Halloween Hullabaloo
Some local PTA’s have been promoting the idea of banning “scary” Halloween costumes. Which makes me wonder, just what is considered scary? (A George Bush mask would be mighty scary to me.)
A Connecticut clergyman, Bishop Jay Ramirez, and head honcho for the Kingdom Life Christian Church in Milford, publicly criticized a local school district for celebrating Halloween at all, saying Halloween “promotes occultism and immorality.”
(I don’t know what parties Ramirez has attended, but every since I was a child, Halloween had nothing to do with occultism or immorality. Maybe I just wasn’t invited to the wild parties Ramirez seems to know about.)
Feminist groups are advocating that parents of daughters should not encourage “princess or bride costumes” but should encourage doctor costumes, or other costumes that promote independence and strength.
(Try all you want, the little girls I know want to be princesses, fairies, queens, brides and even mermaids, but few want to wear work boots and buffalo-checked shirts and go as a lumberjacqueline.
According to a survey done by The National Retail Federation, consumers are expected to spend 3.3 billion dollars this Halloween. This comes out to be about 50 dollars a person. Last year’s top costumes were Spiderman for boys and (who would have guessed it??) Princess for girls.
I think PTAs, feminist groups and Ramirez and his ilk, should wake up and smell the hot cider.
Lighten up folks, bet you went trick or treating as a child. Bet some of you were devils and some were princesses and that has nothing to do with who you are today.
Halloween is nothing more than a good excuse to dress up, invite guests, play Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Monster Mash, and name your refreshments crazy things like: Hotter the Hell Chili or Witch’s Brew Stew.
It isn’t about religion, future career choices or promoting the occult. And, 3.3 billion dollars says I’m not alone in my feelings.
Boo!
Some local PTA’s have been promoting the idea of banning “scary” Halloween costumes. Which makes me wonder, just what is considered scary? (A George Bush mask would be mighty scary to me.)
A Connecticut clergyman, Bishop Jay Ramirez, and head honcho for the Kingdom Life Christian Church in Milford, publicly criticized a local school district for celebrating Halloween at all, saying Halloween “promotes occultism and immorality.”
(I don’t know what parties Ramirez has attended, but every since I was a child, Halloween had nothing to do with occultism or immorality. Maybe I just wasn’t invited to the wild parties Ramirez seems to know about.)
Feminist groups are advocating that parents of daughters should not encourage “princess or bride costumes” but should encourage doctor costumes, or other costumes that promote independence and strength.
(Try all you want, the little girls I know want to be princesses, fairies, queens, brides and even mermaids, but few want to wear work boots and buffalo-checked shirts and go as a lumberjacqueline.
According to a survey done by The National Retail Federation, consumers are expected to spend 3.3 billion dollars this Halloween. This comes out to be about 50 dollars a person. Last year’s top costumes were Spiderman for boys and (who would have guessed it??) Princess for girls.
I think PTAs, feminist groups and Ramirez and his ilk, should wake up and smell the hot cider.
Lighten up folks, bet you went trick or treating as a child. Bet some of you were devils and some were princesses and that has nothing to do with who you are today.
Halloween is nothing more than a good excuse to dress up, invite guests, play Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Monster Mash, and name your refreshments crazy things like: Hotter the Hell Chili or Witch’s Brew Stew.
It isn’t about religion, future career choices or promoting the occult. And, 3.3 billion dollars says I’m not alone in my feelings.
Boo!
posted by mary bishop | 12:30 PM
18 Comments:
What's wrong with people? They've lost any sense of fun and humor. Nincompoops.
You said it Irina, I do think people have lost their sense of humor and maybe that's why there are so many crabby people everywhere I go.
I think the idea or mysticism surrounding Halloween is what makes critics scared.
It's interesting though that in other cultures, like Japanese and Mexican, celebrating the dead is a hallowed venerated event.
These bobble heads who are against harmless Haloween celebrations, well they're probably just paranoid b/c they don't sleep at night. They've got boogie monsters under their beds after all.
Honest to God, I wish people would - literally - grow up. That's the problem, as I see it. Since they never grew up, they keep wanting to stick their noses into kids' games.
So you have the no-Hallowe'eners, who are, for my money, on the same continuum as the parents who can't let their kids play any game that isn't organized until every speck of fun is organized out of it.
Grow up, get a job, let your kids play. Left to their own devices, they'll come up with something. And you know what? If they come up with baseball, you can bet there won't be any rules like "No strike-outs, so Johnny won't have to deal with low self-esteem".
And if they come up with a costume party, they won't worry about political correctness. They'll just have fun. And wouldn't that be a shame?
