Paradigm Shift of the Season: Halloween Costumes

After turning in our paradigm shift essays, I feel it is appropriate to conclude my analysis of paradigm shifts with a more shallow look at a paradigm shift of the current holiday: Halloween. Specifically I want to look at women’s Halloween costumes, and how they have become more and more revealing and sexualized over the past few decades.

Ask any female college student what they are planning on being for Halloween, and nine times out of ten they will respond with something like “a cat”, “a nurse”, “a maid”, or some other similar response. Though those costumes may not seem very well connected, they are all alike in how revealing they are. Typical female Halloween costumes are usually described as “slutty”, almost as if it were a prerequisite to how costumes are supposed to look.

Some typical female Halloween costumes typically include exposure of the stomach, excessively short skirts, tight, low-cut tops, or a combination of all three. To illustrate my point, here are some examples of typical female costumes…

indian maid sailor

Essentially, a woman can dress up as anything for Halloween as long as she can put the word “sexy” in front of it. Although Halloween is generally an extreme holiday, it is important to note that male costumes are rarely ever sexualized. Whether they be dressing in scary or funny costumes, minimal skin is exposed and few costumes ever are intended to be sexual. Here are a few examples of typical male costumes…

vampire zombie

 

Clearly there is a major difference between male and female costumes in regard to their level of sexualization. However, the most important contrast to note, that  makes the revealing costumes a paradigm shift, is how Halloween costumes used to look, especially for females.

Halloween costumes from earlier times had similar themes in what they portrayed as costumes do today. However, women were almost always completely covered, even wearing masks. Their costumes were not intended to emphasize their bodies, but transform them into something completely different, while women’s costumes today are less focused on what they are and more focused on how sexual they can be. Here are some examples of older Halloween costumes from previous generations of trick-or-treaters. twogirlscostumes vintagecostumes witchOverall, the change between how women’s costumes used to typically look compared to today’s costumes has changed towards more revealing, skimpy costumes usually referred to as “slutty” or “sexy”. This trend has most likely been caused by the general changing of societal values. In general, women have been sexually freed through the Women’s Rights movement, introduction of birth control, and the overall loosening of strict moral conduct previously upheld by society. However, one must question whether this current trend of sexualization is negatively affecting the rights women have worked to gain over the past several decades. The revolution that gave women the freedom to dress as they do today may soon take away from the original values of the revolution itself.

 

6 thoughts on “Paradigm Shift of the Season: Halloween Costumes

  1. This actually reminds me of a slam poetry viewing I saw on line the other day! I’ll find it and post it here because I feel like you would really enjoy it! this is incredibly true. I just want to be a really scary zombie is that too much to ask?!

  2. I think you could write another essay on this shift! What you say about the increase in skin and decrease of fabric is definitely true, and you bring up a great point about the costumes possibly degrading the rights women have worked so hard to earn. Great analysis!

  3. I have always wondered how women from the middle 20th century would react to women of today. What is the line between female empowerment of dressing how they want and just losing respect for oneself? I think anyone could argue either for being the case for the way people dress nowadays.

  4. I definitely understand where you’re coming from. In this consumer’s market, companies are simply providing people with what they want. While conservative costumes may have been more popular a while ago, the demand is for more revealing clothing. While that does put the companies into question, it also puts the consumers into question as well. They are, after all, the ones demanding these outfits.

  5. This post is a perfect melding of kairos (seizing the moment of Halloween) and other RCL content. Great post!

  6. I have noticed this as well. What happened to just good old fashioned fun? Most of the girls who went out last night on my floor were pretty much the same. Sexy “this” and Slutty “that.” What I do not understand is the fact that they will have to worry about their costumes falling off all night…

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