Ah, Halloween. A spooky celebration of candy, jack-o-lanterns, haunted houses and slut-shaming.
In arguably the most quotable movie of all time, Mean Girls, Cady Heron says, “In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it.” I don’t know what “Girl World” she’s talking about, but it doesn’t exist here.
From my experience, any woman who dares to throw on a costume any less revealing than a snowsuit will definitely hear about it. Halloween is the one night a year we get to dress up and pretend to be something we’re not. So, who cares if a woman wants to be a bunny in lingerie or a nurse in a mini dress?
But alas, women all over are shamed for their costumes. Every October, memes surface – pictures of girls dressed as zombies next to women in bodysuits and fishnets with captions that read, “Me on Halloween vs. other girls.” Congrats, what’s your point?
Unfortunately, slut-shaming stretches far beyond Halloween. Women are raised to believe they don’t have autonomy over their own bodies. Strict dress codes dictate what we can and can’t wear to school and most of the time it’s not within reason.
I once had to wear a fleece sweater on a hot day in May because a teacher thought my halter top was inappropriate. I was in Grade 4. Again, in Grade 11, a teacher told me girls wearing leggings could be distracting to boys. Right, because they can see so much of my butt as I sit in my chair doing math.
I’m not typically one to wear lingerie on Halloween, but it has more to do with me being perpetually cold than anything else.
I may sound like I’m just ranting about costumes and dress codes and fancy underwear. I guess I am. But think about it. Women are constantly being told what they can or can’t wear. They’re always judged by how they look and how much skin they’re showing.
A man could show up to a Halloween party in nothing but a Speedo and people would laugh. Nobody would tell him he’s showing too much skin, nobody would call him a slut.
Women can’t do the same. We are constantly being judged in some way. So this Halloween, and every other day of the year, I ask you to re-evaluate how you judge us and the way we look. If it doesn’t affect your health or happiness, please, leave us alone.
This year, I say we take a stand against the F-shamers. Wear that lingerie, work those fishnets, rock those mouse ears! (I’m a mouse, duh.) Whether you’re a bunny person, more of a nurse or even a sexy devil, you make that La Senza purchase and you own it.
