Halloween costume PC rules: Good idea or[expletive removed]?

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So, whose seen all that new crap about what you shouldn't let your kids dress as for Halloween? Cowboys or Indians are racist and encourage genocide, soldiers promote violence, Disney princesses are sexist, superheros are ableist, hobo's are insensitive to the "housing disadvantaged", etc, etc. Does anybody actually buy into this [expletive removed by moderator] or are there some people other than those who work at NPR who think this is a good idea and long overdue?

Honestly I am so sick and tired of all this "I'm so offended over something that doesn't really matter" crap that I think one day my head will explode. Our local high school already actually did away with the mascot because they were afraid somebody would cause a stink over it. Nobody had complained about it and in fact a lot of people complained when they stopped having the mascot, especially the boy who was playing him. Our team is the Choctaws and it was an Indian. (In Alabama most people are part Indian and we are proud of it, nobody was being mean by having an Indian as a mascot - we have TONS of stuff here in this state devoted to our shared Indian heritage and culture and it's great - but I'm sure somebody somewhere will screw that up for us too - they are already trying to take away our rebel flag - but they won't succeed with that here anyway)

Has anybody here actually told their kid no they can't be this or that for Halloween because of this crazy stuff that people have started up now? I'm pretty sure that the offense whiners would have a field day with something my oldest son went as a few years ago when he needed a last minute costume and had no money or time to put something together - he got a plastic garbage bag and cut neck and arm holes in it and put it on over his clothes. He went as "White Trash" LOL! I thought it was genius, funny, and of course so cheap it was almost free.

Whats ya'lls thoughts on this, and if you do think that it's right or right to an extent, what are the things you think kids shouldn't go as and why?

One thing that I do want to say though, is that if somebody is so way way overly sensitive and has so much time on their hands to contemplate this sort of thing and seeing a kid come to their door dressed as something they disapprove of is going to send them into such a fit of depression, anxiety and of course PTSD flashbacks or whatever it is they are gonna have from seeing the kid - because everybody apparently has PTSD nowdays - then they need much more help than parents making their kid's Halloween costume choice into a cultural minefield will ever give them. How far over the line do we have to go as a society with this "I'm so offended that I can't function now, because of silly little [expletive removed by moderator]" before somebody says that it's enough and that the offended party get some sort of psychiatric help if they get that upset over something that doesn't even concern them.

So, who is buying in and who isn't?

Last edited by alex on 26 Oct 2015, 6:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.: remove expletives

Halloween costumes or any tradition only has the meaning to which you personally ascribe to it. I don't sit around a thanksgiving dinner and celebrate the genocide of native americans, that is not what is going through my mind or why I cut up a turkey and slop mashed potatoes on my plate. I don't have set up a christmas tree because I believe in religion or paganism, I set up a christmas tree because I like the decoration and lights. I don't think the what is as important as the why.

I totally agree, but now we just have to convince the PC brigade.

I'm also sick of the whole "Don't put anything about religious Christmas in front of the court house" and "Don't tell me Merry Christmas!" crap too. I'm not really Christian either but it doesn't bother me. It's a national holiday here and it's based on a Christian event, and everybody knows what that is, so what does it hurt to put some decorations about it in front of the courthouse? It also doesn't hurt to put a tree up either. Or a Festivus pole even. Or something for Hannukah. Or Kwanzaa. Or anything. As for the saying Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays, I say Merry Christmas. I say Happy Hannukah to people who I know are Jewish but to the rest I say MC. You don't have to be Christian to celebrate it. There is a huge secular Christmas aspect in this country and it's certainly bigger and more popular than the religious aspect in terms of celebration. I don't see why people are so damn oversensitive these days. Honestly I think it's because things are so much easier now. We really do have it good when some of our biggest worries are about having our feelings hurt.

OliveOilMom, I love this post mwaah. Yeah, it is indeed total horses**t. I think the PC Police would go nuts because on the Spirit Halloween website, I found a "Caitlyn" Jenner costume AND a Bruce Jenner costume. Hell, maybe someone can mix/match some of the pieces! I'm sure they would cry "racism" and "cultural appropriation", because I liked being ninjas for halloween when I was younger. Also thanks for mentioning Festivus, because my family actually celebrated it one year!

horses**t!!

Horse Hockey!

