Mollie Paige: Slutty Big Bird, slutty bumblebee, slutty alien–the list goes on and on. Every girl who chooses to bare her midriff or where a tight pair of shorts this Halloween will most likely be deemed “slutty” in regards to her costume of choice. Well I for one am sick of reading articles that enforce body politics on women and are all around slut-shaming–especially from so-called ‘sexy feminists.’ Now I don’t label myself as a feminist, or anything else for that matter. This article is about my own experiences and personal outrage toward the hypocrisy surrounding ‘slutty Halloween costumes.’ For Halloween, I will dress as I choose–which just happens to mean showing a little skin–not because it makes me feel or act like a slut–quite the contrary–it gives me one night to feel confident in my skin. Every Halloween, like most, I take the opportunity to dress as something I’m not: body confident. It’s not even about getting validation from others; it’s about the hours of working out I do that will never be seen under normal circumstances. Knowing that I’ll be showing my stomach come October 31st motivates me to stay in shape and not eat an entire pumpkin pie for dinner, even though it’s oh so tempting. Finally it’s about that rush of adrenaline I gain from facing my own fears and shedding my self confidence issues, if only for one night.

Claudia McNeilly: Halloween is the one night a year that we can pretend to be anything we want to be. I think it’s not only depressing but demoralizing that while we have all the choices in the world, a lot of women choose to bare all in the hopes of feeling, like you said, confident. There is so much wrong with that statement that I don’t even know where to begin. If showing skin and parading around in underwear is what brings women confidence today then I think that’s a testament to our values and morals as a society. It speaks miles about the messages we have been fed and swallowed eagerly without thinking of their repercussions. If some women feel at their most confident while looking slutty, there’s nothing I can do about it. But personally, I feel at my most confident when I’m not being viewed as a sex object.

MP: Yes, dressing in this manner can be interpreted as provocative and will most likely warrant some unnecessary comments and come-ons, but that doesn’t mean my morals suddenly vanish. If I went outside topless, right now, deeming it a gesture of gender equality, so-called feminists would sing my praises. My sudden toplessness could incur those same types of inappropriate comments, yet I would still be seen as a strong, feminist figure. So, why the hypocrisy? If people want to comment, let them; it’s not going to affect myself or my choices, nor would I expect it to affect the choices made by other women who choose to show some skin for Halloween. You are who you are; shortening your skirt or showing your stomach isn’t going to change that. If you’re telling me that by dressing in a revealing manner I am asking to be seen as solely a sex object, then you’re no better than the people who say dressing this way is like asking for rape. It’s slut-shaming, plain and simple, no matter how you re-phrase it.
It’s hyporitical, especially for those who advocate Slut Walk (I’m looking at you ‘Sexy Feminist’). I wish that true feminists would instead advocate females dressing as they choose instead of body politicking and slut-shaming this Halloween.

CM: I’m not saying that you are asking to be viewed as a sex object by dressing slutty, I’m saying the world we live in views you as a sex object when you leave the house in a bra and underwear. It’s naive to think that just because you’re not asking to be viewed in this way, that it isn’t happening. But yes, adult women should be able to dress as they choose. Unfortunately, while I think the choice to go to a party in underwear and expect no one to say anything of it is both wrong and naive, it’s not only adult women who are dressing slutty. This phenomenon has trickled its way down to 12-year-olds. Companies are now marketing “Sexy ______” costumes to children! And, ultimately, Halloween is a children’s holiday. It is a children’s holiday which has been transformed into an excuse for women to parade around in underwear because it makes them feel “confident.”

Women can’t have their cake and eat it too. As women, we want equality, we want to be taken just as seriously as men, to be paid the same, and to be viewed as total equals. If this is the case, which I know it is, then we can’t expect to be given all of these rights while parading around in underwear and mouse ears. I’m not slut-shaming, I’m saying there is something fundamentally wrong with the fact that women today feel at their most confident when they are dressed like sluts. Confidence should come from our ideas, our successes, and our actions. It should not come from our corsets and fishnet stockings. I know that these “slutty” costumes aren’t comfortable or enjoyable to squeeze into, although women may make the argument that it’s something they “want to wear,” if these women were alone in their apartments they would not be wearing these costumes. Slutty costumes are worn for attention and approval, partly from women but mostly from men. This attention and approval is what gives women confidence, and that is, in my opinion, terribly depressing. Halloween is not the one night a year that women get the opportunity to feel comfortable in their own skin, every day is a new opportunity for women to feel comfortable in their own skin.