Spooky season is coming to an end, and Halloween is just around the corner. While many of us will dress up as sexy animals, our favorite superhero, or as an inflatable T-rex, too many of us will dress up as each other. As always, we'll see people from dominant cultures dressed as indigenous Americans, "exotic racially ambiguous princesses," and wearing Calavera (sugar skull) make-up.
"Culture" ≠ "costume"
Cultures are something we are all a part of, whether through our heritage or culture we assimilate ourselves into. It is something personal that defines an aspect of us. Being able to pretend to belong to a cultural/racial/religious group for a fun night out, just to go back to your usual identity the next, is a privilege. It is a privilege to be someone else without living with the disadvantages that a person from the minority group faces daily and cannot escape. By dressing up as a marginalized group, you are erasing their experience for your benefit.
I had originally written different examples of popular cultural heritages that have become costumes and dived deep into why they are wrong. But, I came to realize something. Year after year, there are countless blogs, videos, tweets, Instagram posts, etc., that discuss this issue in length. These posts tell people, "Don't dress up as someone's culture; it's wrong." Yet, no matter how many posts and despite the countless reasons these posts provide... nothing changes. We are still seeing the same amount of people dressing up as a "PowWOW Princess" or "Exotic Desert Rose." We are still seeing people defending their right to go in blackface, and we are still seeing people make excuses as to why it's "appreciation." I could go on and on about why it is wrong, but it may be easier to leave you with this. Cultures do not have costumes; cultures have traditional clothing. Saying that a culture's traditional wear is a costume takes away humanity from the culture and replaces it with a fictive narrative.
Striping the human from the being
By allowing costumes that depict minority cultures, we dehumanize them and see them as costumes and nothing else. This leads minority cultures and racial groups to be shamed when partaking in what is rightfully theirs. I know I said I wouldn't come with different examples, but I simply can't resist. We have seen this with Black people being shamed for their natural hair and other protective styles, Indigenous people being taken away from their families and forced into residential schools with the end goal of assimilating them into Euro-American culture. Yet, despite being shamed for their natural hair, Black people will see many costumes this year, accompanied by afro or dreadlock wigs. Indigenous people will see Eskimo snow princesses or Sexy Island Chiefs.
Dressing up as ethnicity, race, or culture that is not your own is problematic and racist. While you may stand firm in saying, "But I'm not a racist!" you cannot stand firm in not perpetuating racism. Some of you reading may be thinking, "it's just a joke," but why is it "just a joke?". Why are minority cultures the majority of costumes? Why must their cultures be dehumanized through jokes and caricatures?
While you may say, "it's just a costume, relax" or "I admire the culture," what you're not thinking about is that these costumes continue to perpetuate harmful stereotypes and contribute to the continuation of violence and aggression towards minorities. Dressing as an "extremist" while wearing a keffiyeh and thobe continues the narrative that extremists are Arabs/Muslims, and therefore all aggression towards the two groups is acceptable and valid. Identities and cultures used as costumes have become the norm in our society. Outside of spooky season, cultures are still being used as mascots or as an addition to one's festival outfit. So, why can you, as a privileged person, dress up and be a stereotype or different culture for a night, but the people you are dressed up as can't exist safely?
The scariest thing about Halloween isn't just that in 2020 people still think it's okay to use cultures as costumes, but that they are trying with all their might to defend the right to do so.
There are countless ways that you can admire and appreciate a culture without having to use them as your costume. You can meet with people from these cultures and learn from them, you can support and celebrate artists and businesses within these communities (@notoriouscree, @_nezianya_, and @dar.collective), most importantly, you can stand as an ally. An ally dressed up as a Cereal Killer holding those dressed offensively accountable.
Notable Celebrity Mentions
2008 - Heidi Klum dressed as Hindu Goddess, Kali
2012 - Chris Brown dressed as a “terrorist”
2013- Julianne Hough dressed as Orange is The New Black’s Crazy Eyes, complete with blackface