Happy Halloween

By Florence Celia May

From Flo's World

So I've spoken about fancy dress on here before, but it's Halloween time again, and I just want to get all this angst I have off my chest.
I'm going to begin here by quoting Mean Girls*.

'In the regular world, Halloween is when children dress up in costumes and beg for candy. In Girl World, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.' - Cady Heron

WHY IS THIS A THING?! Just because it's Halloween doesn't actually mean you have to dress in next-to-no clothes. Come on, ladies! Think of something more original and funny than a sexy cat/nurse/zombie. I know you can do it.

F*** the patriarchy; I'm sexy even when I'm covered in bright orange face paint. 

I could easily 'go off on one' here about the over-sexualisation of women by the patriarchy, but I feel like I've spoken about these matters before, and I know some of you won't want to read my 'rad-fem bullshit' anyway.

Wait. This is my blog. And I can write what I like.

Do you want to know why men's Halloween outfits aren't sexualised like women's? The patriarchy. Do you want to know why women feel like they have to dress 'sexy' to attract a man? The patriarchy. Do you want to know who created the false consciousness of women and made them believe that they need to dress in this way? You got it, THE PATRIARCHY. 'Sexy' costumes are degrading and the only reason women wear them is because men have told them that's what they look good in. 

(Mega left-wing points to me for getting Marx and Rad-Fem in one paragraph).

So, back to the point in hand. Halloween is about remembering the dead (and obviously also about knocking on total strangers doors to ask for sweets). It is not about dressing 'like a total slut' without the fear of being judged.

Halloween should be about originality. It should be about trying to stand out from the crowd and about making a lasting impression. If you're going to dress up, try and come up with a costume that people are going to be talking about for days afterwards.

Anyway, here's a song that is not only catchier than the bubonic plague, but also sums up what I'm trying to say here really rather nicely. 

*Totally using Mean Girls as a legitimate reference. And what.