How to Pick a Considerate Halloween Costume
Halloween is just around the corner here at ChathamU. Whether you’re entering a virtual costume contest or just dressing up for a spooky photo shoot, students Abbi Kneuss and Chenoa Baker teamed up to help their fellow Cougars sidestep something seriously scary: insensitive, culturally-appropriative Halloween costumes. Make sure Halloween is fun and safe for everyone and check out their tips below on what to avoid when choosing your costume this year.
Avoid these:
Costumes that depict cultural stereotypes
Popular costumes often appropriate cultures by using cultural clothing and imagery in a way that was never intended by the culture of origin. These costumes are often gross generalizations that can dehumanize a cultural legacy by turning nuanced beliefs, practices, and history into a costume that people not of the culture can buy and then discard when they’re done. Some examples of these type of costumes include “geisha” costumes, grass-skirted hula costumes, or thoughtless use of sugar skull motifs modeled after Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations. Costumes like these can cross the line from thoughtless to downright racist. Though we’d hope by 2020 everyone would know this, it bears repeating: Using blackface, brownface, or any alteration of your skin color to adapt the skin color of a marginalized group of people is never okay. The same goes for culturally significant hairstyles like dreadlocks. Just don’t do it.
Oftentimes, these costumes can bring up a traumatic history that may have been lost to history or intentionally suppressed by systemic means. Typical costumes that depict Indigenous people are often modeled after ghost dance shirts, worn in the 19th century for spiritual protection against violence as many Indigenous people were displaced by Western expansion. This is also true of the “gypsy” (often considered a slur or a derogatory term by Romani peoples) costume which is based on stereotypical depictions of Romani people who suffered intense hatred and persecution before, during, and after World War II and continue to face discrimination today.
Before picking out a costume, consider if you know the history of what the costume is trying to depict. Ask yourself if the costume speaks to your lived experience, or your known ancestors’. If you think you’re paying tribute to or showing your interest in a particular culture by dressing like a member of that culture, ask yourself what would be a better way to pay that tribute— maybe it’s making a donation to a non-profit group that supports the culture in question, or sharing voices from that culture on your social media, or centering a class presentation on that culture so that others may learn about it.
Costumes that mock someone’s ability, situation, or appearance, or encourage gendered or sexual violence
Avoid costumes that make light of others’ lived experiences. This includes dressing up as someone in a difficult class, financial, occupational, or health situation like a prison inmate, “gangster,” homeless person, sex worker, “hillbilly” or “white trash,” psychiatric patient or a person with a disability. Costumes like these trivialize the difficulties people have gone through and continue to go through.
Mocking someone else’s appearance is never okay. Costumes that involve fat suits are body-shaming and offensive to the people around you, and will give others the impression that you’re judgmental and cruel. Also think twice before dressing up as someone you know from your own life— consider if you are portraying them in a respectful or hurtful manner and how they may perceive it.
In general, before you consider a costume that mocks another person or group of people, consider what it says about yourself that for you to have fun, you have to bring someone else down. If you want to dress a particular way as “satire” or to point out an injustice, ask yourself if there’s something constructive you could do, like raising funds to counter the injustice you see, or organizing action or education around a topic. Even if you think your friends will “get” your hilarious and trenchant costume, random people on the internet like your future employers or potential friends might not.
Gendered or sexual violence is no joke and costumes that perpetuate it should not be worn. This includes costumes that reduce women to sex objects (such as the recently popular Gynecologist costume), flasher costumes, or costumes that make fun of transgender people. These may be triggering to survivors of sexual abuse and assault or those affected by gendered discrimination or violence.
Take It Beyond Halloween
While Halloween can be a time where stereotypes and insensitivity are brought to light, these are issues that continue year-round. Here’s what you can do to help:
Do your research. Often the burden of understanding and speaking up against these offenses falls on the shoulders of those that are offended. Don’t let the burden of educating yourself fall on someone else’s shoulders. Research the history and culture of groups so that you can better understand and appreciate them.
Use your voice. Spread the word about this issue and foster conversation with your peers about respecting others. If you see something that’s wrong, say something. If you don’t feel comfortable with direct confrontation, you can leave an anonymous note for the Chatham Diversity and Inclusion Council.
Take action. Attend events held by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion on-campus. Donate to organizations working towards equity here in Pittsburgh. Vote for candidates and issues that support the inclusion of all.
We hope you have a happy and safe Halloween! Check out these resources for fostering a diverse and inclusive campus environment:
· The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion