With Monday being All Hallows Eve, also known asHalloween, controversy from various sources once again abounds.
There’s the tried
and true religious debate over how to celebrate a holiday with origins as old
as the Romans. Depending on your spiritual take, Halloween can be confusing
enough as there are more than a few controversial discussions going around.
Specifically, the
argument
this year against celebrating Halloween originates from, but is not limited to
Evangelical Christians.
Some churches use the holiday to emphasis continuous faith in the circle of life by having a harvest festival. Other churches hope to scare people into being faithful by hosting ‘Hell Houses” which depict the sins of the world.
This year, even the Church of Latter-day Saints spoke up about the holiday in a public statement regarding an event filer specifying children who attend church related Halloween parties are not to wear masks or dress in the manner of anothergender.
That means any females who want to be Harry Potter, or
any males who want to dress up like a mean mermaid from Pirates of the
Caribbean 4 should not trick or treat at this event.
But this protest from Ohio University students is a new
take on an old twist of Halloween controversy.
A student led, and University funded, group called
Students Teaching Against Racism (STARS)
As I peruse the posters in the campaign I understand the concern with at
least two, probably three of the photographed outfits. Frankly, there’s really never a good
time to dress in blackface or as a suicide bomber.
Do I find all of them racist, as the group’s student president or advisor suggest?
No. In particular, with the Geisha costume I question the inappropriateness as suggested
by the students.
In the spirit of the
quote by Charles Caleb Colton, “Imitation is the
sincerest form of flattery.” I
argue that culturally related costumes can compliment rather than
offend, as the students here suggest.
I dressed as a Geisha one year, when James Clavell’s novel “Shogun” was
made into a television mini-series.
My costume was made
from researching historically accurate Geisha customs. It provided me insight
into the Japanese history, especially of their treatment and expectations of
women during this time period.
I recognize the importance of understanding people as individuals and
respecting, not oppressing their backgrounds and heritage. I further believe
these students and others can be severely hurt by malicious stereotypes and I
hope their voices have and will be heard.
However, I do not agree with schools across the country saying the best manner
in which to share the message of “equity” in the educational system is to
remove all possibility of discussion surrounding costumes and why and how we
choose our Halloween alter-egos. In doing this, we remove all opportunity for creative and intellectual development, not only for students but for us all.
As a developing student affairs professional who is expected and challenged to be especially sensitive to and considerate of multicultural perspectives in higher education and beyond, Janella's timely article here gives me pause for reflection. At first glance it seems one can begin with the golden rule when giving this matter serious thought. For more detailed guidance, I found it helpful to read the Smithsonian Institution's tips to teachers in how to portray Native Americans accurately and sensitively (see: http://wintercounts.si.edu/html_version/pdfs/guidelines.pdf )and found that this advice can readily be applied to cultural Halloween costumes, in general.
ReplyDeleteA common aspect of Halloween-related cultural insensitivity is demonstrated by retailers and wearers choosing to sexualize just about every kind of culturally/ethnically traditional garb (see: http://www.teenagerie.com/2010/10/culturally-insensitive-halloween.html ). For those who are concerned or even outraged by such crass insensitivity, one can organize a protest. And protests can work; one organized on Facebook last year successfully persuaded Kohl's, K-Mart, and Sears to remove an offensive "Ghetto Fab Wig" (see: http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2010/10/kohls_pulls_its.phpm ).
For those who believe protesters doth take this issue too seriously, consider the point of view of this woman of color (see: http://loveisntenough.com/2006/10/31/why-my-daughter-will-never-dress-in-a-national-costume-for-halloween/ ).
As the father of an eight-year old daughter who absolutely loves Halloween dress-up and parties, I see no harm with such activities as long as multiple cultural perspectives traditions are very carefully considered first (in other words, doing research as a rule beforehand).
I read the article and in my opinion the costume portraying the Middle Eastern person with bombs attached to his body was in very bad taste. I think the costume is propagating hate toward Middle Eastern people and that is not fair. The Geisha girl costume is not offensive to me; however, I have limited knowledge about the history of Geisha women. Therefore, perhaps it offends some Asian/Asian American women, and if so, I think they should educate others about why it offends them. The only way we become aware of such issues is by learning of them.
