Are ‘Bad Taste’ Halloween costumes acceptable?

YES 

In pagan times costumes were worn to protect the living from harm, disguising their living essences from the dead that wandered the Earth on All Hallows Eve.
This tradition has been carried down faithfully to the masses without fail each October 31st. Whether modifying themselves to resemble one of the undead, or mortifying themselves to resemble Paris Hilton, people dress up all in the name of a good trick or treat (or trip to Tokyo). Everyone becomes somebody different, looking less pagan druid and more slutty pumpkin.

Essentially the premise is the same and remains harmless although now the torment of spirits beckons only from the confines of the shot glass with a dash of salt and a slice of lemon! Give or take that moment of anguish over the length of the skirt (yes, that’s the guys as well!), Halloween as a concept is simply what you choose to make of it, with ‘Bad Taste Parties’ being just as described.

As controversial as a costume may appear – as we all know from those last minute trips to Boyes – a costume is nothing more than a few scraps of cheap material. Halloween for the last century has been about the thrill of the disguise and any alarm should be directed toward the morality of those behind the mask rather than the feathers and sequins that make it.
Speaking from experience, during my Freshers’ Halloween excursion as Lady Gaga, did I feel overtly sexualized? Well, obviously! Was my outfit inappropriate? To some, perhaps, although I loved every minute of it and, despite this year having opted for a more toned down costume, (Frankenstein’s monster) the thrill factor was still present – despite the green paint all over my pillow and the 45 minute shower.

As York students we are no strangers to dressing up, and Halloween provides an excuse; nay, a command, to embrace your inner creativity and be as outrageous as possible, whether as Frankenstein’s monster or Lady Gaga. The face behind the make up remains the same regardless of the gore or sparkle.

With sports teams queuing as Smurfs each Wednesday for Mansion I’d say Halloween provides extra impetus for the individual to prove their costume credentials in any shape or form they choose. And this is the crux of the matter; whether it is Dora the Explorer or sexy caveman, the notion of a costume remains thus.

 

NO 

Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” Cady Heron was most probably correct when she stated the above in Mean Girls, and it has to be admitted that a quick nightime venture into town during ‘Halloween week’ makes it a hard philosophy to deny. However, whilst I don’t deem it necessary to criticize the length of someone’s skirt or pass judgement on their ample display of cleavage, I do feel we can, and perhaps should, have something to say regarding distasteful and offensive fancy dress attire.

Many Halloween partakers seem to find it acceptable to ‘black-up’ in order to imitate favorite celebrities or sporting idols. Whilst the majority are acting without racist motivation, they fail to realize that the problem with ‘blacking up’ is its historical legacy as an activity used to bolster racist stereotypes. First crossing the Atlantic in the form of the controversial “Black and White Minstrel show”, the offense caused by such performances still firmly resides in living memory.

As such, that act of ‘blacking up,’ regardless of innocent intent, is at best an effective way of displaying ignorance, distaste, and insensitivity.
One could make the argument that suitability of dress is defined by context. For example, in 2005 Prince Harry would certainly have been arrested and charged for dressing in Nazi uniform…had he been gracing the streets of Germany. Wearing it as he did in the UK, he managed to escape with little more than a flushed face and a royal telling off. However, in a world of ever increasing multiculturalism, globalization and mass media, the implications of our actions (and choices of clothing) are inevitably widened.

In late September of this year, controversy was sparked by the sale of an ‘Anna Rexia’ costume. The outfit, consisting of a black skeleton print dress, removable ‘Anna Rexia’ badge and measuring tape belt, was rightly criticized in 2007 for ‘sexifying’ anorexia. However the most recent criticism surrounding the re-stocking of this costume is focused upon its exceedingly insensitive trivialisation of a disease which tragically claims the lives of hundreds each year. Most people (with a functioning moral compass) would be outraged at the wearing or sale of an outfit designed to caricature a cancer patient, which leaves one wondering why the same is not more widely said of this equally offensive costume.

Our choice of Halloween attire is an irrefutable reflection of our general awareness and individual opinion. As such, fancy dress is most certainly capable of causing real offense. Arguing that this is simply a matter of individual taste or ignorance is simply not a good enough argument for the often unseen damage caused by poorly chosen costumes.