Outrage over Halloween costumes

[Beerina]

It started with a post about how "cis men" should not dress in "drag" for Halloween because it is apparently offensive to the trans community and is an insult to femininity. Nevermind that drag, trans, and femininity are all totally different things!

Now I'm seeing dozens of examples of the same thinking applied to every possible ethnic/cultural/identity label imaginable.

All the while, nobody seems even remotely aware of the Celtic/Gaelic festival of Samhain ("Summer's End") or its equivalents. So here we are, complaining about the erasure of cultural identities and disrespect for sacred traditions...while totally disregarding the day's origins as being centered around ancestral worship and offerings of a portion of the bounty of your harvest to secure good fortune through the dark months of winter.

Apparently it is ok to turn reverence for the dead into a giant peackock semi-anonymous hook-up mating ritual, but wearing a sombrero or dressing up as a geisha is off-limits.

DISLCAIMER: There is such a thing as "too far" such as Arabic suicide bomber costumes or black face. Also, while I do have Irish ancestry (and seem to have inherited almost all of the superficial traits of such), I'm not actually upset about Halloween. I just despise selective outrage and tribalistic declarations of one's own identity as sacrosanct while totally silent about the same offenses against others.

This is patently silly. Trans men have no exclusive claim on dressing up like a woman. Either:

A. Women could switch it around and say trans men have no right to dress like a woman, either. In other words, real women own being a woman, or
B. Trans men are women, as they claim, in which case they have no right to tell men that men cannot dress as women for fun and profit.

And the second part about feminism is ridiculous, too, because men get to comment on women, and vice versa, by dressing up in exaggeration.

A wise man once said, "You, too, get to be poked fun at."

 

[sadhatter]

Ah, yes. My mistake. You have to punch up, not down. Kind of screws over the concept of equality, doesn't it?

And nonsensical as hell.

In x number of years if things go the way the sjws want then they will be the dominant culture, then by their logic we will have to make accommodations for and kiss the butts of racist douche bags.

It literally ensures that we will never actually learn to understand each other and get along. Instead differing extreme viewpoints will get their turns to **** up the world till the end of time while everyone becomes more insular.

 

[Belz...]

And nonsensical as hell.

In x number of years if things go the way the sjws want then they will be the dominant culture, then by their logic we will have to make accommodations for and kiss the butts of racist douche bags.

It literally ensures that we will never actually learn to understand each other and get along. Instead differing extreme viewpoints will get their turns to **** up the world till the end of time while everyone becomes more insular.

Oh, absolutely. SJWs do nothing but divide based on race, which is more than a little ironic.

 

[CriticalThanking]

I usually go as a werewolf. It's not a full moon. No cultural complaints yet.

 

[Dr. Keith]

I like costumes. They say a lot about the person wearing them.

I had a "friend" wear blackface to a costume party I was hosting and another friend was outraged. The outraged asked me if I was mad, and honestly I wasn't. I had always considered the "friend" a bit of a jerk, but it would have been socially awkward for me not to invite him. Now, everyone else was seeing him as a jerk and I couldn't have been happier. Made my life much easier.

 

[Belz...]

I usually go as a werewolf. It's not a full moon. No cultural complaints yet.

#notallwerewolves #werewolflivesmatter

 

[Vortigern99]

I agree with the OP on this, all the way. Further, I believe that all cultures/ethnicities/so-called "races" (whatever those are, exactly) should be available to all persons globally as festival/seasonal/holiday costumery, without risk of inciting self-righteous reprisals that infringe on an individual's right to dress as he or she pleases. That includes blackface, brownface, whiteface, yellowface and pinkface, dresses for men and suits for women, native garb (of whatever culture or continent), and mockery of all conceivable varieties.

I mean, do we live in a free society, or do we not?

 

[bytewizard]

For the average white male, the perfect Halloween costume:

Blackface
Dress and makeup as a woman, most importantly, wear comfortable shoes.
Hire some sleazy looking white guy, dressed as an attorney, carrying a briefcase, to tag along.
Walk the pothole filled streets of New York until you trip in one, making sure your attorney is watching.
Feign injury.
Change shoes to 6 inch high heels.
Dance the night away.
Go mountain climbing the next day, maybe jump some rope or break dance.
Imitate a female voice and call Al Sharpton, pretending to be his daughter.
File $5,000,000 lawsuit against the City of New York.
Happy Halloween.

 

[Belz...]

I agree with the OP on this, all the way. Further, I believe that all cultures/ethnicities/so-called "races" (whatever those are, exactly) should be available to all persons globally as festival/seasonal/holiday costumery, without risk of inciting self-righteous reprisals that infringe on an individual's right to dress as he or she pleases. That includes blackface, brownface, whiteface, yellowface and pinkface, dresses for men and suits for women, native garb (of whatever culture or continent), and mockery of all conceivable varieties.

I mean, do we live in a free society, or do we not?

But... but!! Some people are offended by that!!!

 

[Vortigern99]

But... but!! Some people are offended by that!!!

Their being offended offends me. /stalemate

 

[cullennz]

I agree with the OP on this, all the way. Further, I believe that all cultures/ethnicities/so-called "races" (whatever those are, exactly) should be available to all persons globally as festival/seasonal/holiday costumery, without risk of inciting self-righteous reprisals that infringe on an individual's right to dress as he or she pleases. That includes blackface, brownface, whiteface, yellowface and pinkface, dresses for men and suits for women, native garb (of whatever culture or continent), and mockery of all conceivable varieties.

