This Halloween season I feel like I saw more propaganda on the internet about choosing a costume that isn't "racist" or "offensive" than I ever have before. Now, I'm not saying that its okay to be genuinely racist. I would consider it to be in poor taste if someone wore a KKK costume or something involving lyncing. I also think its a bad idea to wear black face and dress like Aunt Jemima.
But this Halloween has left me more annoyed than ever. I have seen numerous "warnings" against dressing like a Japanese Geisha. People describe the Geisha costume as "Yellowface" because somehow they think that the Geisha costume mocks Asian people. They say the same thing about dressing like a Native American and wearing a headdress and face paint
I'm left wondering, since when did Halloween become a comfortable and inclusive Holiday? I think for most people Halloween means wearing a silly costume while you get drunk with your friends. Halloween has never been about promoting the civic good and fighting racism. Moreover, why are we attempting to "sanitize" Halloween. Halloween is about horror and gore. Feeling uncomfortable is the exact meaning of Halloween. Yet, I say this with a bit of irony because nobody actually takes Halloween seriously in that sense--at least, I thought nobody did until now.
