Goodbye Treats, Hello Tricks

[Pale Rider]

Goodbye Treats, Hello Tricks


Halloween costumes for teens and tweens have gone from scary to skanky



By JOANNE RICHARD

So far, the Halloween season is all about looking like you turn tricks as costumes continue to get tighter, shorter and more revealing.

The traditional Halloween scare fare is taking a back seat to the ever burgeoning array of ultra-sexy styles -- and not for adults only. Teens and even younger girls are buying into sexy, from belly-baring pirates, cheerleaders and divas, to sultry angels, flirty devils and racy witches. There's even a naughty Hermione, Harry Potter's sidekick.

The costume trend has gone from scary to "skanky," says Halloween guru Kurt Perron, and it's definitely creeped down to the tween and teen set.

"The young girls are getting skankier and skankier -- I can't believe what parents are letting their 13-year-olds buy. They're dressing up like total tramps," says Perron, who runs the Amazing Costume and Party Store in Toronto.

"Sex sells no matter what the age," adds Perron, who says the store's sexy category is its most popular as Halloween has evolved into more of an adult holiday.

Women's costumes are pervasively provocative -- every classic fairytale character is sexed up -- and Perron's seeing more and more teens gravitating to the thigh-high, X-rated adult outfits in X-small adult sizes. Even some of the seductive adult styles are being mini-sized and marketed to young girls, complete with bare midriffs and skimpy skirts, under brand names like Wicked Innocence and Drama-Licious.

According to Perron, female partygoers seek ever-sexier Halloween identities and use Halloween as a fantasy night to "shed their inhibitions and get slutty -- 75% of women coming in are going for the sexy costumes." The problem is so are a lot of younger girls, too.

That's frightening, say experts. Sexing up our children is a pervasive trend and Halloween is no exception to the commercial exploitation: "It's the disturbing rise of raunch culture, but now it's reaching down to children," says Dr. Susan Linn, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "It's a reflection of a growing commercial trend to sexualize increasingly younger and younger girls."

Youth are immersed in a sexualized world and it's both disconcerting and damaging, says Linn, co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood at the Judge Baker Children's Centre in Boston. "Essentially what's happening is that young girls are being marketed all this sexual stuff before they're old enough to understand what sexuality means. They don't have the capacity to understand what message they're sending out -- and are they prepared to deal with the response?

SKIPPING CHILDHOOD

"They're being trained to move from being pre-schoolers right into being teenagers, preoccupied about how their bodies look, dating, shopping and being princesses... It's depriving them of their childhood," adds Linn, a psychologist and author of Consuming Kids: Protecting Our Children From the Onslaught of Marketing and Advertising (Anchor Books).

The creativity has totally gone out of Halloween, says Linn, adding, "it's never been harder to be a parent because the prevailing culture is so toxic." She strongly advises parents not to bow to marketing pressure that makes young girls grow up too fast and promotes that there's only one narrow way of growing up -- and that's to always look sexy and pretty.

Costumes are scarier than ever, says Nancy Rue, yet there are very few age-appropriate costume options for young girls out there -- they go from Disney to trashy Diva.

"They're offered adult fare for what used to be a kid's most fun night of the year," says Rue, who has written more than 100 books for young people, her latest called Girl Politics: Friends, Cliques and Really Mean Chicks (Zonderkidz/Harper Collins).

What's happening, she adds, is that "young is getting older, so younger and younger kids are wanting to look older and older, and in the market, older equals sexier.

"The sad thing is, it isn't the girls who are asking to look like high-class prostitutes. They're being told that's what they're supposed to look like," says Rue.

So just what's too sexy? "Anything that says, 'See my butt? Oh, and have you noticed the breasts? That's what I'm all about, you know.' If the outfit -- Halloween or not -- takes the eye directly there, the fun's over."

Rue strongly believes that girls need to be the age they are: "Halloween is such a delightful time to express their delights and dreams and fantasies. I'd love to see parents guide girls back to that."

So when your daughter is pushing the costume envelope, use it as a teachable moment.

