“War bonnets are symbols of great respect in some Native tribes and men have to earn each and every one of those feathers; when some uneducated dude just dons a huge one because they think it’s funny/awesome, it’s disrespectful.”
The same could be said for a black belt in karate or a Girl Scout / Boy Scout uniform with badges or a Michael-Phelps-style chest of Olympic gold medals, yet I don’t see any pushback if kids (or adults) wear those costumes. Why do you suppose that is? Why do you suppose it doesn’t really make any difference if the wearer is “uneducated” about what it really takes to be a black belt, earn those badges or can’t swim a lick?
“I’ve seen so many costumes that genericize an entire culture: “Mexican,” “70s black woman”, “Native American princess,” “random Japanese woman in a kimono” (or worse, those parties that use racist slurs for costumes and hav people dress up like negative stereotypes).”
Whoa. There’s a huge distinction between a generic representation of a culture, and using a racist slur as a costume. A 70’s black woman is a representation of what many black women looked like during the 70’s (bell-bottom pants, polyester, gold chains, Afro hair) - just like a 70’s white woman is a representation of what many white women looked like during the 70’s (bell-bottom pants, polyester, gold chains, Farrah-Fawcett-style hair, etc.). Is it “racist” to acknowledge that many of those women wore Afro-style hair? How is that a slur?
“Yeah, I do feel kind of weird when I see a person who’s hair is not naturally afro-textured wearing an Afro wig for Halloween when they are not specifically dressed as someone. (Foxy Cleopatra or Pam Grier or Angela Davis costume? Awesome. “Generic black woman beacuse this is how their hair looks har har?” Ummmm…no.)”
Who are the new Halloween police who have decreed that a costume must be a representation of a particular person? And please - the people who are offended at the 70’s black Afro wig are going to be equally offended whether it’s a generic 70’s black disco woman or whether it’s Angela Davis specifically.
When I was a little girl, my mother made a Puritan costume (not Pilgrim - I know the difference!). I wore it and won some costume contest. It got passed on to my sister, my daughter and my niece and will maybe get to a female grandchild one of these days (or maybe a male one - who knows). What makes a Puritan costume non-controversial? Their clothing styles / choices were very important to them, too. Why is that not perceived as a slur? And why is it ok that it’s just “a little Puritan girl” - that it’s not a specific one? Where did THAT new rule come from?