Want Non-Sexualized Halloween Costumes for Girls? Look Here!
Have you been shopping for girls' Halloween costumes lately? If you have, you already know that most of the costumes are intended to showcase our daughters as sex objects. So wrong!
Take heart. Non-sexualized Halloween costumes are possible!
Whether you want to buy a costume or make one, you can find costume options that are both fun and appropriate for girls. And you can help your daughter understand why choosing a non-sexualized costume is important to your family.
Search online
Skip taking your daughter through the racy isles of the local Halloween boutique. There are lots of online options for non-sexualized costumes. Here are three fabulous places to look:
- A Mighty Girl, a girls' empowerment site, has a large selection. This website is full of products for “smart, confident, and courageous girls.”
- Ebay has a listing of modest teen and tween girls' costume ideas; many ideas include links to sales pages for easy purchase.
- Pinterest is a fabulous place to look for modest costumes.
[Keep in mind that each family's version of modesty can vary, so not every costume on these pages may meet your standards.]
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The great thing about Pinterest is you can even create your own board and save your favorite dress-up ideas throughout the year. Then, when Halloween comes, you will have your own catalog of options all in one place. You and your daughter can look through your board together and she can pick a costume she likes that you have already approved.
Here are a few costume ideas I love:
Amelia Earhart Tween Costume
Add clothing to Halloween costumes
If a costume seems age-appropriate but is still too revealing, add an undershirt, leggings, or sweatpants. Or layer a long skirt under a short skirt. Most immodest costumes can become modest with a little creativity!
DIY Halloween costumes can be fun!
Many mothers don't want to spend time making a costume, but it can rewarding. Often you save money. More importantly, though, do-it-yourself costumes can turn into fun bonding time with your daughter. Try wrapping your daughter as a toilet paper mummy, or creating a Lego costume from a large box. Working together with your girl can create memories that will last a lifetime. (Don’t forget to take pictures of the creating-a-costume process!)
Bonus tip: Encourage group costumes!
Teach your daughter she can be a cool trend setter when she and her friends wear group costumes:
Help her get creative with ideas that would work for a group of girls and encourage her to suggest ideas to her friends. Halloween is always more fun when you coordinate dressing up with others!
It can even be fun to dress up as a family!
When your daughter doesn't like your Halloween costume standards
If your daughter does not agree with your standards and/or her friends are wearing sexy costumes, try to see this as an opportunity to discuss your values and why they matter to you.
It’s important for your daughter to know that you are not trying to punish her when you say no to sexualized costumes. On the contrary, you say no because you value who she is.
In a culture where there is already widespread pornography, sexual abuse, and trafficking of children, we don't want to normalize anyone seeing children as sex objects. The pornography industry deliberately grooms even young girls to think of themselves as objects of sexuality.
Jean Kilbourne, co-author of So Sexy So Soon, and an expert on the dangers of sexualized advertising said,
Girls exposed to sexualized images from a young age are more prone to eating disorders, depression, and low self esteem. Inevitably, the objectification leads to violence....Turning a human being into a thing is almost always the first step in justifying violence against that person. (Jean Kilbourne, "The dangerous ways ads see women," TEDx Lafayette College, Published on May 8, 2014)
Your daughter is worth it!
Parents, don't give up-- even if it takes a little extra effort, money, or persuasion to help protect your daughter's dignity, safety, and self respect on Halloween. She is a cause worth fighting for!
Get answers to these important questions:
- Why are so many good kids getting pulled into pornography?
- How can parents get more comfortable talking to their kids?
- What are the benefits of tackling this subject early?
- What EXACTLY do your kids need to know to stay safe from pornography in every situation?
Good Pictures Bad Pictures
"I really like the no-shame approach the author takes. It's so much more than just 'don't watch or look at porn.' It gave my children a real understanding about the brain and its natural response to pornography, how it can affect you if you look at it, and how to be prepared when you do come across it (since, let's face it... it's gonna happen at some point)." -Amazon Review by D.O.