Hanni - they must have boogie men under their bed to make such a big deal over nothing.
Nilbo, I agree with all you said. Kids today are so micromanaged they have ceased to have fun...and we wonder why they love to stare at a computer screen rather than play -- they don't know how anymore.
I don't know MB, Bishop Ramirez might be right. My friend J spent his entire childhood wanting to be Wonder Woman for Halloween, and now he's gay.
There's got to be some Halloween connection there somewhere.
When I was teaching, I had an elective class that I felt was a GREAT opportunity to have Halloween fun. I had them reading Halloween stories and planned a party. A child-appropriate version of the Headless Horseman was showing on some public television channel, so I was going to tape that and play it and bring in cookies for the class. I had 5/20 kids who were not allowed to participate because Halloween was satanic. I actually had to undergo a review to demonstrate that I did nothing to impress my beliefs on the other children. Funny part was, these kids had no difficulty participating when we did our hannukah, christmas, and kwanza celebrations. Weird. And my word verifcation is yrtbonk. That's such a great verb that I want to go around yrtbonking people now.
I'm sorry but I say kiss my f-ing ass. What is wrong with people? Seriously. Halloween is fun and there is nothing wrong with scary costumes or girls as princesses OR doctors or princess doctors. Sheesh.
My town is very cool with the decorations. We live in this section of town that's a little triangle. We've got the golf course behind us, the train tracks up one side and the library and park form the 3rd side. The entire neighborhood is decorated ~ spooky spiders, cobwebs, skeletons, skulls. I'm definitely going to take pics. There's a parade in town and all the kids can trick-or-treat the stores.....it's really nice.
My girl is wearing 2 costumes this year and I guess I'm promoting violence (power puff girl with her best friend) and a false sense of the world (princess Ariel).
Sylow, perhaps J was putting the cart before the horse, or the horse before the cart...or the wonder before the woman?
Echrai...that makes me want to yrtbonk every single person who accosted you over such non-sense.
Adult nitwits are destroying kids' fun today.
AMK - I love your daughter's choices...power and princesses actually DO go together.
Your town sounds cool. We seem to be getting an overabundance of evangelical christians and there's nothing angelic about them. They keep staging demonstrations and writing letters about everything and anything and calling it an insult to god blah blah blah.
YRTBONK them all I say!
It is all about getting the kids to act like lemmings at the youngest age possible – thou shall not do this, thou shall not do that... thou shall become conformists.
Let's take the fun and creativity out of kids and see how bland the world becomes.
As for me, I say fuck 'em.
I am going out dressed as a transvestite - just so I can fondle my fake boobies all night long. Just like I did when I was 6 (well, not as a transvestite, but as a simple woman and much to young to appreciate the fondling on one’s own fake boobies).
And before you say anything... there are no issues with me - no side effects or strange fantasies... Although, I tend to get a little irritable every 30 days or so…
JDJ - if I can dress up like Charlie Chaplin, I guess you can dress up as a woman.
Just don't start with PMS okay?
George W. Bush mask? Scary, yes..I was originally going to go as Ann Coulter, but since I lack an adam's apple, everybody would just think I'm a blonde whore with a skin condition.
I wasn't able to observe Halloween while growing up due to my parents' religious beliefs and it makes me sad to read about people who have hang ups about Halloween whether they be religious, feminist or other. Kids old and young need a reason to have fun and be silly.
Boo!Boo!
Um, HELLOOOOO! You forgot the most important thing that Halloween is about: CANDY. mmmmmmmmmmmmm
Marie......I must say it, you slay me...although Coulter has written a word or two lately that isn't all that sweet about her own man. Very funny indeed.
Michelle, I hope you have fun on Halloween now. I've been a room mother where one child has had to leave the room and go to the library while the other kids ate cupcakes and sang songs. This child wasn't able to go pumpkin picking either with the other kids.
Valentine's day was off limit too.
Why I wonder?
Jac - hope you don't have a booboo!
Discerning Doc Ern reminds me that candy IS what the day's about. That's why I always purchase the candy I like and hope there's some left over.
Doc Nos,
I love Tinkerbell - one would be hard pressed to have an issue with that costume..oh yes, I forget, perhaps it promotes fairies and I'm not talking "slurs" but forcing women to sprout wings in their later years...fly and spread magic dust.
Great Post as usual mb! I also wonder why people have to get their knickers in a wad over this stuff and then push their problems on the little kids who just want to eat cupcakes with their classmates! sheesh! yrtbonk them all and go carve your pumpkin...don't forget the CANDY!
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