I took my five year old daughter shopping for Halloween costumes yesterday. Our choices were: any of the Disney princesses, Hannah Montana, slutty princess, slutty witch, slutty pirate wench, or slutty vampy-looking-non-descript-slutty-girl. Did I mention my daughter is five?
I am far from the perfect mother. Heck, I procrastinated on buying the costume until just days before the school parade. And I am far from the perfect feminist mother. After all, I let my daughter play with Barbies and watch Disney movies. But I do talk to her about the sexism and commercialism these brands promote. My lectures go right over her head and she usually responds with, “Mom, you’re weird.” But I am hopeful they will eventually sink in.
I see Hannah Montana on the Disney channel. I know that sexualization of young girls is pervasive in marketing and media. But I just assumed that as a mother I wouldn’t have to deal with that until my daughter was a tweener. But five? Why? Who buys these costumes?
This. Is. Not. Cute. (Click on the story headline to see images.)
And. This. Is. Not. Necessary. 
I left the Halloween store one part disgusted by the oversexed images of the little girls on the costume packaging and one part furious that girls are given such poor choices at such an early age. Little ladies, you can be a princess if you are pretty, perfect and blonde, or you can be a wench, if you are brunette and a little bit wicked.
Let little girls be little girls. And help them see that, when the time is right, they will grow up to be more than just naughty or nice.
Epilogue: My daughter decided to dress up as Daphne from the Scooby gang –we bought a wig, a shift dress and some groovy accessories. I tried to persuade her that Velma was the better choice; she’s smarter. But, alas, I am fighting a powerful media message that tells her looks trump all.
Brooke:
Thanks for commenting. I understand where you are coming from – adults assign sexual attributes to kids’ bodies. Shoulders are shoulders- not erogenous zones. But I am talking about something more than that (perhaps not as clearly as I hoped). It’s not just about showing skin – stomachs or shoulders-it’s the idea the costumes convey the message girls should look pretty, cute, and yes, in some cases, sexy on Halloween. It’s all about the looks. Show me the iParty stocked with costumes of scientists, astronauts, green faced scary witches, etc in the girl aisle. You won’t find them. And when you look around at the images of the hyper-sexualized images of women the media bombards us with, you see these costumes for what they are – a jumpstart on telling little girls it’s all about how they look.
What I saw in the stores this Halloween: http://helloladies.com/2011/10/sluts-r-us-part-ii/
There’s nothing wrong with those costumes. =/ Look, I’m extremely feminist, but we need to get over the notion that women’s bodies are more sexual than men’s bodies. If a little boy wanted to be shirtless for Halloween so he could be the Hulk, you would most likely think it’s cute. But you are so disapproving of that pop star costume, which covers every inch of skin except the stomach? What is so sexual about women’s stomachs? Why is it okay for a man to reveal his stomach, but not a woman? Why are women’s stomachs so much more “sexual” than men’s? What is wrong with a little girl wearing that tube-top pirate dress? Just because it reveals her shoulder’s? She’s a KID. There’s nothing wrong with that. NONE of those costumes would be slutty if a teenager or adult wore them, so why would they be slutty if a kid wore them?
Women’s bodies are so sexualized these days, and it’s not the “slutty” Halloween costumes that are doing so. It’s people like you who think these costumes are so disgusting and wrong just because they reveal shoulders/stomachs/arms, which are perfectly acceptable for boys to reveal. Reminds me of a story where my friend got in trouble at school when she was about 8 years old for wearing a spaghetti-strap tank top. The principal (male) actually told her, “Nobody wants to see that.” These people are CHILDREN. There is nothing sexual about their bodies. There is nothing wrong with a woman’s stomach that isn’t wrong with a man’s stomach. I am so sick of the double standard; feminists should be trying to eradicate it, rather than perpetuate it, as you’re doing with this article.
[...] trend in Halloween costumes for young girls is disturbingly skin-baring and over-sexualized. Girls as young as elementary school age can choose between outfits with short skirts, baring their [...]
Lauren, It’s not about arms and legs. It’s about the messages these costumes send our girls: that pretty/pleasing to the eye trumps all else. Cheerleaders in leather pants, pop stars in tight skimpy tops, pirates with lace up bodices. That’s Hollywood and Madison Ave’s portrayal of girls. It’s not a healthy one.
I really don’t think those are sexual costumes… it’s kind of dumb how you assume they are just because they’re showing their arms and legs. big deal. anyone who thinks these are sexual costumes really has problems. not trying to be rude, but they’re kids. let them have fun once in an entire year. My daughter was the pirate and no one found it sexy. It was cute and fun for her.
Both posts are original content. Many people wrote about this.
This is actually a copy of another website or they copied you!
http://www.apparenting.com/the_challenge_of_finding_appropriate_girls_halloween_costumes.html
DON’T LIKE IT? DON’T BUY IT!
Thanks for commenting.
This is unbelievable…many thanks for posting it!