"Rather than lecture, chat together about the reasons and explore the fact that it isn't other kids who've established the trend, but adults in marketing ... Establish some guidelines. How short is short enough? How low can the neckline be? How many sizes too small is permissible? Then let her make her choices within those parameters," says Rue, a speaker with Virtuous Reality Ministries, a national ministry that provides tweens and teens with the tools to navigate today's culture.

Be understanding, as well as clear, consistent and a good role model. "This isn't her fault -- she's responding to the society she lives in," Rue says. "It's a great time for her to start shaping it, instead of letting it shape her."

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2007/10/21/4593222-sun.html

[Pale Rider]

Preteens Trading Fairy Wands for Fishnets



Halloween Trend Toward Racy Get-Ups Vexes Parents

By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 30, 2007; Page A01

Gabby Cirenza wanted to be a referee for Halloween. The outfit she liked had a micro-mini black skirt and a form-fitting black and white-striped spandex top held together with black laces running up the flesh-exposing sides. She looked admiringly at the thigh-high black go-go boots that could be bought as an accessory. And she thought the little bunny on the chest was cute.

"Absolutely not," said her mother, Cheryl. "That is so not happening."

And the Playboy Racy Referee costume was only the latest that her mother had vetoed one pre-Halloween-crazed afternoon at Party City in Baileys Crossroads as too skimpy, too revealing, too suggestive .

Bawdy Halloween costumes, however, have become the season's hottest sellers in recent years. Not just for women, but for girls, too. And parents such as Cirenza don't like it.

Gabby eyed the Sexy Super Girl but decided against it. A friend at her Catholic school had worn that costume for a Halloween parade and pulled the already short miniskirt way up to cover her tummy. "That didn't look very good." But Gabby did like the Aqua Fairy, a vampy get-up with a black ripped-up skirt, black fishnet tights and blue bustier that comes in medium, large and preteen. A medium fits a child of 8.

No.

How about the Funky Punk Pirate Pre-Teen, with an off-the-shoulder blouse and bare midriff?

No.

Gabby pointed to the Fairy-Licious Purrrfect Kitty Pre-Teen, which, according to the package, includes a "pink and black dress with lace front bodice and sassy jagged skirt with tail. . . . Wings require some assembly."

Cheryl Cirenza shook her head in exasperated disbelief. "This is all so inappropriate. It's really disturbing," she said, eyeing a wall of such girl and preteen costumes as Major Flirt in army green, the bellybutton-baring Devilicious and a sassy, miniskirted French Maid, pink feather duster included. She'd just turned down her 13-year-old daughter's request for a Sexy Cop outfit. "When I was their age, I was a bunch of grapes."

But that was back in the days when Halloween was still a homemade kind of holiday, when an old sheet with eyeholes was a perfectly acceptable ghost and clumsily carved pumpkins on the front porch were about as elaborate as the decorations got. Now, Halloween is big business. Americans are expected to spend upwards of $5 billion this year on candy, ghoulish decorations and costumes. And the hottest trend in costumes, retailers say, is sexy. And young.

Fishnet tights, once associated with smoky cabarets or strip joints, now come in girls' sizes and cost $3.99.

Joe Thaler, head of TransWorld Exhibits Inc., runs the annual Halloween Expo for big-box retailers. He said suggestive costumes for girls burst onto the scene about three years ago and the phenomenon is so big that he's had to create a separate fashion show. The costumes have since moved to the plus-size market for adult women and now come in teen and preteen versions. Even little girl costumes show more leg and tummy than they used to. "They're just good sellers," Thaler said.

When it comes to Halloween costumes, boys can still be ninjas, doctors and mad scientists. A box of popcorn, even. Men can still be bananas or beer cans. About the most risque it got for men at Party City was the Big Daddy self-adhesive hairy chest kit for $6.99.

Kathy Grannis of the National Retail Federation blames Halloween's loss of innocence on baby boomers who can't let the holiday go, with their adult parties and costume contests at bars. "Halloween is no longer a child's holiday," she said. "It's no longer about handing out candy and putting on a witch's hat and walking down the street hand in hand with your kid."

