I turned white when my daughter showed me what she wanted to dress as for Halloween
WHEN my seven-year-old daughter announced the costume she wanted for Halloween, it was terrifying. Ghosts, ghouls and witches don’t frighten me. But when she showed me a picture of what she wanted to dress as, I turned white, writes Emma Blake.
Opinion
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WHEN my seven-year-old daughter announced the costume she wanted for Halloween, it was terrifying.
Ghosts, ghouls and witches don’t frighten me. But when she showed me a picture of a buxom, scantily-clad Fortnite character called Calamity, I turned white.
That my dear little girl, who has dressed as a black cat, a bat and a pumpkin in previous years even knew who Calamity was — let alone wanted to dress as her — was truly shocking. And I’m not alone.
“What we are doing is blurring the line between what is a little kid and what is a fully grown woman — I think it is wrong and sending a bad message,” child psychologist and author Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said.
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Even her 12-year-old brother (a huge fan of this irritatingly popular online game) was alarmed. “It’s not age appropriate and it’s not even scary,” he observed.
This character looks more Barbie does Dallas than Michael Jackson’s Thriller. It wasn’t long ago the kids were trying to outdo each other with hideous masks, fake scars and pretend blood in their bid to pillage the neighbourhood of a year’s supply of lollies. Which was fine.
While I knew my daughter did not see the overtly sexual nature of this character, I did wonder why this costume was so appealing. Girls are being offered the option of playing rugby league and cricket and women are excelling in careers once men-only.
But when it comes to clothes, and particularly costumes, the Halloween options for girls offered online include a zombie schoolgirl in a tiny skirt and fishnets, the very skimpy Batman super villain Harley Quinn, a scantily clad version of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and even a sexualised version of a costume from The Handmaid’s Tale (which was withdrawn from sale after an online backlash).
“The outfits young girls are wearing are almost playing on fetishes and the threshold for how adults might dress is now filtering down to the younger generation,” Body Matters psychologist Sarah McMahon said.
But a search for boys’ costumes brings up skeletons and super heroes — age appropriate and fun.
Many people reject Halloween as American and commercial but I think it’s a fun evening for kids that brings the community together. Calamity the curvaceous cowgirl simply does not fit my experience of this event or the fun dress-ups that go with it.
She was not the only kid wanting to dress as a Fortnite character, but at least (fully clothed and covered) Skull Trooper looks like a spooky character.
Thankfully my daughter did not have the skimpy denim shorts, tight top and cowboy boots needed for Calamity. Instead, she’s going to make a really spooky panda.