Halloween Costumes Cause Controversy

The drawings above are examples of common costumes found in Halloween stores that might be seen as conveying harmful stereotypes and use culture as a costume. Many students are divided on whether or not these costumes are offensive.

As Halloween approaches, people everywhere are preparing costumes, candy and decorations to enjoy the festive holiday. However, in the past few years, problems have arisen with some costumes offending and perpetuating stereotypes associated with certain races, cultures and religions.

The Chatterbox conducted a survey on 379 WHHS students to find what students’ opinions about inappropriate or insensitive costumes were.

104 people, or 27.6% of those surveyed, believe that insensitive or inappropriate costumes are a problem in Cincinnati. Of the same group, 158 answered that they have seen such a costume in Cincinnati.

With the upcoming Boogie Bash, the annual seventh and eighth grade Halloween dance, the topic of insensitive costumes is very pressing for WHHS junior high students. In the survey, however, the results showed that around half of students believed there should be restrictions on “insensitive” costumes and half believed there should not be. The student body is almost evenly split on this issue.

In addition, when shown pictures of Halloween costumes that could be considered offensive, the results showed another similarly even split.

Students had three choices to describe what they thought of the costume when presented with its image; “very offensive”, “somewhat offensive” and “not offensive at all.”

When shown a picture of a costume of a Native American person that could be seen as cultural appropriation, 25.4% of students said it was very offensive and 44.4% said it was not offensive at all. There was a difference of 72 students between the two choices.

In an image of a man with a sombrero, poncho and two guns as a costume, which could be seen as perpetuating stereotypes of Mexican culture, 37.7% said it was very offensive and 33.2% said it was not offensive at all. These results also demonstrate the near even split of viewpoints on what is considered insensitive.

The final image and question contained an image of a man in a yukata as a costume, which is a traditional Japanese outfit. For this, 37.7% said this costume was very offensive and 39.5% believed this costume was not offensive at all. Again, the votes show an almost even split.

When buying or making a costume for Halloween, it is important to keep in mind that some people may find costumes offensive or insensitive and it can hurt a person, so it is best to stray away from anything that may be considered offensive by anyone.