For Cheryl Cirenza, that's what Halloween is still all about. But for her daughter, she's not so sure. "I really don't know why these kinds of costumes appeal so much to her," she said. Cirenza knows that prepubescent sex appeal is rampant. But the family doesn't have cable, and she limits Gabby's TV time. There are no trashy teen or celebrity magazines in her home. And they keep an eye on her Web surfing. "I don't know if it's just in the air."

The Halloween costume trend is not only leading to tense mother-daughter standoffs, but it is also part of a far larger worry that young girls are becoming sexualized. Task forces of psychologists study the trend. Books and academic articles are being produced with such titles as the upcoming "So Sexy So Soon" and "From Barbie to Britney: The Sexualization of Childhood." And yet the costumes sell.

"Youth isn't being lived through anymore. It's being rushed through," Stephanie Terrazas, 20, said as she watched her 11-year-old sister pick out a "deluxe" sequined Dorothy dress that, unlike the chaste, high-necked one in the little girl size, was lower cut and had two strategically placed poofs of fabric.

Megan Smith, 16, perused the costumes at Party City with her father, Dan. She first tried on the Prisoner, a slinky spandex number with a little button at the throat and open chest like a '70s disco halter dress. She settled on Raggedy Ann, a blue mini dress so mini that the lacy underskirt barely dusts the bottom of the fanny.

No one does scary costumes anymore, Megan said. Blame that on the teen movie "Mean Girls," she said, quoting a line verbatim: "Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it."

Her father laughed nervously. "They're all a little risque, and I don't like that," he said. "She'll be wearing shorts underneath."

Megan rolled her eyes.

On another aisle, a frazzled Kathy Rafferty was doing her best to fend off her 6-year-old daughter Grace's choices. Grace liked the Mega Star costume, with a tiny bandeau top, bare midriff and low-slung sparkle pants. And she thought the Runway Diva in leopard skin, big sunglasses and knee-high boots was cool.

"Some of these are just incredibly sleazy. Nothing in here except Tinkerbell is innocent," Rafferty said. "Last year, Grace was a snow princess. Now, this is what she likes. I don't know what's happened."

Grace finally wore her mother down and ended up with a '70s Flower Power outfit that shows the bellybutton. "I told her I'd buy this only if she wore a leotard underneath," Rafferty said. "As a mother, I hate Halloween."

Meanwhile, Shawn Bailey was trying not to lose it as her 11-year-old daughter Da'Nesha Holmes picked out a costume. Her son had found his Darth Vader costume, and her baby had her Baby Bratz pink kitty outfit. But Da'Nesha was too tall for most of the girl costumes, and her mother was having none of the rest. Bar Wench. Cocktail Hunny. The half-angel, half-devil Naughty & Nice.

Da'Nesha pointed to Costume 529, Hot Flash, a nurse with thigh-high garters.

"No. You need something for you," Bailey said, sighing. "You're a little girl."

That afternoon, Gabby Cirenza left Party City empty-handed. Her mother later took her to Target, where she refused anything to do with princesses, pilgrims or nuns. At Party Depot, she begged for the preteen French Maid costume and promised she wouldn't wear it off the shoulders, like in the photo. Cheryl Cirenza, with six other children's costumes to find or make, finally made an executive decision. Gabby would be Lady Juliette, in a long dress and long sleeves. With a few tucks here and there, the neckline wouldn't plunge too low.

And when Gabby insisted they buy a corset to "lift everything up" and make the dress look better, Cirenza drew the line again. No corsets. Not now. Whether Gabby knows it or not, her mother thought, a corset is the last thing an 11-year-old needs.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/29/AR2007102902095_3.html

[Pale Rider]

So now all the little girls want to dress up all slutty and show as much skin as they can... so what now do we say to the men that no doubt will be looking?

"Hey, stop ogling that little girl... what are you, some kind of pervert?"

"Funny... she's dressed up like a slut... if she doesn't want me to look, then what the hell is she dressed up like that for in public?"

[Trigg]

Parents who buy that crap for their kids should be smacked. These kids arn't buying the costums themselves.

[Mr. P]

I was a hobo sooooo many times. Only the rich kids could afford store bought costumes. When I was young, a pair of my dads' old pants and an old shirt combined with some charcoal on the face and bingo. Plus you got to use yer imagination back then, what am I going to be and how do I MAKE it, and that was the best part!

