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| STARS poster |
Halloween gives us the opportunity to be bold and creative with dress-up ideas. But it’s also the unfortunate time where we see particularly offensive costume ideas, that may not only offend some racial and ethnic groups, but perpetuate stereotypes that negatively appropriate aspects of one’s culture.
Two years ago a student organization (STARS) at Ohio University launched a campaign called ‘We Are Not a Costume’ highlighting racially insensitive costume ideas that typically stereotype certain racial and ethnic groups. Their slogan was, ‘You wear a costume for one night, I wear the stigma for life.’ This is relevant for people of minority groups who are grossly impacted by few and limited portrayals, or vast and over-saturated ones.
Before you pull out the sensitivity card, try to understand why some people will take issue with certain costumes.
If one chooses to be a ‘geisha’ for Halloween, keep in mind that the West turned an entertaining figure into a sex stereotype that some Asian women have to deal with in reality. This is important especially as this stereotype was heightened this year when a musical band released a video for a controversial song called ‘Asian Girlz,’ which many considered to be fetishizing women of East Asian descent.
If you choose to be a ‘suicide bomber’ for Halloween, it is not only insensitive to survivors and victims of such acts, but this is the same stereotype forces men who appear brown, or of Middle-Eastern and Asian descent, to undergo extra searches at airports, or become victims of surveillance tactics because he fits a profile.
If you choose to be a ‘Mexican’ for Halloween by dressing up with a sombrero and a mustache, know first that it is absolutely preposterous to be a nationality, especially one that includes people of all different racial backgrounds. And by doing this, you’re painting an entire ethnic group with a broad brush, one that deems them ‘foreign’ and subject to dehumanizing racial profiling stops.
If you choose to be ‘Black’ for Halloween, either a real or a fictional person, consider not using makeup or an Afro wig for accuracy. You will be entering rocky territory such as the offensive ‘Blackface,’ a dehumanizing portrayal used in minstrel shows that created negative and harsh portrayals of Black Americans. And consider that you’re basically wearing someone's skin color as a costume, a skin color that deems a disproportionate amount of people in this group, suspicious or threatening. As for hair—hair discrimination is a real thing. Last month a young girl was sent home from school because her naturally kinky locs were not part of school policy standards.
If you choose to be Native American for Halloween— know that Native culture in the U.S. was nearly obliterated by colonization. Never mind that there is currently a national debate on whether the NFL team, Washington Redskins, should change their mascot and team name due to r*dskin being a pejorative term used against Native Americans, with redface being a racist trope.
If you choose to be a redneck for Halloween—know that this term is typically used to distinguish Whites based on social class and association with racism and backward ideals. It’s also a negative term typically aimed at Southern White Americans, so while it may not be racist unlike the previous ones due to dynamics, it certainly is classist.
There is much to consider before deciding on a costume or who to be. It’s not to say you can’t be a person of another race, but do consider the disdain and stereotypes certain groups are subject to just by their mere existence. And know what constitutes redface, blackface, brownface, etc;
Amazing, cool, creative, and stunning costumes exist. Don’t think you can’t be a certain character, just reconsider the stigma that is associated with certain groups, and avoid participating in the misrepresentation of someone’s culture. Ask yourself, is this costume a stereotype someone of this group battles everyday?
Happy Halloween!
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