Halloween is around the corner … here’s your reminder that it’s easy to find costumes that don’t offend. (Photo by Juri Dagio)

By Juri Dagio | Staff Writer

Halloween is one of the most anticipated holidays of the year for young people. The idea of dressing up and pretending to be someone we aren’t, even for a day, sounds exciting. Even though it can be challenging to come up with a costume sometimes, people too often dress up in cringeworthy, offensive, and awful costumes. Even celebrities like Nicky Hilton and Ellie Goulding made bad decisions to dress up as Native Americans on Halloween years ago.

If you are looking for a list of what not to wear on Halloween, you have come to the right place. It’s all right to scare the children, but try not to offend the other adults in the room.

Ethnic and Cultural Stereotypes
When someone imitates a culture that is not their own, especially in an overexaggerated and “funny” way, it oftentimes comes off as offensive to other cultures. To avoid cultural appropriation, lose the sombrero hat and maracas, or the grass skirts and coconut tops. Paris Hilton and her sister Nicky dressed up as “sexy” Native Americans years ago, they were dubbed “racist” — well, because they are. To avoid misrepresenting certain cultures, people should be more mindful of what they wear.

Blackface
This unacceptable practice is about painting your face with a shade that is not your natural skin tone. Also, dressing up in costumes that portrays the stereotypical physical characteristics of other racial groups counts as blackface. Former NBC host, Megyn Kelly tried to justify that when she was growing up, it was okay for white people to dress up as black people for Halloween. Guess what, her whole show “Megyn Kelly Today” was cancelled. It’s 2023, don’t be like Megyn Kelly; ignorance is no excuse.

Transphobic Costumes
If you are driven by wanting to make fun of a group of people, to dress like the “Tranny Granny” or someone that you don’t identify as, don’t do it. The “Tranny Granny,” or originally sold as “Manny Granny,” is this year’s first transphobic costume that was made available at websites such as walmart.com and amazon.com. After receiving tons of complaints, the websites have decided to do the right thing (for once) and removed the controversial costume online. To dress up humorously as another gender, especially with gay/trans rights being questioned across the world, screams lack of awareness.

Objectifying Costumes
Apparently, it is a trend on social media nowadays to disrespect women due to the rise of the disputable media personality, Andrew Tate. Don’t be part of the trend; let your morality decide of your costume this Halloween. Anything related to making fun of a person’s body, clothing style, or carrying a female blow-up doll are all inappropriate.

Animal Cruelty
Animals have been used as accessories on the red carpet before. At the 2019 MTV VMAs, influencer Tana Mongeau and singer H.E.R. wore giant snakes on their shoulders. If you are thinking of dressing as them on Halloween, leave the living creatures alone and buy yourself an inflatable version instead of the living ones. Animals are in no place to be used in costumes; you don’t want PETA to come after you.