[Pale Rider]

Parents who buy that crap for their kids should be smacked. These kids arn't buying the costums themselves.

But a lot are. 75% according one costume shop owner.

And here's a little tid bit I heard on the news about just that, it's the MOTHERS that are buying the slutty costumes for the little girls, NOT the Dads.

[Pale Rider]

I was a hobo sooooo many times. Only the rich kids could afford store bought costumes. When I was young, a pair of my dads' old pants and an old shirt combined with some charcoal on the face and bingo. Plus you got to use yer imagination back then, what am I going to be and how do I MAKE it, and that was the best part!

OK that's how YOU dressed back then. How did the 11 year old girls dress that you recall? Slutty? I doubt it.

[Mr. P]

OK that's how YOU dressed back then. How did the 11 year old girls dress that you recall? Slutty? I doubt it.

11 year old girls didn't wear makeup back then either.

[Trigg]

But a lot are. 75% according one costume shop owner.

And here's a little tid bit I heard on the news about just that, it's the MOTHERS that are buying the slutty costumes for the little girls, NOT the Dads.

My daughter (11) was a witch last yr. long black dress big black hat. I don't see many revealing outfits out here.

The mothers buying this stuff for their daughters need to be smacked. They need to grow a backbone and tell their kids NO when they ask for things.

[Pale Rider]

My daughter (11) was a witch last yr. long black dress big black hat. I don't see many revealing outfits out here.

The mothers buying this stuff for their daughters need to be smacked. They need to grow a backbone and tell their kids NO when they ask for things.

I think the mothers are trying to live vicariously through their daughters. They've had kids, now they're fat and out of shape, so they let the daughter look the way they'd like to look.

Dad doesn't see it that way. He sees his little girl, and there's no way he's going to let her go out dressed like that.

Yes, these mothers need to be slapped. Because if some boy/man comes on to their little girl, gropes or molests her, she can consider herself an accomplis for dressing her little girl up very promiscuously like a slut.

[Abbey Marie]

The seasonal costume stores are full of sexy versions of Halloween costumes. I only see them in adult sizes, though, thank goodness.

This costume thing doesn't surprise me, as the trend with teenaged girls has been belly-baring, low rise jeans and cropped, low cut tops for a while now. At the same time, boys' clothing gets ever baggier and longer. It's hard to tell what kind of shape a boy is in under all those loose clothes.

[glockmail]

But a lot are. 75% according one costume shop owner.

And here's a little tid bit I heard on the news about just that, it's the MOTHERS that are buying the slutty costumes for the little girls, NOT the Dads. That's because those mothers are sluts too.

[Abbey Marie]

My 16 year old is going dressed as Tom Cruise was in that infamous Risky Business scene. I had to get her some imitation Wayfarers so people would know she was Tom Cruise. She will have tights on under the "shorts", though, for both modesty and warmth.

[glockmail]

This whole Halloween thing is out of hand. It's surpassed Easter for $ spent, and quickly surpassing Christmas for home decorating. Women and girls using it as an excuse to dress like hookers. A celebration of death and sex at the expense of Christ. All within a few short years in a Hollywood-obsessed culture. Satan must be proud.

[JackDaniels]

This whole Halloween thing is out of hand. It's surpassed Easter for $ spent, and quickly surpassing Christmas for home decorating. Women and girls using it as an excuse to dress like hookers. A celebration of death and sex at the expense of Christ. All within a few short years in a Hollywood-obsessed culture. Satan must be proud.

Oh please...

[glockmail]

Oh please... Evil triumps...

[Pale Rider]

Yes... I'd agree it's the influence of the devil that would dress up a little 11 year old girl like a slut. It certainly isn't Christ.

[Trigg]

I think the mothers are trying to live vicariously through their daughters. They've had kids, now they're fat and out of shape, so they let the daughter look the way they'd like to look.

Dad doesn't see it that way. He sees his little girl, and there's no way he's going to let her go out dressed like that.

