Halloween costumes are an exciting and intriguing part of the October holiday. People of all ages come together in this tradition of becoming something or someone else by adorning masks, makeup, wigs, and even sharp teeth. What was once a ritual of avoiding death's hand, has now become a popular event in modern society. Costumes themselves have a specific culture in Halloween. Young adults and teenagers in particular seem to have almost a conformity in their styles of costumes. The way our vision of Halloween costumes has changed over the centuries from the conservative pagan horror to the more risque modern party is a reflection upon our current society's conflicted expectations of what is considered acceptable for young men and women
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In my observations of giving out candy year after year to dressed up trick-or-treaters, I have noticed a trend in costumes particularly among young women and teenage girls. While their costumes are all different-red devils, peculiarly curvy nurses, wild policewomen, and skimpy bunnies-they all seem to feature a theme of "sexiness". Why these young women feel the need to have form-fitting or revealing costumes may be a reflection of how we view women. I think our society places an emphasis on women, particularly young women, as being more sensual or perhaps as sexual objects and this ideal reflects in the types of Halloween costumes girls wear. Perhaps it is also a reflection of women being more free; as feminism becomes more progressive, women no longer feel like they need to be conservative about their bodies and they can wear anything they please. Women also may feel as if Halloween is the only time where it is considered acceptable to be a sexual being, since society has this confusing and rather hypocritical standard of women being sexy and yet not sexy at the same time. The media constantly bombards us with sexual images; for example, on Halloween of 2009 the popular public figure Kim Kardashian wore a revealing cleavage and stomach baring …show more content…
I have rarely seen men dressed up on Halloween. I have seen the occasional dad dressed up as maybe Darth Vader while his four year-old son is dressed as Luke Skywalker, but men generally do not seem to play along with the tradition of dressing up. I believe our views of men as a strong, macho figure plays a role in why men do not dress up as much as women. Our society has this unyielding image that men are supposed to be unemotional and manly, and things like dressing up are too “girly” to fit that image. So why is it acceptable for women to wear costumes that can be funny, original, or even sexual in nature, but it seems shameful for men to even dress up at all? Perhaps it is the idea that dressing up makes a man seem womanly (which in our society is a bad thing for a man), or perhaps it has this underlying connotation that a man is gay (another concept that is considered inappropriate for a man in our society). Either way, our views of men as these unemotional figures seem to inhibit men from dressing up from the fear that they might be seen as feminine or flamboyant, and in our society, it is apparently not acceptable for men to be these
In my observations of giving out candy year after year to dressed up trick-or-treaters, I have noticed a trend in costumes particularly among young women and teenage girls. While their costumes are all different-red devils, peculiarly curvy nurses, wild policewomen, and skimpy bunnies-they all seem to feature a theme of "sexiness". Why these young women feel the need to have form-fitting or revealing costumes may be a reflection of how we view women. I think our society places an emphasis on women, particularly young women, as being more sensual or perhaps as sexual objects and this ideal reflects in the types of Halloween costumes girls wear. Perhaps it is also a reflection of women being more free; as feminism becomes more progressive, women no longer feel like they need to be conservative about their bodies and they can wear anything they please. Women also may feel as if Halloween is the only time where it is considered acceptable to be a sexual being, since society has this confusing and rather hypocritical standard of women being sexy and yet not sexy at the same time. The media constantly bombards us with sexual images; for example, on Halloween of 2009 the popular public figure Kim Kardashian wore a revealing cleavage and stomach baring …show more content…
I have rarely seen men dressed up on Halloween. I have seen the occasional dad dressed up as maybe Darth Vader while his four year-old son is dressed as Luke Skywalker, but men generally do not seem to play along with the tradition of dressing up. I believe our views of men as a strong, macho figure plays a role in why men do not dress up as much as women. Our society has this unyielding image that men are supposed to be unemotional and manly, and things like dressing up are too “girly” to fit that image. So why is it acceptable for women to wear costumes that can be funny, original, or even sexual in nature, but it seems shameful for men to even dress up at all? Perhaps it is the idea that dressing up makes a man seem womanly (which in our society is a bad thing for a man), or perhaps it has this underlying connotation that a man is gay (another concept that is considered inappropriate for a man in our society). Either way, our views of men as these unemotional figures seem to inhibit men from dressing up from the fear that they might be seen as feminine or flamboyant, and in our society, it is apparently not acceptable for men to be these