Halloween Costumes that are banned in schools

[Etsyturtle2]

It's funny they're banning Native American costumes when In kindergarten they made us wear paper bags with paper feathers and crayon zig zags while learning about "Indians".

[BubblyShell22]

In my kindergarten class, we dressed up as Pilgrims and had our own Thanksgiving feast. And there was one class in first grade who did a play about Thanksgiving and had kids who portrayed the Indians there. No one cooked up a fuss then. But again, people have to be stupid. This is America and that's the way our country is now. We're supposed to be free to do as we please, but that's not the case anymore with people kicking up a fuss about the dumbest sh*t.

[Guitar_Raph]

Sure, all these are for safety issues. I don't think of October 31 as Halloween, but of Nevada's statehood day (became our 36th state in 1864).

The Grinch & Scrooge stings Christmas & now Halloween. What's next, Thanksgiving?

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

Isn't Halloween supposted to look scary?

That's kind of the original tradition but the "rules" have long since been relaxed. Now it's just a "dress up and goof around" day. It's just supposed to be goofy and whimsical, really. It's generally looked at as a "scary"-themed holiday but mostly that's just ornamental anymore.

I honestly don't remember ever actually going as anything horror-themed. My wife and I were The Misfits one year, but otherwise not really. The earliest thing I can remember dressing as was He-Man when I was about 3. Since then I was Superman a couple times, Batman, Billy the Kid, a Ghostbuster a couple times, I was Hollywood Hogan a couple times, and Lobo I think only once. Not in any order, those are just the ones I remember.

I haven't really been as active in it since I've "grown up", not like when I was a kid. I was one of those kids who'd start planning next year's costume on Nov. 1. Now I'm like "Eh, it's whatever". My wife's way more into it though so she keeps us semi-active in it. She usually dresses up like Slash, King Diamond or Alice Cooper. That's been her gimmick since she was a kid, it's adorable.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

I dressed up as a vampire hooker once in high-school. And nobody batted an eye. Now it's come to this. Some years I dress as (*gasp*) a witch, a zombie, or a gothic fairy. This year, I'm going to be Mikey from TMNT. Yes, I'm dressing as a turtle. I've been a fairy, a princess, a cat, among others when I was little.

[BubblyShell22]

I was a fairy, a witch, a cat, and my last costume was Nala from The Lion King since I was obsessed with the movie. That year it was pouring rain and so we didn't do a lot of hunting for candy because we got soaked. That was the last year we did it and it was just my bro and me. My brother was a ninja one year and my sis was Mary from Little House on the Prairie.

[Refractive Reflections]

Originally Posted by BubblyShell22

And I agree that the movie TMNT costume is offensive as hell, but that whole movie franchise is offensive to TMNT.

That costume should be banned too right? ...I mean in this fandom-driven society nowadays, I'm sure there are a few who find it more offensive (since they identify more with that) than someone disrespecting their heritage/culture.

...As I was saying earlier, wearing a costume for Halloween is, by today's terminology and standards, is some form of cultural appropriation because someone is wearing a style of clothes/tradition that's outside of the garment's traditional use, or using it in a whimsical/humorous context.

Then again, in this multicultural nation (USA) an individual needs to ask themselves who do they identify with? ...I mean can anyone truly say they 100% identify and relate to one particular culture/subculture?

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

It's amazing how culturally one-sided some of those statements in the video are. Such as the one woman on 1:39 saying "You're not dressing up as a Viking or a Roman, those people aren't around anymore, and this is still very real to us..."
-----They may not be wearing the same clothes as their ancestors and the geographic nationalities have changed, but I'm pretty sure they still value and take pride in some of the customs and traditions of their ancestors. ...Wait a minute... that sounds familiar to what the video was just presenting...right?

[plastroncafe]

I think there's a very strong historical context that you're not addressing here:
The United States government did not sanction the extermination of the Vikings or the Romans.

I can't speak to the Vikings, but it's my understanding that the Romans of Classical Antiquity no longer exist, and it's very reason that Carolus Linnaeus used Latin for the binomial nomenclature that we still employ in biology to catalog living things.

Even the Catholic Church seldom uses Latin in their rituals.

[Candy Kappa]

No one goes Viking* anymore in Scandinavia and the Norse customs are either completely absorbed into Christianity and gotten a new coat of Christ-paint or is a relic of the Olden times the average layman wouldn't know the origins about, like there is no social construct to use Laurdag (Saturday) to bathe on, as it was the weekly bathing day.

Comparing Vikings to Native Americans are like Apples and Oranges

*Viking was a "profession" and a act (laying in wait in a bay to commandeer ships)

[BubblyShell22]

RR, I was joking about that TMNT costume though I still stand by the fact that the movie itself is offensive to TMNT history.

Honestly, I don't get what the big deal is. Halloween is all about having fun. If someone wants to dress up as an Indian with a headdress and all, why not? What's wrong with that? It's the same sort of PC bullsh*t that happens with football mascots and getting them banned because someone has a hair up their a** about it instead of just letting it go.

[shuriken]

Originally Posted by Leo656

That's kind of the original tradition but the "rules" have long since been relaxed. Now it's just a "dress up and goof around" day. It's just supposed to be goofy and whimsical, really. It's generally looked at as a "scary"-themed holiday but mostly that's just ornamental anymore.

