous said...

I think this article perfectly describes the process in which girls undergo to prepare for Halloween. It's sad that in our society, girls' inner desires to be sexy are suppressed and only acceptable on specific days designated for "slutty" behaviors and/or constumes. Oh well...I can't wait to dress up as a trampy biker chick! HA!

Anonymous said...

"Mean Girls" doesn't endorse that thinking, it's making fun of it. It's a SATIRE! Hence a commentary on the ridiculousness of this thinking.

Anonymous said...

This is a poorly written article that you had your friends comment on to make you feel good. The underlying premise of your argument is flawed. Girls that do not want to wear slutty outfits do not. And what is wrong with a girl looking sexy, wanting to show some skin?

Anonymous said...

It means you are an unimaginative whore. So by all means, show some more skin.

Anonymous said...

not really articulated quite correctly, but i agree with your main point. the costumes i most appreciate are definitely the most creative ones, not the most hot. if your costume is creative and happens to make you look hot, all the better, but just going as a sexy pirate, firefighter, cop, whatever is just stupid.