I love a lot of things about Halloween. The candy, the spooky atmosphere, and most of all the costumes. From a young age, I would start planning my costumes as soon as September hit. Whether I would choose to be a Disney princess (again) or a poodle skirt-wearing chick, I was always excited to wear the outfit with pride. Halloween allows us to become someone else for a night and I have always loved that idea.

As I got older, though, I started to realize that people, more specifically, girls, were being shamed for wearing certain costumes. This shame culture has steadily been growing as both men and women alike take to shaming girls for their outfits. For every Playboy Bunny costume, there is a hate comment waiting in the shadows to tear down the wearer. When did it become taboo to rejoice in your body?

On Halloween and any other day of the year, women should be allowed to dress however they want to without feeling ashamed. Taking pride in how you look should be something we encourage in society, rather than something we aim to destroy. Recently, for Halloween, I took pleasure in dressing up as a Playboy Bunny. Seeing as it was parent's weekend (the administration at GW really loves a good Halloweekend joke), the lobby of my dorm was crawling with parents who all took part in glaring at me as I walked outside in my fishnets and thigh highs. These looks had at first made me feel ashamed in the way that I was dressed. As if my clothing determined my worth. However, over the course of the night, my confidence grew and I began to celebrate my outfit. Girls should never be ashamed to love themselves.

As for this Halloween, I hope everyone dressed in an outfit that made them happy, despite what anyone else may have said. As long as you support yourself, the opinions of others should not matter.