I honestly don't remember ever actually going as anything horror-themed. My wife and I were The Misfits one year, but otherwise not really. The earliest thing I can remember dressing as was He-Man when I was about 3. Since then I was Superman a couple times, Batman, Billy the Kid, a Ghostbuster a couple times, I was Hollywood Hogan a couple times, and Lobo I think only once. Not in any order, those are just the ones I remember.

I haven't really been as active in it since I've "grown up", not like when I was a kid. I was one of those kids who'd start planning next year's costume on Nov. 1. Now I'm like "Eh, it's whatever". My wife's way more into it though so she keeps us semi-active in it. She usually dresses up like Slash, King Diamond or Alice Cooper. That's been her gimmick since she was a kid, it's adorable.

Yeah most of my costumes have been comic related. With Only generic Zombie and Frankenstein being the only "horror" themed costumes I've used.

[Refractive Reflections]

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

I think there's a very strong historical context that you're not addressing here:
The United States government did not sanction the extermination of the Vikings or the Romans.

I can't speak to the Vikings, but it's my understanding that the Romans of Classical Antiquity no longer exist, and it's very reason that Carolus Linnaeus used Latin for the binomial nomenclature that we still employ in biology to catalog living things.

Even the Catholic Church seldom uses Latin in their rituals.

...But even though Romans in the classical antiquity sense don't exist, wouldn't the culture still be a source of pride for those in the region because of its contribution to Western culture in general?

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

No one goes Viking* anymore in Scandinavia and the Norse customs are either completely absorbed into Christianity and gotten a new coat of Christ-paint or is a relic of the Olden times the average layman wouldn't know the origins about, like there is no social construct to use Laurdag (Saturday) to bathe on, as it was the weekly bathing day.

Comparing Vikings to Native Americans are like Apples and Oranges

*Viking was a "profession" and a act (laying in wait in a bay to commandeer ships)

Even though it was a profession, isn't it still somewhat offensive to make a caricature of that profession through a costume (seen as the "smelly barbarian") to represent Scandinavian culture though?

Originally Posted by BubblyShell22

RR, I was joking about that TMNT costume though I still stand by the fact that the movie itself is offensive to TMNT history.

Honestly, I don't get what the big deal is. Halloween is all about having fun. If someone wants to dress up as an Indian with a headdress and all, why not? What's wrong with that? It's the same sort of PC bullsh*t that happens with football mascots and getting them banned because someone has a hair up their a** about it instead of just letting it go.

That response about the TMNT costume had sarcasm...
I guess my underlying argument that I was trying to convey... was that whether the costume is about a culture or a profession, I assume there was originally some degree of pride in it. It's very easy to have a slippery slope argument as to just how sensitive society should be in an autonomous society (what should be legally banned) that prides itself in the freedom of expression, and how selective sensitivity can subtly enter society just as easily. Whether a costume is considered "offensive" or not, historically has been based on the tides of societal attitudes though.

[Prowler]

Okay, I'm not gonna read through 3 pages of the usual bickering, so I apologize if this has been addressed already but why are superhero and geisha costumes not allowed?

[Candy Kappa]

Originally Posted by Refractive Reflections

Even though it was a profession, isn't it still somewhat offensive to make a caricature of that profession through a costume (seen as the "smelly barbarian") to represent Scandinavian culture though?

Um, no. That caricature is widely used in Scandinavia as tourist souvenirs and isn't offensive, just historically incorrect.

Originally Posted by Prowler

Okay, I'm not gonna read through 3 pages of the usual bickering, so I apologize if this has been addressed already but why are superhero and geisha costumes not allowed?

I guess superheroes often have masks, it's obscuring a person's identity? Who knows.

But geisha costumes could be a very problematic hot potato, especially with America's history with "geisha girls".

[plastroncafe]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Okay, I'm not gonna read through 3 pages of the usual bickering, so I apologize if this has been addressed already but why are superhero and geisha costumes not allowed?

Answers to both your questions can be found in the very first post of the thread.

[Prowler]

Silly reasons. But everything seems to be offensive in the USA to some degree, so I'm not sure why I'm even surprised.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Only to some people. Honestly, I don't think I'd find any of those offensive. In poor taste, maybe, on some of them, but that's a different issue.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

Only to some people. Honestly, I don't think I'd find any of those offensive. In poor taste, maybe, on some of them, but that's a different issue.

Well, not so much the people itself, but more like some society and political sectors.

[BubblyShell22]

I certainly don't care what people dress as. As long as they have fun, that's all that matters as that's what the holiday's about. But there always going to be some people who will ruin that just like they ruin everything else. Makes me think of that South Park episode where Kyle's mom was offended by the fact that Kyle was playing Joseph even though he was Jewish.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Well, not so much the people itself, but more like some society and political sectors.

Not even everyone in those sectors, though- just some uber-extreme, over-sensitive members of certain groups/ethnicities/religions/whatever. Not ALL Native Americans are offended (or care enough to gripe about it) by costumes emulating their culture. Same goes for most other groups. It's mostly just the most militantly extreme and vocal members that do that sort of thing. Unfortunately, they tend to be the ones who get the most attention.