I don't think the PC police have the guts to venture into your neck of the woods OOM, these dumbies only really exist in academia and the media. It's best to just ignore the white guilt liberals, actual people of color care way less about these imagined "mircoaggressions" than they do actual legal discrimination and inequality.

When I was a kid, I dressed up as a WW11 German Gestapo officer, complete with swastika armband. I still can't believe my parents let me go out dressed like that. I was a big Hogan's Heroes fan.

I don't do PC. One year I went as Greg louganis. I wore nothing but a speedo and put multiple HIV lesions all over my body.

This holiday has evolve it started out a minor sub-culture of some German immigrants. You could argue that is entirely an American holiday.

It is interesting how it has changed so much even in the last few decades. It is almost a fancy dress bonanza, it doesn't have the spooky feel as much.

Certainly Poo Poo to the PC brigade.

Sigh. I realize this thread may just be someone trolling for a fight, but...41% of transgender people attempt suicide. Roughly the same percent of homeless children are LGBT. Not because of any mental illness of theirs. Rather it is because of the way people treat them for being different. Bullying, on the other hand, *is* a mental illness. Several really, depending on the actual causes. For some reason compassion is not valued much in some portions of our larger culture.

What you ironically call "PC" is really just another name for trying to stop bullying. You are claiming the right to treat others with cruelty even after being told it is causing harm to them, either directly or indirectly.

I don't know your reasons. For some it's based on an insecure assumption of racial or gender superiority, for others it's just because the person feels the need to make someone else feel bad, anyone else, to make themselves feel better (hence the, "we were just having fun"). Either way, it is ethically and morally wrong.

Children are accepting of transgender class- and playmates. It is their (typically, but not necessarily conservative Christian) parents or grandparents that teach them hatred and cruelty for those who are different. Halloween doesn't have to be a vehicle for adult insecurities and need to be cruel.

It's incredibly sad to see this sort of behavior on a forum dedicated to those who have themselves been treated so poorly for being "different". It wasn't so long ago that autistic people were normally treated the same way that people on this thread are treating those of other gender identities and races...

Why are there so many threads about cultural appropriation on WrongPlanet lately? I mean, it's really not a hard concept to grasp. When you dress like a stereotype of another race, you're being racist. It's like the modern-day equivalent of a blackface performance.

If you're white and have trouble understanding what it's like to be a victim of racism or other prejudice, then here's a thought experiment. How would you feel if someone decided to be "autistic" for Halloween, and dressed and acted like the most offensively obnoxious stereotype of an autistic person imaginable? Wouldn't you want them to realize that that's not okay?

Pretty much, yeah.


I agree, the irony is just mindboggling.

Dear sweet Jesus nobody is trolling for a fight, but of course you would see it that way. Its Halloween for f***s sake. Dressing up isn't theental illness nor is it bullying. Making a huge deal and needing therapy and whining over somebody else's Halloween costume is a mental illness though. You are making a mountain out of a molehill. You might want to dress up as " proportion" for Halloween because that is certainly an imaginary creature for you.

For real, get a clue and learn what is and isn't something to take serious and stop trying to lump everything in with actual serious and harmful discrimination and bullying. Its Halloween. Its a costume for fun. People need to stop whining over things that are harmless and also have no malicious intent.

Why am I not surprised to see one of these here?

Well why don't you two get together and spend Halloween in a frenzy of offense, letter writing, whining, and protests, and let the rest of us go out and enjoy ourselves like normal people?

That way your misery can love the company and nobody has to deal with the BS spewed in the name of being offended for others.

I actually find it ironic when people who can't even stand up for thselves want to spend sp much energy attempting to stand up for strangers against something that isn't even offensive to begin with. Whatever makes you feel better I guess. .....

If people are purposely dressing to antagonise that is silly thing to do.

However there is not monopoly on cross dressing, or gender experimentation. Even those that do it in humour, they and their friend are interested in the results.

Regarding cultural appropriation, well that would be something like Rachel Dolezal?

Cultures appropriate each-other that is what they do. It is actually a path to acceptance.

Someone was offended becuase they served Mexican food at at a university function. WTF? They were offended on behalf of another culture they presumed would be offended. This was one individual and the uni issued an apology.

I hate to break it to you but Mexican food in the US is uniquely Mexican American and different form Mexican food. Just like British Indian is it own cuisine. So what? This is how culture evolves.

Last edited by 0_equals_true on 23 Oct 2015, 6:43 pm, edited 3 times in total.