You'd Be So Pretty If...

Dara, I'll let you know if all the media literacy and 'so sexy so soon' chats I've blogged on Shaping Youth w/Jean Kilbourne have done any good when I see how my daughter interprets her 'fairy' costume for a dance this eve. (holding my breath here, as her BFF has been hand-sewing it for them to 'match') ;-) Here's the interview w/Jean:
http://www.shapingyouth.org/?p=8049 and here's one I wrote on how to combat Halloween horrors of 'wicked innocence' www.shapingyouth.org/?p=725

Meanwhile, did you catch the piece on Packaging Boyhood in today's Philadelphia Inquirer re: muscle men/buffed boy body image? http://j.mp/2FCRYp

She ended with my quote about this being "equal opportunity toxicity" which I'm thrilled about, since this is anything BUT empowerment when it comes to trashing kids' psyches w/early sexualization, body dissatisfaction, and creating 'not good enough' eating disorders and such. Girls. Boys. Parents. Sheesh. Enough w/the harmful cues already!

Thanks for this piece; here's hoping more people squawk loudly (& often) as the APA study has indicated...there IS damage being done.

I still don't think it's empowering for women to reveal EVERYTHING. Yet when I complain about how skimpy clothing is - even for us fatties - people keep saying "But it's so empowering!" and actually try to force me into revealing stuff.

At 240 pounds and only 5' 3", the only power a sexy Halloween costume or revealing clothing at all will deliver me is the power to induce projectile vomiting at 30 paces. Or end up with my picture on PeopleOfWalMart.com.

I just wore my home made hippie costume. People loved it. Especially since I bought my dog a tie dyed scarf with peace symbols and happy faces on it so she could be my hippie dog.

Thank you! I agree with the fact that Halloween is no longer designated as a "Children Holiday", but rather as a competition for who can be the sexiest. Unfortunately, it is very hard for a person to go looking for costumes and find a variety of appropriate costumes for kids. I was rather upset when I took my siblings to go get costumes and found such skimpy and disgusting costumes; the worst part is that we were at none other than Walmart, a family store of all places. I think that the idea of costumes is kind much like the theme of the holiday itself, in the way that it is all based upon what society expects. Men, generally speaking, enjoy the chance of seeing and acting upon sexual fantasies explored through sexy costumes such as the french maid, the naughty cop or the sexy school girl. The theme has gone from a spiritual meaning to a scary and frightening one. My question is why is Halloween the only day of the year in which dressing trashy is "empowering?" It is nothing more than an excuse to cover exotic thoughts/fantasies that normally would be considered as foul and immoral. in a sense nothing more than seeing a prostitute on the street or commenting on the clothes, or there lack of, some kids today choose to wear. I have to be honest in saying that personally Halloween is a lost cause, not just for adults but for kids too.

Hey. Maybe I just don't get it, coming as I do from a country (Australia) where we don't really have a history of celebrating Halloween although there are always a few parties around.

But I did live in North America for a couple of years and looked forward to really experiencing this holiday in an authentic way.

I was suprised and kind of shocked when stopping for a coffee in the local mall on the day itself, to see the parade of little trick or treaters going round the shops nearly entirely in shoddy, shop-bought costumes limited to that years crop of popular licenced characters.

Of hundreds of kids I saw two home-made costumes in the hour I watched. A gypsy and a clown - brother and sister. They looked awesome. And neither appeared to be made by a brilliant home seamstress mother with boundless time on her hands, but rather cobbled together from bit's and pieces and augmented with face paint. I could see they were having a ball. I couldn't tell if anyone else was - all faces obscured by a moulded plastic Pikachu or something similar.

How about next year NOT taking your kids shopping for what is available in off-the-rack costumes, but sitting down and asking - What would you like to be this Halloween? Then you can help them make it happen by raiding the family wardrobes, visiting op-shops (charity shops), going surreally low-fi with cardboard, tape and sharpies and only shopping for the extra 'bits' to make it happen.

Those costumes are available here too - sexy cop, lady pimp, slutty girl scout (we don't even HAVE girl scouts here!)but those who wear them are generally considered a little dull and unimaginiative.

Much like Jami's experience above - creativity wins, feeds self-esteem and allows your kids to be their funny, clever, wacky selves that you love so much.