Crossing the line with Halloween costumes?

[Mitch Henessey]

Halloween is tomorrow, and while some will choose conventional costumes (zombies, pirates, ghosts, etc.) and movie or cartoon characters, others are prepared to go the extra mile with an attempt at shocking realism for costume choices:

Sexy cop, sexy Snow White and sexy corn have new, topical competition in the skimpy Halloween-wear section: Meet "Sexy Ebola Containment Suit," the most awkward and arguably insensitive of them all.

Online retailer BrandsOnSale, which bills itself as a "Unique Costume Shop and more" unveiled the new ensemble days ago, featuring a short white dress, face shield, breathing mask, safety goggles and blue latex gloves at $59.99 per costume. A pair of bright yellow knee-high rubber boots can be purchased at an additional cost.

The Internet met the news of the costume with mixed responses.

"I'm in complete and utter disgust," one Twitter user reacted, while another questioned the costume's existence.

"The fact that there's a sexy ebola nurse costume proves the sexy costumes have gone out of control," another wrote.

Others found the gear humorous, writing "Ladies, you've still got time..."

The introduction of "Sexy Ebola Containment Suit" comes on the heels of an Internet hoax in which an older image of a "Sexy Breaking Bad" costume featuring a reconstructed yellow hazmat suit was digitally altered to appear as if it were a "Sexy Ebola Nurse" in 2014.

But will anyone actually buy these outrageous outfits? Yes, if recent trends are any indication.

The National Retail Federation last month predicted that Americans will spend $2.8 billion on Halloween-wear this year, with $1.4 billion of that amount on adult costumes to outfit approximately 75 million grown-ups. Those numbers contribute to a record two-thirds of Americans buying costumes.

And with all of the headgear attached to the "Sexy Ebola Containment Suit," anyone wearing it probably won't be able to read any of the tweets deriding them for bad taste either.

http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/sexy-ebola-nurse-costumes-raise-temps-ire/story?id=26484278

Spoiler

The Sexy Ebola Containment Suit is not alone on the list for planned costumes mocking or parodying real life news stories, recent events, and tragedies. You have photos of others dressing up as Ray Rice, dragging a female blow up doll (or a man as Ray Rice, with a woman wearing bruised make-up), children and adults dressed as ISIS militants, and an Ice Bucket Challenge costume floating around.

Of course, choosing costumes to mock or parody real life events is par for the course. It's a yearly thing, and in 2013 Alicia Ann Lynch sparked outrage, when she made the choice to dress up as a Boston Marathon bombing victim for work. Lynch posted the picture to her social media accounts, she was bombarded with threats, and she was fired from her job.

If we're talking about recent events, there's a story out about a couple of nursing students wearing the Ebola hazmat suits to a Halloween function.

https://bangordailynews.com/2014/10...-nurse-costumes-in-portland-stir-controversy/

If we're not talking about recent events or specific news stories, you'll have people taking another route to be more edgy with costumes as a homeless person with a sign or various racial stereotypes to give a few examples.

More often than not, the reactions range from others being offended, disgusted, or outraged, but there's a simple solution in my eyes: ignore the people, who choose to make and wear the costumes, and the retailers, who sell them.

If they go out in public, if they're wearing the costumes to parties, and if they're posting pics on their social media accounts, obviously they're looking for attention and a reaction. They're trying to offend others and spark outrage, and the retailers are hoping to cash-in on the controversy for more sales and publicity.

Do you believe in a "no limits" exception for Halloween costumes? What's the best solution for dealing with outrageous and offensive costumes?

All thoughts and discussion regarding this topic are welcome.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I've always hated the fact that a lot of girls these days use Halloween as an excuse to dress up like a prostitute. Even when they are attractive it's kinda sad & just screams out "Please Pay Attentiton To Me!!!".

But with that being said, it's Halloween & this is 'Merica (in Super Redneck South Park voice), so unless the person is going to School like that or some Church event, etc. then no one really has the right to tell them what they can & can't aware. Unless of course it's indecent exposure, but knowing most cops these days they would probably just be giant pervs & stare if anything at all.

So all in all, it just seems like a stupid costume made for a stupid person.

 

[The Butcher]

Who is it really hurting? Can we stop with this bullshit, America, please? There was another mass school shooting last week. When are we going to seriously do something about that? Do Halloween costumes fucking matter? At all? What a stupid thing to get offended about. What a colossal waste of time and effort. We can laugh and joke about the Ebola itself, but the sexy Ebola costume? That's the fucking line, goddamnit! Give me a break. How no nation or group of nations has stepped up and taken our fucking lunch money by now amazes me.

*DEEP BREATH*

I'll say this about it: while I think it's no big deal, I also think it displays a ridiculous lack of common sense and good taste. There are so many facets of our society that that is true of, though, and at least this one is sequestered to one night a year.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

I saw a trending topic on Facebook on Friday about Ellie Goulding and coming under fire for her halloween costume.

A giant tampon? An SS officer? A suicide bomber?

Nope, a Native American costume. http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity...for-wearing-native-american-headdress-2014611

Now I like it when people make costumes based on horror characters but have accepted that Halloween is now far more about showcasing creative costumes that will make people smile and laugh rather than terrify. In no way whatsoever do I believe that Ellie Goulding decided on that costume because it would scare the shit out of people or that it would make people laugh at Native Americans for their silly costumes.

Shit, look at how widely celebrated the Day of the Dead is now outside of Latin countries. (I'm not 100% sure it was just a Mexican tradition?) The designs and symbolism of the skulls, costumes and decorations are beautiful and allow people from other cultures to offer their own unique spin on them.

Yes, aspects of some cultures may have greater meaning to the culture it originated from but this shouldn't mean that those same aspects can't be celebrated by other cultures too.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

To me, this is the definition of a "Nontroversy", something that offends some people who, like so many other things, try to turn everything into a big deal when it really isn't. When I look at the "Sexy Ebola Containment Suit" costume, I think "so what?" It's a woman wearing a costume that isn't very revealing with a helmet and face mask. Ebola has been a major news story for the past few months and someone's trying to capitalize on it. People call that exploitation today whereas it was called entrepreneurialism once upon a time.

There are actual, legit concerns going on in America that people should be talking about: school shootings, racial tensions brought upon by white cops shooting unarmed black suspects, gun control, etc. I can understand why some people are tired of discussing it because most people feel there's no solution, nothing to be done about any of it. It's hard to fault someone for that line of thinking when you consider that all politicians do is try to lay the blame at each other because they don't follow the same ideologies, big business exploiting numerous loopholes that were created specifically so they could follow the law while simultaneously skirting around it as though the law wasn't there in the first place. So, they decide to latch onto something like this, something that's honestly not hurting anybody: friggin' Halloween costumes.

For years, we've had sexy versions of everything from nurses to doctors to teachers to cops to even nuns and nobody's batted an eye about it. And most of the time, these costumes are far more revealing and sexually alluring than the Ebola costume. Also, just because someone dresses up as Ray Rice doesn't mean they agree with or condone what he did. Not everything has to have this deep, subconsciously ulterior motive. Halloween is a time to simply have fun, to dress up in goofy outfits, ask for candy, go to parties, etc. Not everything has to be some insanely overblown statement about society or culture.