The owner of the website, Jonathan Weeks, battles this backlash by saying that, "Halloween is one day out of the year you can dress up and be anything you're not the other 364 days."
While that is true, I believe that it is still inappropriate to dress up in costumes that cause controversy. For example, what kid wants to say that they were dressed up as a drug for Halloween when they were a child? No one, really. Also this week, my history teacher showed us a picture of a kid dressed in a Ray Rice costume that included a jersey and a female doll to hold. First off, that's sick, because that's pretty much promoting domestic abuse.
Imagine what kind of impression these costumes might leave on kids. Even if the costume is suppose to be "funny" or "a joke" or whatever, it sends the wrong message to kids. Since kids are more impressionable, they can see a small Ray Rice on the streets on Halloween and think to themselves, "Hey, domestic violence looks cool.", or they'll see a baby in a cigarette and think, "Smoking looks cute".
Sure Halloween is suppose to be the one day where you can go all out and dress up as someone you can't be for the other days in the year, but there is a limit to how "crazy" you go. What kind of parent would be proud to say that they dressed their kid up as that infamous football player who beat his wife unconscious in an elevator; or the stick that causes 480,000 deaths per year in America?\
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I think your post explains one of the biggest negatives of Halloween while also acknowledging some positives.
ReplyDeleteI like how you use many examples to prove how little jokes or playful actions can lead to serious and unhealthy effects on people in the future.
I agree that it is an unfortunate decision of parents to allow their children to dress up in inappropriate costumes. It makes me wonder how parents interpret these costumes or what makes them feel that it is okay to let their kids run around in outfits that promote bad behavior.
I enjoyed reading your post on inappropriate Halloween costumes. I like how you used examples to support your position. Although Halloween is a day where someone can dress up as something they are not, it shouldn't be an excuse to dress inappropriately. The parents allowing their young child to dress up as Ray Rice was a very disrespectful move on their part. I agree that when other children see these costumes, it influences bad behavior. Domestic violence is not a joke, and the meaning behind the costume should not be taken lightly.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that children should not be encouraged to wear inappropriate costumes, though the same cannot be said for adults or even teens. It is true that children are fairly impressionable (though not to the extreme of saying "domestic violence looks cool") and should not be exposed to potentially offensive images, but the rules change when one enters a more mature setting. It is acceptable for me to go to a high school wearing an icloud costume depicting semi-sexuallized images of women or some adult to go to a halloween party dressed as an ISIS executioner because the costumes are purely focused on poking fun at these situations and mature people understand that. The use of these explicit costumes as a joke is fine until someone brings a child into the equation.
ReplyDeleteThe topic of Halloween costumes is always interesting, however I like that your post focuses on the child aspect rather than the over sexualized costumes seen almost everywhere. Really in comparison i would prefer the later as they are grown adults making a conscious decision for themselves and not a child. I think children shouldn't be made to wear costumes of things or people when they aren't even aware of what they are. Of course the child or toddler cannot be in any way at fault for this, it's the parents. I have no idea what would ever let them think that was okay to do.
ReplyDeleteDo you think this will continue, or worsen, as time goes by?