Halloween

Well, this is an unforeseen departure from our normal entries. Instead of the commentary on Fight Club that I was expecting, I'm writing about wanton Halloween costumes. Odd.

Now, I grew up in the country. Trick-or-treating for me and my brothers wasn't the affair that most of you probably remember from your childhood. We went to my grandparents and got donuts, we went to my aunt's house and got brownies, and we went to our neighbors (and by neighbors, I mean the only other house in sight) and got oatmeal cookies from Mrs. Schuck, and candy from Mr. Schuck as soon as her back was turned. We didn't put much into our costumes - I stole one of my dad's lab coats, filled the pockets with pens, and went as a nerd. When our parents offered to just give us candy each year instead of taking us out trick-or-treating, we accepted happily. So the costumes I've just seen, courtesy of the local costume shops' Halloween ads, are a bit of a shock. The most modest ladies costume I've seen yet, if worn in Brookville (the only town close to where I grew up that deserves the name) would cause people to assume that its wearer was a prostitute. As a matter of fact, any costume-wearing adult would be looked at oddly - Halloween is for kids, after all. I'd like to point out, therefore, that my credentials on this topic are nonexistent.

That said, the reason that the Samhein festival/All-Hallowed-Eve has turned into an excuse for women to dress immodestly is the same reason that Saturnalia/pre-Lent festivities (Mardi Gras) have turned into a topless bead-gathering contest, Yule/Sol Invictus/ Christmas has turned into a commercial exchange, and Valentine's Day and a hundred lesser holidays were invented. Humanity, as a rule, enjoys disobedience. Fight Club - knew I'd work it in somehow - contains a perfect example. Tyler is getting satisfaction out of causing trouble - fouling food, stealing clothes, and so on. Holidays seldom retain any significance other than a pre-approved excuse to act in a fashion that would never otherwise be acceptable.

Now, as to why women wear such revealing outfits and men as a rule do not (The reason there are no " sexy Freddy Kruegers" is that such a costume would be nausea-inducing) I am at somewhat of a loss. It could simply be common sense - the female costumes I've seen look cold, uncomfortable, and skimpy, while the men's costumes run from full-body suits to T-shirts saying "This is my costume." That hypothesis, however, falls when we realize that women are every bit as sensible as men, if not more so. It can't simply be a greater desire for attention - vanity is equal between the sexes, and besides, men are perfectly capable of ogling a girl wearing an Eskimo parka. Stephanie Rosenbloom, in an essay on this topic, suggests that it makes the girls feel independent and self-reliant - but I refuse to believe that so much of the population could be insecure enough to need to run outside in its underwear.

The explanation I favor is that this can be blamed on generalizations of those in the costume industry. Let's take Stan Smith, the costume designer. Now because "everyone knows" that girls care more about their appearance, Stan decides to make sure that his costumes will get attention. Of course, the best way to get a man's attention, as "everyone knows", is to use the inverse material-attention law (the amount of material in any garment is directly inverse to the amount of attention paid to female occupier of aforementioned garment). So, Stan makes sure his costumes are as close to lingerie as possible without breaking the indecent exposure laws. Men, on the other hand, as "everyone knows", just want to throw on a costume fast so they can, depending on their age, get to the candy or alcohol faster. So Stan makes costumes such as the beer can, slice of pizza, and Grim Reaper. (Women have a Grim Reaper costume too, of course, but...see for yourself. Male and Female.)

People keep buying them because that's what sold, and companies keep selling them because that's what sells. A vicious cycle, eh? So until those generalizations are realized to be true in percentile only, instead of universally true, this will continue.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to get a ninja costume.