A major part of Halloween involves dressing up for the night. Amongst the excitement, it is important to be aware of the problematic nature of many Halloween costumes. Avoiding cultural appropriation and other offensive costume choices needs to play a role in what you decide to wear this October.
There are various types of offensive Halloween costumes, a major one being cultural appropriation. The Oxford Dictionary describes cultural appropriation as ‘‘the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.’’ Cultural appropriation can take many forms, often perpetuating racism as it is belittling and usually stereotypical.
People’s cultures are not Halloween costumes. For instance, dressing as a Native American. Native Americans have suffered through centuries of colonialism, capitalist exploitation and, erasure. Although these costumes are intended to be light-hearted, the impact is the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes. Dressing as a Native American is contributing to the mindset behind Native oppression; that their subhuman and less deserving of respect. Dressing as a Native American for Halloween is insensitive not only to the history of Native populations but to the present difficulties those populations face.
Halloween costumes associated with the Mexican holiday, Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), is cultural appropriation. Dia De Los Muertos is a separate holiday from Halloween; it is meant to honour deceased loved ones; not only is it offensive because of this but adopting decorative skull makeup (after Calaveras) is seen as a celebratory aspect in Mexican culture, rather than a scary thing. If Dia De Los Muertos is not your holiday, attempting to participate in it through Halloween is cultural appropriation.
The same goes for dressing as a ‘gypsy.’ The term ‘gypsy’ is associated with the Romani people, a population that has been displaced and persecuted for centuries in Europe. Stereotypes surrounding ‘gypsies’ include that they are fortune-tellers and thieves; often represented in Halloween costumes. Many online retailers offer the offensive option of a ‘gypsy’ costume. These stereotypes are false perceptions of the Romani people.
Unfortunately, there are other kinds of Halloween costumes that are extremely offensive and insensitive; mental illness themed. Halloween is a fun holiday for many, but those with mental illness may find that it can be a time of increased stigma.
To dress up as a ‘mental illness’, or an issue relating to it suggests that it is something to be laughed at or scared of. The misrepresentations of mental illness around Halloween is what perpetuates myths and conceptions about mental health; ‘mental health’ fancy dress depicts the mentally ill as objects of fear. For example, haunted houses are often presented as ‘insane asylums’ or ‘haunted asylums’ where mentally ill patients are depicted as frightening and violent.
Retailers have also been contributing to the ‘scary’ stigma around mental illness regarding Halloween costumes. In 2013, Asda withdrew a ‘mental patient’ costume after receiving complaints of insensitivity and the perpetuation of negative stereotypes. The description said, ‘‘everyone will be running from you in fear in this mental patient fancy dress costume.’’ In the same year, Tesco withdrew a boiler suit with the words ‘Psycho Ward’ printed on the chest, after similar complaints. It goes without saying, that mental illness is not a Halloween costume, it is something people have to live with day in and day out.
There was also the ‘‘Anna Rexia’’ costume which caused huge controversy in 2015. The costume featured a tight skeleton-print dress with a measuring tape ribbon belt available for measuring waist size. Jessi Davin, an anorexia sufferer responded to this costume, ‘‘Want to dress as ‘Anna Rexia? Just go as a vampire, or a zombie. Because 1/3 of us are dead.’’ We need to put an end to mental illness-themed costumes.
A ‘skitzo’ costume was also a largely inappropriate and offensive costume choice; it featured a costume with shackles, restraints, and a mask. The description stated, ‘‘you’ll be the hit of the psycho ward dressed as skitzo this Halloween.’’ These ‘scary’ stereotypes around mental illness costumes need to end. It is damaging and hurtful and contributes to the stigma around mental illness.
Although Halloween is a light-hearted and creative holiday for people to be imaginative and creative, it is deeply insensitive for someone to appropriate or dress of a culture they are not part of, as well as choosing an inappropriate, triggering, or offensive costumes. We know that most people do not choose a costume with the intention of being offence, but regardless of intentions, we need to be more careful.
By Lois Dean
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