How to Not Ruin Halloween

Written By: Leela H.

Edited By: Happy J.

It's Spooky season here on the GrapeVine and one of the things we’ve been talking about is how to make sure you aren’t being offensive with your Halloween costumes. Halloween is a holiday where anyone can be anything, and the boundaries of what is socially acceptable to consume are decreased momentarily. So in theory Halloween should be a fun holiday for everyone – especially those hoping to eat their body weight in candy – but people should be willing to ensure it is a safe environment for everyone. We should all try our best to ensure we are being as supportive and inclusive as possible. Unfortunately, year after year, there has been an onslaught of racially insensitive and religiously crude costumes. So to make sure there are enough reasonable alternatives I have decided to compile a shortlist of fun, non-racially offensive costumes, some that should definitely be avoided, and some guidelines to make sure you don’t offend anyone.

Fun Costumes for Everyone:

1. Vampire

   1. Get a black cloth and tie it around your neck

   2. Wear a foundation shade lighter than your natural skin tone

   3. Get fake teeth or two marshmallows for fangs

2. Werewolf

   1. Literally whatever you want to wear + messy hair

3. Frankenstein

   1. White lab coat

   2. Goggles or glasses

4. Frankenstein’s monster

   1. Green body paint

   2. Clothes you don’t mind getting green foundation on

5. Ghost

   1. White sheet

   2. Black marker circles for eyes

6. Slutty [insert animal, object, and/or profession]

   1. Animals: slutty outfit + animal ear headband

   2. Profession: regular clothes for that profession but short

7. Angel

   1. Yellow headband for a halo

   2. White dress

8. Devil

   1. Red headband with horns

   2. Red and black outfit

9. Decade Dress

   1. Borrow one of your parent’s old outfits

10. Among Us characters

    1. Wear a hoodie backward, so the hood covers your face

    2. Put a mask over your face

11. Popular franchise characters like Han Solo or Rey

    1. Depends on the character, but use the accessories that character has

12. Robot

    1. Cardboard box with straps

Costumes people shouldn’t wear if they do not belong to the race of the character:

1. Jim Crow (black caricatures or any kind of black face)

2. Pocahontas

3. Exotic [insert race] person

4. Native American leaders

5. Geisha

6. Calavera (Day of the Dead)

7. Gypsy/Romani

8. Nazi officer

9. Muslim Terrorists like Bin Laden

10. Voodoo Priest/Priestess

11. Charlie Chaplin without a bowler hat (Hitler)

Obviously there are other offensive costumes, but if you’re worried that the costume you picked may offend someone then you can always take the following steps to make sure:

• If the foundation shade for the costume is one that naturally occurs within the human race outside of +/- 2 shades of your natural skin color, then you should probably change

  • There’s nothing wrong with wearing special effects makeup to transform yourself into a character that is described as grey, blue, green, or another otherworldly color. But if the color matches an actual human race it may offend someone.

• If it was a historic caricature or a sore point for a persecuted group, then you probably should NOT wear it

• If the costume is a religious or cultural artifact for another group, like the Pope or a Shaman, then just don’t

• Most importantly, if you think your costume may offend someone from a particular race it’s best to err on the side of caution and not wear it or you can ask a friend from said culture if they might find it offensive

Best of luck and have a spooky Halloween!