October Issue

ARTS & LIFE 23
“Slutty” Costumes:
Empowering or Sexist?
Saghar Baqizada,
Contributor
As Halloween is just around the corner, prepare
to see dozens of sexy renditions of your
favourite characters. When it comes to picking
a costume, is using the term “slutty” to describe
what one wears a symptom of the patriarchy, or
a way to stick-it-to-the-man despite it?
Halloween is undoubtedly the most liberating
holiday, allowing us to dress up and express
ourselves without judgment. However, there’s
a growing debate about whether it is truly
liberating for women, who are often presented
with promiscuous costume options. For
feminists, there are two sides to this argument:
sexual empowerment vs. sexual objectification.
For centuries, women have been told how to
dress, and it still happens today. Many schools
have a strict policy against girls wearing shorts,
thus sexualizing bare legs at a young age. At
some restaurants, waitresses have to adhere
to sexist dress codes which include wearing
high heels and short skirts. In both situations,
women’s bodies are heavily sexualized.
Becoming sexually liberated is a milestone
for many women and, as a result, their ability
to freely express their sexuality should be
celebrated.
Of course, the issue isn’t always simple: women
who dress provocatively may make the decision
to do so because of several factors; however,
living in a patriarchal society sometimes results
in the objectification of women, who feel
pressured to dress scantily on Halloween.
We can see the extent of this problem by taking
a look at the costume industry and their limited
range of costumes for women. A Google image
search of “Halloween costumes for women” will
show that hypersexualized costumes are the
ones most available for sale. Women looking for
more traditional, less revealing outfits have to
go the extra mile to find a costume. It’s harmful
for young girls who are further exposed to
gender stereotypes as they compare the sexy
nurse, sexy teacher, and sexy firefighter outfits
in the female aisle to the conservative career
costumes available in the male aisle.
That being said, we must afford adult women
the ability to reveal their bodies at their own
discretion: women should put their own fashion
preferences before the viewing pleasure of
men. While this could coincide with some men’s
perception of beauty, the point remains that men
should not be the focus when it comes to the
decision-making processes of women’s fashion.
There are cases in which women dress with the
intent to impress men, which is acceptable as
long as they’re the ones making that choice.
Women should choose the Halloween costume
that they feel most confident in, whether it be
a cozy Minion onesie, or a sexy Harley Quinn
get-up.
Mehria Gulistani, a second-year UTSC student
majoring in human biology and mental health,
shared her opinion on the matter: “We can
differentiate between empowerment and
objectification by seeing who has the power,”
she explains. “In the case of Halloween, women
have all the power. Those who want to express
their sexuality in a personally empowering way
can do just that. Those who aren’t comfortable
with it have the option to skip the sexy costumes
and find something better suited to their
personality.”
Halloween is a time that spurs much excitement
and joy; whether women choose to dress scary,
beautiful, strange, cute, or sexy, their choices
ought not to be judged under the ever-attentive
societal eye.
www. the-underground.ca OCTOBER 2017
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 02