I mean, do we live in a free society, or do we not?

So one of the twin towers with a plane flying into it?

 

[Dr. Keith]

So one of the twin towers with a plane flying into it?

I think this should be allowed just so that such people may freely identify themselves. The same reason I would never ban swastikas or confederate flags.

ETA: If I had the body I would certainly try to pull of a Ru Paul costume. But alas, George Castanza is more fitting.

 

[TragicMonkey]

I agree with the OP on this, all the way. Further, I believe that all cultures/ethnicities/so-called "races" (whatever those are, exactly) should be available to all persons globally as festival/seasonal/holiday costumery, without risk of inciting self-righteous reprisals that infringe on an individual's right to dress as he or she pleases. That includes blackface, brownface, whiteface, yellowface and pinkface, dresses for men and suits for women, native garb (of whatever culture or continent), and mockery of all conceivable varieties.

I mean, do we live in a free society, or do we not?

You do live in a free society, and you can dress up however you please. What you can't have, though is that magical immunity from criticism you are asking for. Dress as you please, and reap the consequences. If you're grown up enough to wear the costume you should be grown up enough to take the flak for it.

 

[Pup]

Some thoughts...

I want to convince my wife to dress up as a male-to-female transsexual. She can just wear her everyday clothes. Good? No good?

Is white southern-American an ethnic group? Is attacking us punching up or down, now that we've had our minstrel shows and lynchings, heck all our cultural background and peculiar institutions stripped from us? I'm thinking wide brimmed straw hat, white linen suit, carrying an empty set of chains and a pistol. If it would be okay for a Native American to wear warpaint and carry a bow and arrow if his ancestors actually killed whites, well, I've got the genuine ancestor card too.

Obligatory winkies, just in case:

 

[Thermal]

Some thoughts...

I want to convince my wife to dress up as a male-to-female transsexual. She can just wear her everyday clothes. Good? No good?

Is white southern-American an ethnic group? Is attacking us punching up or down, now that we've had our minstrel shows and lynchings, heck all our cultural background and peculiar institutions stripped from us? I'm thinking wide brimmed straw hat, white linen suit, carrying an empty set of chains and a pistol. If it would be okay for a Native American to wear warpaint and carry a bow and arrow if his ancestors actually killed whites, well, I've got the genuine ancestor card too.

Obligatory winkies, just in case:

I'll follow you around dressed as 'witness to a gruesome murder'

 

[bignickel]

Since Fox News owns the "War on Christmas", how about CNN grab the "War on Halloween"?

 

[Vortigern99]

I think this should be allowed just so that such people may freely identify themselves. The same reason I would never ban swastikas or confederate flags.

This. Somehow, in attending the same middle school together in Houston in the 80s, Dr. Keith and I have matched up more or less the same ideologically!

You do live in a free society, and you can dress up however you please. What you can't have, though is that magical immunity from criticism you are asking for. Dress as you please, and reap the consequences. If you're grown up enough to wear the costume you should be grown up enough to take the flak for it.

I think you misunderstood a nuance of my post, and inadvertently created a straw man. I'm not asking for "magical immunity from criticism"; I agree with you and Dr. Keith that allowing people to dress as they please broadcasts their biases for all to see and react to.

However, what I asked for was the freedom to dress in cross-cultural costumery "without risk of inciting self-righteous reprisals that infringe on an individual's right to dress as he or she pleases". That italicized phrase is key. I did not mean to include mere commentary -- spoken or written -- objecting to such costumes. Mere words don't infringe on an individual's right to dress as they please.

Harassment, however, does infringe on personal liberty. Shouting a person down, inflicting verbal abuse so obnoxious that the target cannot function in public, physical assault including trying to tear off the costume or remove the offending make-ups -- these are illegal behaviors which no reaosnable person should support. Yet in today's climate of uber-socio-political correctness and social justice warrior-dom, the danger is present that they will occur -- with the support of the crowd -- if a white woman shows up dressed as her favorite TV character who happens to be black, just to name one example.

In short: written or spoken objection, fine. Boycotting, protests, shaming, ostracizing -- all of these are reasonable tools with which to meet a perceived instance of cultural mockery of appropriation. Violence, harassment, career destruction or any behaviors which literally infringe liberties: not fine.

 

[xjx388]

It's hard to tell where the Poes are. I saw a flyer showing common costumes and how they are offensive and how kids in these costumes will be turned away:Soldier=promoting violence; Indian=appropriating culture; Pirate=glorifying rape culture; Superman=promoting "ableism"; princess=promoting objectification. That has to be a joke, right? If so, it's a pretty good satire on just how far gone our society is.

 

[Crossbow]

Whites don't have culture.

True story!

Whites are still picking up the pieces that were the product of that one Vanilla Ice song and the one Vanilla Ice movie.

 

[Vortigern99]

"Whites don't have culture" except in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Eastern Europe (too many to recall at the moment), Russia, and everywhere else with a majority pink-skinned population for the last several millennia...

... except the United States. Here "white" culture magically vanishes and is replaced solely by memes appropriated from all the brown, red and yellow people in the world.

It is known.