viz.

H/T: The New York Times

I found that I just couldn't resist finding some possible posting that connects to Halloween and it didn't take me long to stumble across an article in the New York Times that focuses on grade school guidelines for appropriate costumes.  Apparently several elementary and secondary schools across the county are urging (or requiring) students to limit their choice of costume to selections that are not scary, not offensive, not violent.  While it seems completely understandable to restrict students from wearing costumes that rely on offensive stereotypes, I wonder where these schools draw the line on what exactly is appropriate.  Restricting children's costumes raises several provocative questions: is Halloween a tradition that does/should celebrate horror?  Are children already exposed to too many violent images (in other words, is a zombie scarier than Grand Theft Auto)?  What should be the role of the parent in policing appropriate costumes?  the role of the school in policing appropriate dress?

The article includes the details of a memo circulated by Riverside Elementary School in Southern California elaborating on the parameters for costumes including "no costume should depict gangs or horror characters, or be scary" "no weapons, even fake ones" and "no fake fingernails."  This memo also suggested that no costume should be demeaning with respect to race, nationality, gender, or ability.  Now prohibiting fake fingernails seems less obvious to me, and I can't begin to know how exactly "scary" will be defined, but restricting costumes that are demeaning seems a no-brainer.  A quick scan of the collection of children's costumes online yields many ridiculous choices.  

Screen capture: HalloweenCostumes4Kids.com

The first website I looked at has an "Indian Running Bull" costume for young boys and Princess Jasmine from Disney's Aladdin for girls.  These costumes certainly have the Disney-esque about them but many scholars and critics have slammed Disney for its demeaning depictions of race, ethnicity, gender.  These costumes are not "scary" but I wonder whether we would really categorize them as "positive" (a costume characteristic called for by several Texas schools).  Are young children remaking themselves in the image of their favorite television character any less "scary" than ghosts, goblins, or ghouls?