The spookiest night of the year is approaching, and as always, the week following Halloween will feature news about the most offensive costumes that people wore.
We’ve seen everything – from Julianne Hough using blackface to imitate an “Orange is the New Black” character and Prince Harry attending a Halloween party in Nazi uniform, to the tight-fitting skeleton dress called “Anna Rexia” by its creators.
We shouldn’t need to explain why each of these costumes is offensive. Any costume that references past abuse against a racial group or makes light of mental health issues is in bad taste, and should not even be on the market.
However, these costumes are not going away. There will always be those who find it funny to poke fun at issues they don’t understand or can’t relate to. But that doesn’t mean we have to play along.
This year, put some thought into your costume – really think. Ask yourself if what you’re wearing targets a specific demographic, and if so, does it portray them in a negative light? Hint: if you’re not part of that group yourself, it’s probably best to think of something else.
While the classic costumes – witches, zombies, vampires, ghosts – are always safe bets that can be personalized and given a new twist, it’s always fun to dress up as something that reflects the times.
Going with a friend as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman is funny. Wearing a “sexy Ebola containment suit” is not.
That’s not a joke – such a suit is already on the market, according to the Huffington Post. When almost 5,000 people have died from the epidemic in West Africa, wearing such a “suit” – a dress that does not even come down to the model’s knees – is incredibly offensive. It’s just as bad as the Ray Rice costume, in which a man wearing Baltimore Raven gear dragged around a life-size doll of a woman, meant to represent the NFL player’s wife, Janay Rice.
Halloween is often seen as the day on which everything is acceptable and social sensitivity flies out the window, but this is a harmful attitude. Have fun on Friday, and use your costumes to show off your interests and creativity, not to make light of a historically racist or sensitive issue. And most importantly – stay safe, Coogs.
More political correctness bs from the cultural marxists at the Daily Cougar.
they strive to be offended.
“Sexy Ebola Nurse costumes: are they a greater threat than the disease itself?” lol … http://dandygoat.com/sexy-ebola-nurse-costumes-offense
More Group-Think programming for the youth!
so should i dress up like harry reid and discuss how president obama is an intelligent negro?
I find this editorial offensive. Please suck an egg.
“The Cougar”
I offended by the name of this student paper. It is demeaning to older promiscuous women!
We need to petition to change the name.
“Those costumes should not even be on the market.” You don’t say! And who should decide what’s on the market? You leftist Politically Correct Gurus?
You and your ilk already dictate us what to eat, how to raise our children and what drugs to give them to keep them quiet, what to drink, what to smoke, what drugs are allowed (yours) or forbidden, how (not) to defend ourselves and now… What to wear on Halloween! When are you busybodies going to stop?
Please leave us alone and go to North Korea where people like you are still in power!
I find your words to be very harsh. Do I feel you have an opinion to them? Absolutely, but that’s not what’s for conversation here… Just because The Cougar writes on heavy topics like marijuana use, alcohol consumption, sexual assault, and things that need to be addressed, doesn’t mean their leftists, or marxists, or North Korean like writers with an agenda… We should all strive to express ourselves peacefully. For all you and I know, you may have gotten a constructive conversation started. Why such hate?
And what color is the sky on your peaceful planet, with pink clouds and agenda free busybodies and populated with peaceful conversation starters?
Dictating how my kids should dress on Halloween is not “peaceful expression”… it’s just meddling! Please leave us alone with our own decisions and free will!
The time for “constructive conservation” is over! Now it’s time to get angry and send the busybodies and the PC gurus home!
So you have an opinion to express but when someone else expressed their opinion it’s called “constructive conservation” and those individuals are labeled PC gurus? I think you should watch your mouth so that when words come out of it you can see the idiocy and hypocritical bologna that just came from it… Everyone is entitled to their opinion and just because someone has one that varies VASTLY from yours doesn’t mean they are “PC Gurus” or “Constructive Conservationists” or in more honest words, idiots… They’re living breathing people, who… Well, they’re right and you’re wrong. Some things shouldn’t be said, some costumes shouldn’t be worn, some mockery shouldn’t be made, some things shouldn’t be appropriated… You know what should be though? You good sir. You would make an excellent Halloween costume… Good day.
“Some things shouldn’t be said, some costumes shouldn’t be worn, some mockery shouldn’t be made, some things shouldn’t be appropriated… ”
Yes! The Inquisition would agree with you! And who will decide what can be said and what cannot?! That’s the question!
You can have your opinion, I really don’t care! As long as you don’t try to legislate/regulate it down my throat… Can you see the difference between an “opinion” and a “rule”? It’s the threat and the aggression behind one and not the other…
And about my “costume” I hope it scares you and your ilk enough so you don’t come by my house any more and leave me alone!