While looking for a Halloween costume, it became blatantly obvious that something was wrong here. I needed to find a cute costume that was appropriate for both school and work, where a lot of children frequent. So why is it that finding one was so difficult? Many of the girl costumes were very sexy. The boy's costumes were funny, scary, or powerful. All very appropriate costumes. Many of the girl's costumes however, seemed to consist of a short skirt and a tight shirt. This is highly sexist in my opinion. A boy's police officer costume consists of a regular looking police officer uniform, one that would be worn on the job. A girl's police officer costume consists of a short dress, tights and even handcuffs. I was just hoping for a bit of variety here. So I figured my only option was to do it myself. I was thinking of doing something from Disney or Nickelodeon, but even when I googled "DIY Blue's Clues costumes," all that came up were pictures of girls in tight, short dresses. This was not working for me.
What message is this sending to girls? Social science has found that exposure to these over-sexualized outfits can lead to body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, and low self-esteem. While the single act of wearing the sexy costume is not the direct cause of this, it is the idea of wanting to be sexually appealing that appears to be harmful. These costumes reinforce this idea in girl's heads that they should be sexy. It has also been found that girls with a higher sense of "internalized sexulization" spend more time doing things like trying to look their best and less time studying. Girls with these higher levels earned lower grades in school. Is a young girl's desire for a sexy Halloween costume just something harmless? Or should parents be more concerned and steer them towards less sexual costumes instead? More importantly, when is it appropriate for girl's to be seen as sexual?
I think we should be more concerned with the idea of young girl's being over-sexualized. Yes, Halloween should be fun and festive but we should also think of the harm and danger of it. I believe that if there are going to be sexual costumes, then a less sexual option of the same costume should be available.
At age 17, I still feel too young to be wearing a costume that's too sexy. I ended up going to the craft store and buying my own supplies to make my blue's clues costume that involves a big tee shirt and felt, not a tight dress and heels. I want to be comfortable and look cute.
