How NOT to do Halloween: Cultural Appropriation Edition

13 Days of Halloween: Day Nine

How+NOT+to+do+Halloween%3A+Cultural+Appropriation+Edition

Halloween is a super fun holiday that everyone can enjoy. From trick-or-treating, to Halloween parties and spooky movie marathons, everyone is ensured to make memories. However, certain Halloween costumes can make a lot of people quite uncomfortable. Yes, Halloween is a time to dress up as someone you’re not, but you shouldn’t offend someone in the process.

Here are a few examples of costumes to avoid, should you still be looking for a costume for this year’s trick-or-treating season.

  • East Asian culture (“Geisha Girl Costume,” sold on wondercostumes.com, “Japanese Sumo Wrestler Costume,” sold on costumecraze.com)
  • Various Native American costumes (“Adult Tribal Temptation Native American Costume” sold on partycity.com)
  • A person of color (POC on “Orange is the New Black,” as worn by Julianne Hough in 2013, and “Somali Pirate” and “Mr. T,” both sold on simplyfancydress.co.uk)
  • Mexican culture (“Adult Senorita Sugar Skull Costume” and “Adult Hey Amigo Mexican Costume,” both sold on partycity.com )
  • West Asian cultureĀ (Adult Arabian Princess,” sold on party city.com and “Arab Costume,” sold on halloweencostume.com)
  • African culture (“Adult Sahara Prince Costume” and “Adult Nile Goddess Costume,” both sold on partycity.com)
  • Indian culture (“Adult Bollywood Beauty Costume,” sold on partycity.com)

Make this year’s Halloween tradition unique by being aware that some costumes offend people of certain cultures and ethnicities, and realize that you can still wear a super awesome costume and have a great time in light of that. Everyone deserves to have a fun holiday, and blatant ignorance tends to put a damper on the spooky mood.

Remember kids, anything can happen on All Hallows’ Eve, so don’t forget to stay safe and stay woke.