Trick-Or-Treat.

Since its Halloween I thought it would be most appropriate to blog about costumes as a form of media. For this one day of the year, people are able to be whatever character, person, item, or thing that they choose to be. Costumes tend to further enforce stereotypes that society has created for men, women, race, and social classes.

Halloween costumes tend to sexualize women .This past weekend when I went to iParty, every females costume was either tight fitting, low-cut, or short. Theses costumes were extremely unrealistic and completely degrading for women. This relayed the message that woman were expected to look sexy and slutty on Halloween. Every year it seems that these costumes get tinnier and tinnier. Now granted, this isn’t saying that all women object to wearing skimpy costumes on Halloween, but it is interesting to notice the expectations of females that is portrayed through the advertising of such outfits.  Costume bags show model-like women wearing this outfits, creating that expected image of beauty and sexiness that advertisers hope to portray.  Male costumes on the other hand tend to display characters that are much more macho and “manly”. In retrospect, these costumes further exaggerate the stereotypes and expectations that society places on both men and women. Similar stereotypes can be found in television and newspapers as noted by Croteau and Hoyes (p. 212-214).

Nevertheless, costumes also allow people to defy such stereotypes and be whoever or whatever they want, without judgment. Costume opportunities are endless based on individual creativity. Regardless, advertisers tend to target and work-off of selling costumes that further enhance stereotypes because they know those costumes are likely to sell. This is similar to how television corporations tend to air shows that relay stereotypes because that’s what viewers find most enjoyable and relatable.