Sexy police officer. Sexy nurse. Sexy angel. Sexy devil. Even a sexy Elsa. These were the costumes for females that my friends and I saw lining the shelves of the local Halloween store a few weeks ago.
The amount of costumes that followed some combination of “sexy plus noun ” was endless and, frankly, just about as creative as Stevens’ use of the phrase “noun plus and technology” for its arts and humanities majors. (Sorry, music and technology kids.)
Still, I don’t want to be the one ragging on sexy Halloween costumes, because I think there are already way too many articles of that nature out there. And you know what? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with an adult woman wanting to look sexy for one night. I just don’t see the issue.
The reality, of course, is a bit more complicated than that. Halloween is about embracing the sinister and, for women, “sexy” is what’s sinister. Society holds a double standard where women are viewed as sexual objects in media, but shamed for expressing or owning their sexuality in real life. So there’s something uniquely thrilling about the prospect of tossing off our rigid, sexually puritanical yokes come October 31, and wearing something ridiculously risqué to a Halloween party. Once a year, you’re given a license to go crazy. But there’s a catch to this, too: your sexy costume has to be “sexy” without ever crossing over the thin line of “slutty.” If it crosses over to “slutty,” then it’s suddenly not okay anymore, and your costume is now a judgement on your character.
And who exactly makes the call between what’s sexy and what’s slutty? Good question. The answer is 100% the patriarchy. There’s often an unsettling edge of sexism to the condemnations of sexy Halloween costume shenanigans, as Molly McHugh pointed out in the Daily Dot. “Nary an October goes by that the Internet doesn’t rejoice at the most ridiculous ‘slutty’ costumes we’ve collectively willed into existence,” she wrote, “and the bro-blogosphere works itself into a near fit waiting for Nov. 1, when it will post slideshow after slideshow of ‘idiot’ women they’re both ogling and mocking.”
I have been guilty of this seasonal slut-shaming, too. For the longest time, I thought I was too smart and clever to ever wear a “sexy” Halloween costume (and in all honesty, I still haven’t worn one—sorry). And I know other girls do this to each other, too.
Truly, whether it’s guys or girls who make the judgments on women’s costumes, slut-shaming never comes more easily than it does on Halloween. Here we are, all dressed up, making clear our allegiances to being either whores or virgins. Please look at our costumes and make your assessments!
But here’s the thing: a woman can and should be able to wear a sexy costume without being objectified. Because while she may look super hot, that’s not all that she is. Choosing a sexy outfit doesn’t make her a brainless slut or a whore. Her outfit is just an expression, an extension of who she is and what’s she’s trying out. In a society where women’s sexualities are both put on a pedestal and simultaneously repressed, a woman can feel just as empowered in a sexy bunny costume as she is in an Amelia Earhart one. Whatever she goes for—whatever makes her feel good—is what she should be wearing. No outside judgement is required.
So what’s the bottom line? Halloween is not the time to be judging what a woman chooses to wear or not wear. And even for those who don’t dress up (if those people exist), the suspension of critical, stereotypical slut-shaming, and the celebration of whatever silliness, sexiness, or subversiveness women express through their outfits is a worthy exercise on Halloween—and for each of the other 364 days of the year, too.
