Halloween Edition

Analysis…

 Halloween has always had a political flavor.  Costumes are a profound way to make a statement.  Last year’s most popular costume was probably Sarah Palin in varieties ranging from homage to satire.  But Halloween is also an opportunity for people to go too far.  Where do we draw the line?

Change.org | I would love to have a conflict-free Halloween this year (and one where my friends don’t ditch me), but that’s only going to happen if no one dresses up in costumes that glamorize pimping. Pimps are people who exploit women. Period. Yet Halloween glamorizes pimps like no other holiday. Maybe it’s because their stereotypical attire makes an outlandish costume. Maybe it’s because they are an easily recognizable part of American culture. There have been pimp costumes available on the Internet for a long time, but now even your dog can be a pimp. And as Kat over at Polaris Project points out, so can your pumpkin.  I know coming up with a Halloween costume is hard, so to help you out, I’ve provided 101 ideas for cosutmes that don’t glorify criminals who rape women and sell them like objects.

Huffington Post | Does expressing different parts of yourself highlight parts of your personality that never normally see the light of day? Do you feel you are releasing some pent up hidden part of you that you need to express?  Or does it show you how you normally hide behind false images and labels, such as your race, religion, or profession? We tend to identity with the content of our lives, yet beneath all the labels is our essence, that which we truly are. Can you find who is there without the masks or the façade, without all the many images of you that think you are? We so identify with the masks we may lose sight of what lies behind them. But the labels are only a part of us, not the whole of us, and we need to honor our whole being.

Stuff White People Do | So finally, if you’re white, I have a suggestion. Aside from resisting any temptation you might have to somehow dress up like a member of another race or ethnic group — and thereby perpetuating stereotypes and running the risk of hurting other people — how would the following idea work for you?  If you meet a white friend or acquaintance who’s dressed up that way, you could say this to them: “Wow, what a concept! Where’d you get the idea of dressing up like a racist dipshit?”

Racewire | Dear Target,

What’s up with this “Illegal Alien” costume?

I don’t get why a corporation that boasts about giving back to the community and celebrates Nuestra Gente would sell such a despicable costume. (I know not all undocumented immigrants are Latino, but we do make up a plurality of the population.)  Is it to make a buck? Is that enough to alienate (no pun intended) undocumented immigrants, their allies and our dollars? Couldn’t you make a buck by not selling “humorous costumes” that demean and make light of the situation faced by many undocumented immigrants and advance dehumanizing language?

News…

Neighbors Thought Body Was Part of Halloween Display | LA Times

The body of 75-year-old man sat decomposing on his Marina del Rey balcony for days because neighbors thought the lifeless figure was part of a Halloween display and didn’t call police.

Mostafa Mahmoud Zayed had apparently been dead since Monday with a single gunshot wound to one eye. He was slumped over a chair on the third-floor balcony of his apartment on Bora Bora Way, said cameraman Austin Raishbrook, who owns RMG News and was on the scene Thursday when authorities were alerted to the body.

Bernie Madoff Masks Flying Off Shelves | CBS News

Devils, sinners and swindlers, oh my!  You probably won’t see anything quite as scary this Halloween as the thousands of masks of public enemy number one, Bernard Madoff.