Tonight I helped pass out Halloween candy at one of my professor's houses. A few friends and I noticed that all the kids had some pamphlets in their candy bags. Later, the professor's children came in and showed us that a family down the street was handing out Ron Paul propaganda with candy taped to it. Strange.
In response to those concerned about the "oversexualization of children" and the negative effects of an adult-themed Halloween: think of it as a First Amendment issue. Expressive conduct, subject to the relevant time, place, and manner restrictions, among other things.
Meaning, in application:
Our Halloween (UW-Madison's) for the past -- I don't even know how many -- years, was (and to some extent, still is) celebrated for its propensity to generate riots and widespread acceptance of detox as an inevitable outcome of the night, some of the raunchiest and most inappropriate/outrightly offensive costumes you could ever hope to see, and basically all other forms of violation of general social convention. The city planned for crackdowns and public property damage; the revelers, accordingly, planned for teargas and nightstick clubbings. Basically, it's just ridiculous, in all positive and negative senses of the word.
But the event takes place, typically, on 1-2 nights over the weekend, on State Street (the major downtown conduit), between the hours of 10PM and 2AM; for the past 2 years, the city has gated off the area, charged $5 for admission to the "event", and worked actively with the Madison community to curtail much of the negative economic and human consequences of the event. Offensive and overly sexual costumes still abound -- but it's like Vegas. You know you're sure as hell not supposed to bring your kids.
With that in mind, game on.
I'm not seriously suggesting that Halloween be treated like a 1st Amendment issue, that Halloween partygoers have respectable 1st Amendment rights at hand by virtue of their slutty costumes that constitute meaningful "expression" of some kind, or that we should implement some technical legal analysis here of the issues at hand.
What I am suggesting is that I have seen more offensive Halloweens than probably any of you have in your day, and, with careful and proper regulation, I've seen them done well. And it's good for business, it's good for building a sense of community, and it's good for a good time.
I find it laughable that someone would single out Halloween as some kind of social ill, on the grounds that it overly sexualizes children and/or objectifies women. There are better events or examples of culture to single out, especially when the whole point of Halloween is to get "in costume", aka, construct the entire celebration around fantastical and fictional premises. There are far more serious issues implicating women at hand, notably, sexual assault. In my opinion, Halloween is better used as an opportunity to discuss such issues.
I may not approve of your "office ho" costume, but I will defend to a considerable extent your right to wear it.
And by prude, I mean that I view Halloween as the last straw in the stack of hay that is the infantilization of women and the fetishizing of youth. Go ahead, say I'm over generalizing, it’s probably just my estrogen getting out of hand.
I'm sure each of you can come up with your own list, without my help, of the ways in which beauty norms (SDF - for a definition of "norms" and "culture" see mainstream media, don't keep denying that it exists) require a youth aesthetic.
I have to say, I've read more debate over halloween this year than I have other years. It's unclear to me why so many people, like my colleague Rob, have decided to come out "Against Halloween." I enjoy Halloween. I've dressed up in outfits some people label as "Sexy ____." It's a lot of fun. Just leaving it as a kid's holiday is all well and good, but every day of the year, adults are forced to act like adults, and who can't enjoy a little fun now and again? Besides, no one is forcing you to dress up and go party. You're all welcome to stay at home and not dress up. But I frankly don't see the harm in dressing up in a costume and drinking with your friends. It's not as if there are children at these parties. There's long been a distinction between adult and children's versions of the same holiday.
What's more, I frankly found Joel Stein's arguement sexist. He's clearly targeting women with his term "Slut Day." I'm sorry he finds the way women dress offensive, but I'm not going to stop dressing up just because some people object to it.
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