As Halloween rolls around, Pinterest explodes with diy, do it yourself, costume ideas and multiple costume stores open up. As an active Halloween participant, I decided to shop around one of Halloween stores. No longer fitting into the kids costumes, I headed to the adult side of the store and I was surprised with what I saw.

I walked through isles and isles of just raunchy and sexualized costumes.  I could not believe what I was seeing! It seemed as though every step I took, the costumes would just get worse and worse. Some of these costumes involved “Sexy Chucky” for women and “Skeleboner” for men. It was rare that I could find a costume that was appropriate.

All of this got me wondering, what happened to Halloween? When did it become all about somebody’s sexual image? Even the classic doctor costumes were turned into gynecologists. I also saw on Pinterest, that even people who make their own costumes decide to go the “slutty cop” route.

I think that it is not right that in order to fit in during Halloween, women have to wear these revealing costumes and fishnet tights. Halloween should be about making funny or scary costumes and having fun with your friends. It should not be about seeing how making your costume so small, that you are almost wearing no clothes.

Wearing these sexualized costumes also puts you in a bad light. It makes you look less respectable. Could you imagine going up to your grandma, boss, or an administrator in a sexy skeleton costume? It would just be embarrassing.

I do understand that “Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girl can say anything about it” (thank you Mean Girls) and that it may be fun, but do you really want others to see you as a “slut”? The memories of Halloween do not just disappear. They carry over into the next day and month. And if you take and post pictures, then they could carry over into your career.

My advice this Halloween is to be smart with what you wear. Or instead of going to the Halloween store, make something yourself that is creative and that resembles you. For example, if you like The Walking Dead, then go to the Goodwill and create a Daryl Dixon costume. But most of all, make sure you are safe, smart, and responsible this Halloween. I witch you a spooktacular Halloween!