Your Halloween costume isn't funny, it's offensive.

I love Halloween. I love being creative and dressing up as my favourite characters or as my celebrity look-alikes. Especially with my ever-changing hair. I find that every year, I can dress as something different. A short black bob - Mia Wallace! Red hair and bleached eyebrows - Maxxine! Granted, deciding on a costume can be overwhelming based on the sheer amount of choice. But... that’s the point - there are so many options. So, why do some people continue to wear outrageously offensive outfits every year?

In the spirit of Halloween, I am going to look into some of these offensive costumes that I have seen people wear. Both online and in person, and discuss why you should stop wearing them completely.

Jeffrey Dahmer

Since the release of 'Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story' (featuring Evan Peters) in 2022, there has been a rise in people dressing as Jeffrey Dahmer for Halloween. Between 1978 and 1991, Dahmer killed 17 boys and men, mostly black and gay, by luring them back to his apartment with money or for sex. He would then drug them and strangle them, keeping body parts as souvenirs and taking disturbing photos of his victims.

With this in mind, it’s crazy to think anyone would find it appropriate or funny to dress as Dahmer for Halloween. But many do, including popular TikToker Jack Wright. In his now-deleted TikTok, he sports Dahmer-esque clothing (round-rimmed glasses and a white t-shirt) and jokes about psychopaths 'drinking milk by itself'. Unsurprisingly, the TikTok received major backlash. It also drew attention to the fact that online retailers like eBay and Amazon were selling costumes of Dahmer, and people were buying them. The public outrage resulted in eBay removing all Dahmer costumes from the site under their “violence and violent criminal policy”.

Evan Peters playing Jeffrey Dahmer in Netflix's Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

The Dahmer costumes make me think of a broader issue of the glamourisation of serial killers by the general public and by true crime fanatics. Their fascination with serial killers like Dahmer almost turns him into a character rather than a real-life murderer. On top of this, his murders are still relatively recent and the costumes are disrespectful to the families of the victims.

Terrorist

Terrorists don't fit into a singular group - they aren't linked to any single religion, race, or culture. Yet, rampant Islamophobia in Western societies means that terrorists are often associated with Middle Eastern or Muslim men. Costumes depicting a ‘terrorist’ usually include traditional Middle Eastern attire (Turbans, Keffiyehs, and Headscarves), military gear, and long fake beards. I have seen my fair share of 'terrorist' Halloween costumes, and each time, it takes me aback that someone can be so tone-deaf. (Note: if you’re dressing up as a shepherd, please keep your sheep on you at all times, or four drunk girls will try to get you kicked out of Wetherspoons thinking you’re racist). 

The portrayal of terrorists as Middle Eastern or Muslim men is incredibly problematic as it pushes the Western narrative that such groups are inherently violent and should be feared. It also ignores the fact that extremists from different backgrounds and ideologies have committed acts of terrorism. The Unabomber was a white man. I genuinely can't think of a world where dressing as a Muslim and calling yourself a 'terrorist' is not racist. It is not funny.

Chris Brown dressed as a 'terrorist' - Halloween 2012

Cultural Appropriation

Leading on from racially offensive costumes, we come to the classic variations of costumes that appropriate different cultures. From wearing Native American headwear to a sombrero with a comically large moustache - such offensive costumes became quite normalised to wear at Halloween. Granted, now such costumes are met with a much more negative reaction, but... some people continue to wear them and argue that they aren’t offensive.

Cultural appropriation occurs when certain elements from one culture are taken and used by someone of another culture with a lack of respect or understanding for that culture. Some people are simply ignorant of the fact that their costumes are offensive - they don't see the problem. Others argue that their costumes aren’t offensive because they have respect for that culture. But why would a Halloween party be the place to show this respect? At the end of the day, many of these costumes comically accentuate stereotypes of other cultures. That is just blatant mockery.

For other costumes that aren’t a direct mockery, such as the Native American headdress that was a hugely popular costume in the 2000s and 2010s, they are still offensive as they fail to respect the cultural significance of the attire. Why as a white girl from LA are you wearing traditional Native American clothing? Especially given the history of colonisation and cultural genocide of indigenous communities in America.

Whether you are just ignorant about the meaning of your costume or you think you are respecting the culture by wearing it - most of the time it is an offensive mockery and should never be worn.

'Sexy' Schoolgirl

The sexy schoolgirl costume has always been a popular Halloween outfit choice, but I think people have gradually come to realise how weird it is. The costume often consists of an unbuttoned shirt exposing a lacy bra underneath, a loose tie, a mini skirt, and knee-high socks (bonus points for having your hair in pigtails). Yet, minus the lacy bra, these items of clothing are all usually associated with young girls. Grown women wearing these costumes normalises finding school uniforms and young girls attractive, which is pervy. If you disagree, click here!

Final Thoughts

So, if all these costumes are so offensive, why do people continue to wear them each year? I think for some of them, people play into the idea that they have ‘dark’ humour (which is often just another way to be insensitive without taking any accountability). They think, ‘Yeah, I’m going as a serial killer, but I don’t condone their actions,’ or ‘I’m going as a racist character, but I’m not racist, so it’s okay’. Yet, by dressing in these costumes, you are lightening serious subjects and promoting harmful stereotypes. There is no ‘dark’ humour in this - it's ignorant, plain and simple.

For others, I think they genuinely don’t see it as wrong, or if they do, they simply don’t care. I’m sure many people dressing up as 'terrorists' in Muslim attire have been called out. But do they care? Many just laugh it off.

I think a standard rule for Halloween should be: if you’re unsure, just don’t wear it. You have so many options to choose from, so why choose something fucked? It's not funny or quirky. And if you can't think of anything else to dress as or you want to dress as something offensive anyway. Just fucking stay in.