Halloween, an old and popular holiday celebrated by many cultures around the world, is readily approaching and it is important to choose an appropriate costume.
When we think of Halloween, we think of it as a holiday meant for dressing up and eating candy but there is a lot more to it than just that. Halloween started as a pagan holiday called Samhain and was the time where the veil between the living and dead is the thinnest and people would dress up to ward off ghosts and spirits.
Halloween and other related holidays are sacred times for certain religions and cultures. We all want to have amazing and stylish costumes that can be funny or used to one-up your buddies, but when you are looking for an idea for a costume, you must be aware of how it will be perceived by others.
When thinking about what to wear for Halloween we need to take into consideration other cultures and traditions.
Cultural appropriation is the taking of other cultures’ traditions without proper knowledge of the meaning behind it. Too many people take the tradition of a culture and use it as a joke.
You will see people going āblack-facedā or take stereotypes to a whole new level. The thing about that is it is not only racist but extremely rude and disrespectful. When you decide a costume for Halloween you want to try and steer clear of costumes that make use of stereotypes, divisive political matters, tropes of domestic abuse, and anything else that might be in poor taste.
Halloween is a time to have fun and get dressed up, but you must take the time to think about it. For your costume to not be deemed cultural appropriation, you must make sure you donāt change any aspect of yourself.
You want a costume that is out of the box and unique but not taking the identity of a different culture. Stop and think about if your costume will offend anyone and if it does, then try something else. It is possible to have fun while also being respectful of everyone else.
Photo Credit / Breitbart
