OK, maybe it’s not really “new”, but it’s a trend I’ve noticed during the past several years…
At some point–after I became a married man and father, unfortunately–Halloween somehow made the transformation from a holiday where children dressed up in costumes and went door-to-door innocently soliciting candy from their neighbors…to an occasion for women to dress up in revealing costumes and appear as if they were soliciting themselves. I offer exhibit A, a few selections from this website (and these are only but a few of the costumes available–there are countless others):
(A sexy Wookiee? Really? Not that I’m objecting, mind you… As a heterosexual male and a self-admitted Star Wars geek, I can’t deny the allure of that costume. But I still can’t help but wonder about the origins of a slutty-looking Wookiee/human hybrid… How did that happen? Is she the love-child of a desperate and awkward one-night stand between Chewbacca and Princess Leia while Han Solo was frozen in carbonite?)
I digress…
Before I continue, however, let me please add for the record that I do NOT in any way, shape or form object to beautiful women dressing up in revealing costumes such as these for my visual appreciation. In fact, I will go so far as to state for the record that I strongly support such things.
However… What I do object to is the misleading and unrealistic expectations that are created by this trend.
The fact of the matter is, the costumes on that website look like standard attire at the Playboy Mansion, and a very small percentage of women who actually purchase these costumes will look the way the models do in the photographs. Not all women look like Playboy centerfolds or catalog models, obviously; and that is not my expectation. But these costumes will make many women feel like they should look like the models on that website. And this is yet another example–along with countless others–of advertisers and Hollywood creating unrealistic expectations for women (and men, too) when it comes to their appearance, making them feel insecure about themselves, so they’ll spend money on the latest fashions and gimmicky exercise equipment. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with diet and exercise as a means of promoting health and self-confidence. But, even so, chances are that diet and exercise will not be sufficient to make most women look like the models wearing the aforementioned costumes. No doubt those models enjoyed the benefit of professional hair and make-up artists as well as a little digital retouching. I submit exhibit B for your consideration:
These unrealistic expectations created by advertising only serve to skew the average woman’s perception about her appearance and diminish her self-esteem, making it more difficult for women to appreciate themselves for who they are. And if they are unable to appreciate themselves, how can they reasonably expect to be appreciated by someone else?
As I already stated, I admire the sight of a physically attractive woman just as much as the next heterosexual guy. But there is so much more to a woman than her appearance. Most men, like myself, are rarely (if ever) sought after by women that look like supermodels, and we are usually content to receive the attention of a woman whose photograph may never grace the cover of a magazine–as long as she has a genuine personality, reasonable intelligence, and common interests. Sure, if I were at a Halloween party and I spotted an attractive woman wearing a revealing costume, I have no doubt my eyes would wander toward her. But I also have no doubt that if at that same party, I had the pleasure of meeting an average looking woman wearing an unremarkable costume who demonstrated self-confidence, an engaging personality, and a sense of humor, my eyes would have no reason to wander anywhere else.