Persons of heavy ethnic descent, how do you feel about halloween and peoples over all lack of compassion towards certain costumes?

Doesn’t bother me in the least. Abolish Halloween. Problem solved.

I am wondering what “heavy ethnic de[s]cent” means. How is one ethnic descent heavier than another?

@Jeruba , heavy ethnic descent would be one that is generally stereotyped. Meaning if you are a white woman (even if you are Polish) you are most likely less stereotyped than the black woman next to you or the Arab woman across from you.

I thought of one year going out as a klansman, but I don’t think anyone would get the joke, being, you never knew who was under those white robes.

It’s no worse than the current fad of people dressing up like blood thirsty, raping, thieving criminals called Pirates and calling it fun.

It’s an interesting question to me, and one I’m dealing with myself, as a parent (though not a ‘heavily ethnic’ person, myself). I’m a little uncomfortable about it, to be honest, but I try to handle it as well as possible. Several years ago, my youngest child went trick-or-treating as a Geisha. She was a little girl at the time. I worried a bit about it, but let her do it.

This year, one of my girls is dressing as a Native American. She’s old enough to understand cultural sensitivity, so I had a talk with her about being very respectful in her actions while dressed in this costume. About not perpetuating any negative stereotypes. She gets it, I think, and will behave appropriately. I hope.

Halloween is not a time for political correctness.

I think that campaign is great. Wearing cultural dress as a costume tends to be disrespectful and contributes to the objectification of a cultural group.

That’s not to say traditional clothing should be off-limits to people of other ethnic or cultural backgrounds: there’s a kimono club at my university, but when the members wear kimono they don’t treat it like a costume, plus they have taken the time to learn about its cultural significance. So often in Halloween this is not the case: it’s treating as a joke something that is of value to ethnic minority groups, who not only still exist, but often exist as second-class citizens.

I am especially concerned by the popularity of Native American war bonnets, which actually carry great religious importance, and should only be worn by a man who has earned it.

I’m about as white as they come, but I still have something I would like to say.

Should Arabian people not be super offended at this campaign? is it not insinuating that suicide bombing is Arabian culture?

What if instead of saying “I’m dressed as a Mexican” people said “I’m dressed as a Mexican stereotype”. Would that not solve the problem?

The hotel I work at has “British fancy dress night”, a night when all the Spanish staff dress up as British tourists from the 70’s. Personally, I can’t see a problem with any of it.

I think fictional serial killers like Michael Myers/Jason Voorhees would be aghast at the thought of their identity being hijacked in such a way. I mean, the give me some candy coz I look spooky vibe just ain’t working. More like “Give me your fucking head on a plate or i’ll slaughter ya daughters!!” Someone’s gotta support these maniacs, it’s getting out of control man ;¬}

It’s kind of interesting. I come from a Mormon background. My relatives, although they re not “heavily ethic”, they certainly have a distinct culture and have gone to great pains to set themselves apart. They had no problem with having their kids dress up as pioneers, etc. However my LDS friends from the main line denomination (Latter Day Saints) would probably take exception to having kids dressed up as “sister wives” or that sort of thing. They’re definitely not thrilled with the Sisterwives TV show and its portrayal of “Mormon life”.

Heavy ethnic descent?

What the heck is that? Everyone is from “heavy ethnic descent”.

I think there are plenty of ideas for Halloween costumes that would not offend any ethnic group.

@marinelife I explained what I meant further up. Jesus folks, sorry for not wording things more clearly…..I can’t believe though that pointing out something like “heavy ethnic descent” is more important than answering the question. Did you look at the link and see the campaign? Of course there are options, many options for non-offensive costumes but that is not what I was hoping to discuss.
Sorry. Perhaps the question should come down and I can re-word it better so that we can focus on what really was intended.

You’re supposed to be ghoulish on Halloween and blend in with the dead that walk the earth. I never understood those types of costumes anyway.

I’m not offended by costumes. They are, after all, costumes. If someone in a costume acts in an offensive manner that is what I’ll react to. Not the way they are dressed.

It’s Halloween, FFS!! People dress up as all sorts of things that could offend a wide variety of people. This political correctness that we’re all supposed to conform to is pure bullshit and is going entirely too far.

Let me just add that if a black friend dressed as a clansman and was carrying a noose, I’d laugh my ass off. Or if an Arab dressed up as a stereotypical white male and wildly exaggerated the stereotype… I’d laugh my ass off. I think a lot of people of “ethnic” origin bitch about being offended just to get attention.

This campaign actually really pisses me off, not because I think they’re necessarily wrong, but because I think they’ve done a piss poor job of stating their case as to why they might be right. They didn’t do any explaining, they went the “bumper sticker” route. They had this wonderful chance to examine all these questions, and they didn’t. For example:

Are costumes, by nature, mocking and derogatory?

If so, then are any costumes ok?

How does these particular costumes imply that they are representative of that culture? Couldn’t the Islamic terrorist be going not as an Arab, not as a Muslim, but as an Islamic extremist terrorist? And is it ok to go as an Islamic extremist terrorist? Why is the geisha costume apparently of all Asian culture, and not just of geisha? If someone who spent their dissertation learning all about a specific Native American tribe goes in a historically accurate costume, is that ok? When kids dress up in cowboy outfits, do I get to be offended because I live in the southwest, and even though no one here ever dresses like that, they’re somehow stereotyping the culture that once was here? And the African American woman with the vampire – I’m confused, because it would seem that the costume was for being a vampire, not a black woman, so is she objecting to a black woman being on the cover, or to having her blood sucked by a vampire (and isn’t objecting to being turned undead by a vampire an objection all people have, not just black people?), or to the representation of vampires? What if I go as a medieval knight – is that “my” culture, so it’s ok (and why is it ok to go as my culture, but not someone else’s? Does that not defeat the entire point of Halloween?), or are the Middle Ages so far removed from today’s culture that it no longer is my culture (and that’s why people feel so comfortable criticizing it, because they don’t see it as a criticism of themselves)?

