It seems that sexy is in for Halloween costumes, not only for adults. “Slutty” children’s costumes have been the trend for the last several years. What will your daughter wear for Halloween this year?
It’s one thing for adults to be running around scantily clad on Halloween, but it’s quite another for young girls. Costumes like “Naughty and Nice,” a half-angel, half-devil look, are selling out in Halloween stores this year. “Naughty and Nice” just happens to be one of the most popular ones, but there are so many others designed for very young girls.
“Even some of the names of the costumes are sexual in nature. We found costumes like ‘the Sassy Pirate,’ ‘Bad spirit,’ and ‘Wicked Innocence.’ All are targeted for girls aged 4 to 12.”
“All are targeted for girls aged four to 12?!” If you ask me, something is not right to be targeting girls so young for sexy costumes. Something seems really upside down in the world when we see things like Miley Cyrus’ nine-year-old sister, Noah Cyrus, dressed like a dominatrix!
The 9-year-old recently donned platform knee-high PVC boots, a body hugging black mini dress and lots of dark eye make-up for the red carpet at the US Children Affected by Aids Foundation’s annual Dream Halloween fundraiser.
What happened to dressing up like a princess? Or a witch even? I remember my favorite costume being Wonder Woman. (I realize that dates me quite a bit.) However, dressing up used to be more innocent and fun. I appreciate Taylor Swift’s take on the issue, in her recent MTV interview:
“‘I felt all the girls in our school kind of used Halloween as an excuse to take all their clothes off and parade around,’ she said. ‘They would tan weeks in advance so that they could bare it all on Halloween. I’m like, ‘That’s not the point.’ You’re supposed to be scary.’”
She makes a great point. What ever happened to being scary on Halloween? What message are we sending young girls, very young girls, when the popular costumes for them are sexually suggestive skimpy outfits? Carole Currie calls it the “Hoochie Mama” costume. America Online put out a list of the ten most inappropriate Halloween Costumes this week. Most of them are in that “hoochie mama” category. They range from “Fallen Angel” to “Sassy Vampire Costume,” which is what Noah Cyrus wore at the AIDS fundraiser, to “Supergirl Sexy Teen,” and they’ve even corrupted Dorothy with the “Sexy Dorothy” (yes, that’s Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz) costume!
One mom blogs about these kinds of costumes as she considers her own daughter on Halloween:
“Sexy Dorothy — Yes you remember the innocent Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, well it looks very much like she should’ve stayed home and never left the house. Supergirl Sexy Teen web Costume — I kid you not this costume looks just like something Supergirl would’ve worn, only meant for your teen to wear. Now if she were going to a part at the Playboy mansion this might be okay, but not going trick-or-treating.”
While this mom is not alone, I have to wonder what most parents are thinking. It would be easy to blame the companies creating these costumes for sale. However, it’s not that simple. We can blame the culture–and I do–for putting pressure on young girls to be “sexy.” But if we buy in, literally, then we share the blame. After all, manufacturers would not keep making these kinds of costumes if little girls’ parents weren’t buying them every year!
