Counterpoint: It’s Halloween. Wear what you want.
Andrew Server
aserver@uwyo.edu
Somewhere down the line, Halloween has evolved from a day to dress up in scary and macabre garb in order to ward off bad spirits to a day where one may choose to still dress spookily, but also have the opportunity to dress in humorous costume. Yes, that means that people are free to dress in parody and stereotypes, no matter how distasteful some individuals may find it. This means that no matter how tasteless or brazen a costume may be, whether it be dressing as Caitlin Jenner, an American Indian, Hispanic or what have you, individuals have the freedom to dress up as they please and those costumes should be in no way banned or restricted no matter how uncomfortable they might make you feel personally. They are what they are meant to be- parodies of individuals designed either to be awkwardly humorous or trivially edgy.
Many a so-called “social justice warrior” seem to have a misunderstanding with the concept of freedom. Sure, freedom allows for you to live your life as un-offensive and politically correct as you please. It allows you the freedom to be a good and upright person being mindful of others, exuding a general outright peaceful demeanor. However, freedom also allows the individual to be rambunctious, offensive and even tasteless. Freedom does not allow one group to dictate thought or what is seen as funny in the eyes of other people. Freedom of expression applies to bigoted individuals as well as tolerant.
If enough people think that dressing as a Caitlin Jenner, a stereotyped American Indian, Hispanic, etc. is funny or humorous, then they should have access to those costumes and should be able to don them for such events as Halloween. Allow the impending invisible hand of societal norms to guide what is encouraged or discouraged, but never outright outlaw ideas that make you feel uncomfortable and accept that there will ALWAYS exist those groups that don’t follow those social norms and that is OK.
The final point that I would like to make to you, the reader, is this- we hear group upon group advocate for not wearing parodies of cultures or people exclusively when it pertains to their feelings. If wearing parodies truly is so outrageous and morally void, where then are groups calling for the banning of white trash costumes? Groups claim that it is egregiously disrespectful to wear feather headdresses as part of an American Indian costume since those feathers hold great spiritual importance to American Indian tribes as a whole. However, Rosary beads hold great spiritual importance for Catholics and we don’t hear a rousing call to stop wearing those costumes. If it is intolerant or bigoted to wear a Hispanic sombrero costume, then certainly it must be equally so to wear an Irish leprechaun costume as well, right? It would be hypocritical to expect what is insensitive to one group to be banned while turning a blind eye on parodies of other groups.
Personally, I would never wear such tasteless examples described above. I agree that those examples are offensive and repugnant to some individuals. However, that does not at all mean that those costumes ought to be banned because it makes one feel angry or uncomfortable. This Halloween, wear what you want. Our rights don’t end where other’s feelings begin. If you personally find those costumes mentioned above to be intolerant or bigoted, do the tolerant thing and tolerate it- acknowledging that tasteless people have freedom of expression as well.
Point: Keep it classy this Halloween
Michael Rotellini
Mrotell1@uwyo.edu
One day out of every year it’s socially acceptable to dress up and be whoever you want to be- a night to run wild with your imagination and have fun.
When I was a young kid, this night was the best because I could literally be anything my heart desired and everyone would be a different monster or profession. However, as I get older I’ve noticed something I’ve never noticed before- people are taking their costumes way too far.
I realize Halloween, as an adult is way different than how it was when I was a kid, but it should be noted that there are some things you need to keep in mind just to be a decent human being.
There are three things I typically see during Halloween that I think desecrates the spirit of the holiday. They are promiscuous costumes, overly gory costumes or just plain racial or sexist costumes.
Halloween is meant to be scary, fun and overall great, but we need to remember we are still people not monsters.
When I see people dressed as different races or nationalities just to make some random pop culture reference, I can’t help but think- this is what you really wanted to do this Halloween?
The most notable violation made especially among college students is people dressing promiscuously. Now this isn’t a bad thing at all, but it becomes a bad thing when it starts affecting other people especially the younger generation.
By making Halloween more and more geared to different extremes like promiscuity or gore, we tend to have unforeseen consequences in the future.
We try to out do our friends, coworkers and peers by going farther down one of these extremes. Because of this it is starting to have a negative effect on the younger generation. As they start to see this as acceptable, they pick up the practices and that isn’t what it’s supposed to be about.
We start seeing children dress promiscuous or with overly gory attire and honestly it makes me sad to see that. It takes away the creative influence and just has people settle for cheap ploys.
Regardless of whether you’re young or old, be great this Halloween. We don’t need another sexily dressed loose crayon or hot sauce packet nor dead reality stars or morbid jokes. We don’t need offensive costumes in general. Just be yourself and think outside the box.
As a society we shouldn’t have to lower the bar to get the attention we want. We need to raise it and make Halloween creative and fun again. We need to keep Halloween fun.