ReplyDeleteToo bad for the elementary kids who are not allowed to dress up for Halloween; I remember as a child that Halloween was one of the best times of elementary school. The principal stated that for the kids who do not have a costume to wear it could be emotionally damaging. I can see that. Kids today tease each other in very hurtful ways. The child that doesn’t have a costume might get teased about being poor. Maybe teachers could somehow incorporate learning with making a costume or a mask. I could see it as even being an Art project –give the students the opportunity to create a mask or costume portraying their favorite super hero or cartoon character. Keep it fun!
I do commend the STARS group for speaking out against racism-that’s always a good thing. The comments following the article disturbed me. I think it displays Americans as insensitive ignorant people. Dressing up for Halloween is for fun; it saddens me that some people think it’s ok to dress up as another ethnicity to make fun of them or put them down. American adults need take accountability and set the example for the children. Irresponsible citizens might be the reason for Halloween being censored in public schools. -Interesting article Janella
I truly believe that the student group's heart is in the right place, and there is great value in educating people to be culturally sensitive; however, there really does need to be balance.
ReplyDeleteI get that some of the costumes mentioned in the article are farily clearly not good (really...someone would think it's at all funny to dress up as a suicide bomber?!?!?!), I do think that the American public has a tendancy to jump the gun and restrict the activity instead of allowing for public discourse on the issue. As Janella explained in her blog, when she dressed up as a Geisha one year, the experience she went through as she prepared her costume, was incredibly educational.
Thank you for your post Janella. Again, the first word that comes to mind is, "wow." I really do understand the need to teach people to be culturally sensitive. I also agree that dressing up as a suicide bomber is not in good taste. However, I do think that is presents a good time to sit with that person and discuss why their costume could offend others and open a dialogue to see what made that person think it was a good idea to dress up like a suicide bomber.
ReplyDeleteAs a society, we have become scared to have these important conversations and instead, we tell every to cease immediately. Halloween is meant to be a time for kids and parents to dress up and have fun. For those who do not like Halloween, then do not participate. Why though, does it seem that every social dilemma needs to be an all or nothing issue. I recently saw a poster that said, "don't like gay marriages, don't get one; don't like cigarettes, don't smoke one; don't like abortions, don't have one; don't like sex, don't do it..." and the list goes on. If people don't like Halloween, don't celebrate Halloween. Enough is enough. People need to have a little fun and learn to relax. We need to engage people in conversations and talk about things that are uncomfortable instead of just banning everything.
First, thank you for making a Harry Potter reference in your post. I'm sure it was just for me :)
ReplyDeleteI understand that we are trying to demonstrate understanding and appreciation of other cultures, but I don't see dressing as a member of another culture as offensive. I think Janella makes an excellent point that there's a way to respectfully embrace the culture of the person you are dressing as without mocking it. It's definitely important to help students understand that what they dress as can affect others and to be sure that they are being culturally sensitive if they choose to dress as someone from another culture.
In response to Halloween being celebrated in the halls compared to other holidays, I don't think it's right to celebrate Halloween which can be seen as either a holiday just to dress up or a day for devil worshiping and have to tip-toe around even saying Christmas around this time of year which is also seen now as just a Hallmark holiday for many and a religious observance for others. It all seems a bit contradictory.
We discussed this in our class on Saturday, so it was great to come across your post! I agree that if the costume goes to the point of mockery, then it should be considered offensive. One of the points that someone made was that what if a little girl's favorite character is Pocohontas? Is she mocking or being culturally insensitive to Native Americans? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteIt starts to become offensive, I think, when older children and adults wear the costume, and begin acting out the stereotypes of the costume, like mocking native dances, or whooping out war cries. Continuing along that line, part of our conversation centered on people's behavior when they are in costume. It's almost as if we don't have to play by the rules of society when we're in costume, that the disguise gives us license to act in ways that we would not normally act.
We also talked about the lack of appropriate costumes for women. Almost every costume out there is sexy this or slutty that, and I personally find that pretty offensive. Referring back to the previous statement, are we saying that the only persona that women want to portray when they put on a costume is a slut? Again, I think not.