Does the existence of a specific culture indicate that there are costumes to be had? If you dress a certain way every day, or perhaps only on Saturday evenings, or once a month on Fridays at that one club, to identify yourself as part of a specific culture, aren’t you in fact creating a costume?

Why stop where it does? Why not include witches – for Wiccans, who can claim “this is my culture, not a costume; this is not who I am”, and those who do not identify as witches but will be identified by others (like Santeria)? Why not include sci-fi alien races – a huge chunk of sci-fi seems to be saying “don’t be so quick to hold up humans over other species; it’s racist”, so maybe Klingons aren’t ok? If I dress up as a cat, can my cats not claim “We’re a species, not a costume”? Could not ghosts (whom many believe in) be offended by their representation in costumes? I’m not being facetious or satiric or hyperbolic, I’m actually totally and 100% dead serious. If the entire basis for this campaign (and I don’t know that it is, because like I said, my objection is that they haven’t made an actual argument) is that these costumes “Other” these races and ethnic groups, then why is it ok to Other these other groups; is the problem with Othering that it’s Othering or that it’s being done to you, personally?

I think there’s a HUGE discussion there. I would love to have this discussion. I would love to know how to be more sensitive to other cultures while still acknowledging the existence of distinct cultures, I would love to know how to thoughtfully critique other cultures in a manner that is not considered arrogant or imperialistic or privileged or ignorant. I would love to know how my Privilege fits into all this, and how other privilege fits into this (how would this conversation be different in Thailand? South Africa? Argentina?). But they haven’t helped me at all with that, they are only preaching to the choir; there is no way for anyone who doesn’t already think this way and see this way and have the same exact thought process to come on board with this campaign.

@judochop, I don’t think my question and @marinelife‘s is beside the point at all. I think it’s right at the center of the point. Are some ethnicities somehow more entitled to protection than others? What if I don’t like the idea that my ethnicity is considered “light”? Is it less real than anyone else’s? less authentic? less historically downtrodden? Whose ancestors have never been downtrodden at one time or another?

Perhaps what you mean is not so much that a given culture is stereotyped (does anyone really think that all Asians are geishas? come on!) as that the culture has visibly recognizable features that can invoke the culture even when worn by nonmembers. I can put on a sari and it will be recognized as a sari and be seen as invoking the culture of India whether or not I look like an ethnic Indian, whereas the U.S., for example, has no so-called national costume.

It seems to me that if a young man holds up a photo of a man in a serape, wearing a bandito mustache and “riding” a donkey, and he states “This is not who I am,” he is only stating the obvious because he is not wearing a serape and a bandito mustache and riding a donkey. It seems to me that he must first claim identity with the image before he can disclaim it, or else why isn’t he holding up the picture of the geisha? That’s not who he is either. Why aren’t they all holding up pictures of a Scottish highlander in full tartan garb or a Russian Cossack or the queen of England or a Maori warrior and saying “This is not who I am”?

Maybe because we would all say “Of course not—obviously”? Just as we would to the pictures they are seen holding now. They’re the ones claiming the association by repudiating it.

If an ethnic identity is so heavy that a given person feels he or she must bear the presumed burden of the entire ethnicity, stereotypes and all, I don’t really see why that is anyone’s choice but his or her own.

The idea of a costume is to dress as something other than what you are. Is everything except fictitious and nonhuman beings supposed to be off limits?

@ucme I am with you friend, and I support them as well. :)

Cool question, but one I’ve never given much thought to. Before I die, I wanna dress as a pregnant nun for a Halloween party or something. It’s not some message I’m trying to get across or some insult I wanna throw. I just think it’s original and funny. And it’s gonna happen. If actual nuns saw me dressed like that though, yeah, I see what you’re getting at. But Halloween is supposed to be about fun.
Speaking of nuns, when I first moved to Winnipeg, we stayed in a convent for a few weeks, until the house my dad got was getting ready. We made good friends with some of the nuns, and regularly went back for visits and all. The convent gave out candy on Halloween, and they didn’t seem upset whatsoever to see me dressed like a witch.
Then again, little girls going as witches, at least in my time, was pretty normal and expected. Someone dressed as an Arab with bombs strapped to them, is something I’ve never seen. And my witch example doesn’t really answer the whole bit you got about stereotypes, but it’s the closest I can think of while having no alternative experience to get closer to the subject at hand.

Anyways, I wouldn’t feel offended or anything if some kids show up next week dressed as French mimes. :D I should also go to a party as a zombie mime some day.

@augustlan Re your daughter dressing as a Native American, did you mean you did not want her behaving as if she owned a gambling casino? In America these days owning a gambling casino on Indian lands and being astute in business are as much a “stereotype” as a headband and hatchet. More so, in fact, and more power to them. Stereotyping is very much in our heads. (And those that are making the bucks with casinos, proceeds from which are not taxed, don’t seem to much care whether you call them Indians or Native Americans)

@Symbeline I had a feeling your support could be counted on, good stuff!