"Slutty" Halloween Costumes: oppressive, fun, neither?

As a (somewhat) typical college-age woman, I've gone to a few Halloween affairs. And Mean Girls got it right: for many of us, it seems to be the only occasion in which a woman can dress as slutty as she likes and no one can say anything mean about it because hey, it's Halloween.

I do find it hard to get offended about the somewhat revealing nature of Halloween costumes. It's a holiday, and if you truly don't want to participate, I guess you could make your own (non-revealing) outfit. Sure, I agree that it's unfair that it's nigh impossible to find a cute but not borderline prostitute outfit, but it is still something you can opt out of and come up with your own interpretation.

In that vein, last night Baby and I went to a house party dressed as Snooki and Jwoww, respectively.


We looked ridiculous, with our massive poufs, bracelets for earrings, and bronzer, but we looked perfectly Jersey. We set out for a fun evening. And it was fun.

Except when we were sexually harassed. One man felt compelled to actually reach into my cleavage, apropos of nothing, and adjust my shirt. Baby said she felt uncomfortable and hyper aware (as our very sober designated driver...feminists have responsible fun!) of the fact that people were staring at her chest and body as they talked to her. While this (sadly) is not the first time I've had such reactions, I was fucking appalled at the fact that the guys doing this weren't totally trashed or being douches the rest of the time: they seemed like pretty decent, average folks. And they still thought adjusting a stranger's tits was fine?

I talked to my mama about this and she raised the point: why not just wear less revealing clothes if they're going to be dicks? But that's the equivalent of letting the terrorists win: by letting their sexist, unrefined mannerisms alter my behavior, I'm letting them win. Not to get dramatic about slutty Halloween costumes, but it's sort of admitting defeat.

I bare body parts not for the reception that it gets but because it's fun. It's freeing to stop being intellectual and put together and to act like someone else for the night, and that shouldn't be something that's interrupted by unwanted touching. This individual in question was immediately aware of the fact that what he did wasn't okay, but let's raise the bar in general for men. Let's expect more of them, and insist that they rise to the occasion.

So, revealing outfits or not: happy Halloween everyone!


Much love,
The Sheriff