As Halloween approaches on Thursday, Intersection explored some of the ways that new students on campus celebrate the frightful holiday. The section also wrote about the effect of hypersexualized costumes on young women.
The Editorial Board hopes our readers who are celebrating have fun, but we want to remind students to not dress in cultural clothing as their costume, as this is inappropriate cultural appropriation.
Cultural appropriation refers to taking elements of another culture and inappropriately adopting them as one’s own, according to USA Today. Halloween costumes, including blackface, Mexican sombreros, Native American headdresses and traditional East Asian clothing, are only a few of the many costumes that have been appropriated from other cultures on this holiday.
The Editorial Board implores students to consider the inadvertent cultural impact of their attire this Halloween and to recognize the effects it might have on others who see their culture reduced to a costume.
While it can sometimes be unclear whether or not a costume is culturally insensitive, we call on students to think critically about the costumes they choose to wear. If it seems like it could be offensive, it probably is.
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