10 Halloween costumes you definitely should not wear
Halloween is both the most wonderful time of the year, and one of the most problematic.
Among the Instagram posts of clever puns, obscure movie references, and popular superheroes, you're bound to scroll past a costume that makes you lose all faith in humanity. You've probably had this experience: You stop scrolling, zoom in, and maybe take a screenshot to ask the group chat, "Did nobody tell them this is awful?"
Newsflash: You can dress up without being deeply offensive! Whether racist caricatures or making sexual assault puns, here are 10 costumes to avoid this Halloween.
1. Don't do blackface. Don't.
Megyn Kelly defended blackface as "OK, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character."
Except, it's not. It wasn't OK when she was "a kid," and it still isn't OK now — blackface is a remnant of the United State's ugly history, and accepting it only dismisses the oppression that Black people have endured in America. Just don't do it.
2. "Free mammograms"
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Do you want to be your dad's creepy friend? Because this is totally something your dad's creepy friend would do.
3. Sexual assault puns aren't cute, OK?
It's 2018 and people are still dressing up as Dr. Feltersnatch, the unscrupulous gynecologist who apparently gropes his patients. Gross. Let's move on from this.
4. Please don't dress up as a Charlottesville protestor
The white supremacist rally in Charlottesville last August where Heather Heyer was killed was a horrific event in American history. Don't trivialize it with a costume.
5. Or as a literal Nazi
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Being a trash human is one thing, but subjecting your child to a costume glorifying genocide is another level. As Rabbi Gary Mazo told the local NBC station, "A good rule of thumb would be: If your costume calls to mind an event where millions were killed, choose another costume."
Don't dress up as a fucking Nazi for Halloween, guys.
6. This bloody monstrosity
This is ... truly something else. Subversive? Maybe. Something you'd want immortalized on the internet forever? Probably not.
7. Someone really dressed up as an abortion
I just don't even have words for this. Is the edginess worth the cringe, though?
8. Cultural appropriation isn't cute
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Sexualizing another culture's sacred outfits isn't cute. Capitalizing on the aesthetics of a historically oppressed people isn't cute. Why are companies still selling fake headdresses?
9. When you can't choose just one culture to appropriate
This "Eternal Flower Warrior" has it all: a mini dress with "kimono sleeves," chopsticks, and a fan to "keep the haters away." Who let this happen? Who thought this would be a good idea to sell? It's 2018 — at this point, you probably live under a rock if you think wearing this in public is OK.
Plus, let's be real: This dress is hideous.
10. Homeless people are people, too
You have to seriously lack compassion to dress up as a homeless person for Halloween, post it on Instagram, and add #hobo to the caption. Making fun of someone trying to exist is not a good look — don't do it!
If you're pressed for a last minute costume and even consider a horribly offensive costume, just pass on it and dress up as a sexy cat like the rest of us.
