Halloween spirit about more than sex
Piece of Mind
D.R. Bartlette
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Opinion
Ah, the season of death - my favorite time of year. The fact that I own a real black widow and two black cats has nothing to do with it. I love how the days are finally cool enough to enjoy, while the leaves on the trees, facing their own death, go out in a flamboyant display of reds, golds and purples. More importantly, when else can I decorate my house with spiders, tombstones and images of the Grim Reaper?
My whole family gets into the spirit - pun intended - of the season. My husband spent a whole evening putting fake spider webs all over our apartment, setting out lighted human skulls on spikes and artfully draping black lights around the windows. Throughout October, my son and I listen to Danny Elfman's soundtrack to "The Nightmare Before Christmas," singing along the way "normal" families sing carols in December.
In fact, our family actually enjoys Halloween much more than Christmas, that over-commercialized, stress-inducing orgy of consumerism. For Halloween (we call it Samhain, which was the original Celtic holiday All Hallow's Eve was based on), we have a full day of family fun planned, from picnicking at my grandparent's gravesite to making popcorn balls and watching Tim Burton movies. And of course, trick-or-treating.
Of all the aspects of Halloween, I think I like the costuming the best. It's a chance to get really creative and scary, to be someone - or something - completely different for a day.
But, every year, while searching through the costume aisles at the local stores, I'm struck by how all the women's costumes look like stripper outfits. There aren't any women's costumes that aren't at least some version of a male sexual fantasy. Even a mummy costume - yes, a mummy - was composed of strips of cloth arranged to barely cover the R-rated body parts and dubbed "Yummy Mummy."
I don't have any issue with women dressing sexily for Halloween, or every day for that matter. Some writers have even defended the practice of dressing up as a sexy version of a fairy-tale character as a way of riffing on society's idea of femininity.
My whole family gets into the spirit - pun intended - of the season. My husband spent a whole evening putting fake spider webs all over our apartment, setting out lighted human skulls on spikes and artfully draping black lights around the windows. Throughout October, my son and I listen to Danny Elfman's soundtrack to "The Nightmare Before Christmas," singing along the way "normal" families sing carols in December.
In fact, our family actually enjoys Halloween much more than Christmas, that over-commercialized, stress-inducing orgy of consumerism. For Halloween (we call it Samhain, which was the original Celtic holiday All Hallow's Eve was based on), we have a full day of family fun planned, from picnicking at my grandparent's gravesite to making popcorn balls and watching Tim Burton movies. And of course, trick-or-treating.
Of all the aspects of Halloween, I think I like the costuming the best. It's a chance to get really creative and scary, to be someone - or something - completely different for a day.
But, every year, while searching through the costume aisles at the local stores, I'm struck by how all the women's costumes look like stripper outfits. There aren't any women's costumes that aren't at least some version of a male sexual fantasy. Even a mummy costume - yes, a mummy - was composed of strips of cloth arranged to barely cover the R-rated body parts and dubbed "Yummy Mummy."
I don't have any issue with women dressing sexily for Halloween, or every day for that matter. Some writers have even defended the practice of dressing up as a sexy version of a fairy-tale character as a way of riffing on society's idea of femininity.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 5
Brian
posted 10/23/07 @ 11:05 PM CST
"You can be sexy for just this one night, but it's for everyone else's consumption."
Is it really for somebody else? I kind of doubt it. People usually do things on their own accord because they like doing them and it gives them somekind of pleasure. (Continued…)
Renee
posted 10/25/07 @ 8:35 AM CST
The market place is designed to met the demands of the consumers. Yes, men want to see sexy women and women want the same thing. Most straight men are not as comfortable wearing reveling clothing as women and the market reflects this insecurity. (Continued…)
Starr
posted 10/25/07 @ 8:54 AM CST
Great article! Thanks for writing it. It's high time we start looking at the trend to offer only sexual costumes for grown up women. What does this say to our pre-adolesent daughters? Is it really their choice when they become teens or have we passed on to them a legacy that women should dress up to display instead of dress up to be creative? Afterall the market isn't offering much in the non sexual variety for women who want to dress up on the holiday. (Continued…)
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