Yes, these mothers need to be slapped. Because if some boy/man comes on to their little girl, gropes or molests her, she can consider herself an accomplis for dressing her little girl up very promiscuously like a slut.

I don't know if that is the reason. I tend to think parents these days are trying so hard to be their kids "friend" that they forget to parent.

I wonder how many of the parents who buy this crap are divorced and trying to be the "good parent"?

[Pale Rider]

I don't know if that is the reason. I tend to think parents these days are trying so hard to be their kids "friend" that they forget to parent.

Exactly. The reason I gave and the one you mentioned above was the two reasons psychiatrsts gave.

You nailed it.

[bullypulpit]

Oh please...

Indeed. Too many here have been watching Bill O'Reilly's phony outrage over what amounts to utter trivia of no real consequence to anyone. They're content to be sucked along in Billo's wake and give vent to their outrage over the tempests in a teapot which O'Reilly creates to deflect attention from real issues. You know...The continued occupation of Iraq...The saber rattling towards Iran, which FOX Noise is attempting to whip into a full blown call for war...America's crumbling infrastructure...failure of the Administration to actually make America more secure from terrorist attack...The undermining of the Constitution in the name of "national security"...And the list goes on.

Herr Goebbels would have been proud.

[Pale Rider]

So... the new trend of dressing up little 11 year old girls like sluts for halloween is because we listen to O'Reilly and the war in Iraq?

Phhhtt.... lost me.

[Guernicaa]

I don't think girls under 14 should be dressing like that, but everyone else, why the hell not? It's funny and cute.

[glockmail]

So... the new trend of dressing up little 11 year old girls like sluts for halloween is because we listen to O'Reilly and the war in Iraq?

Phhhtt.... lost me.
Don't you love how he deflected by bringing up an unrelated person and claiming he deflects? Classic tactic. Lame, but classic.

[avatar4321]

I don't think girls under 14 should be dressing like that, but everyone else, why the hell not? It's funny and cute.

when did dressing/acting slutty become cute?

[Pale Rider]

Don't you love how he deflected by bringing up an unrelated person and claiming he deflects? Classic tactic. Lame, but classic.

Bush hatred syndrome. Can't get past that long enough to think about anything else.

[mrg666]

well i blame mtv :D

kids are growing up faster in fact i think some even skip puberty in there minds .
peer pressure doesn't help a parent either ( never as )

there was outrage here a couple of years ago when a company started making selling thongs for kids as young as 8 (very sad )
fashion companies dont help aiming this stuff at kids they are missing a valuable piece of life we all now this

[bullypulpit]

So... the new trend of dressing up little 11 year old girls like sluts for halloween is because we listen to O'Reilly and the war in Iraq?

Phhhtt.... lost me.

It's not all that hard to lose you. But where do you see the trend? The trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood were the usual mix of traditional Halloween characters, super-heroes, and even a passable Anakin Skywalker with nary a trollop amongst them. Perhaps it's just where you live that parents allow there children to dress like two-bit hookers, and then, it's the parents fault for allowing their little dears to dress that way.

From what I can see, this is little more than another case of right wing-nuts getting their panties in a wad over a non-issue to deflect from the real issues we face.

[bullypulpit]

Yes... I'd agree it's the influence of the devil that would dress up a little 11 year old girl like a slut. It certainly isn't Christ.

No, just mass marketing and lazy parents.

[Pale Rider]

It's not all that hard to lose you. But where do you see the trend? The trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood were the usual mix of traditional Halloween characters, super-heroes, and even a passable Anakin Skywalker with nary a trollop amongst them. Perhaps it's just where you live that parents allow there children to dress like two-bit hookers, and then, it's the parents fault for allowing their little dears to dress that way.

From what I can see, this is little more than another case of right wing-nuts getting their panties in a wad over a non-issue to deflect from the real issues we face.
Ya know... you're the only one in this thread denying the facts. Makes me wonder what's behind it.

[Trinity]

my two cents......... I took my youngest son out shopping for a Halloween costume Monday night because he took his sweet time trying to decide what he wanted to be. We went to three different stores and thank god I have boy's! Most of the costumes I saw for little girls, I was just dumbfounded they were quite revealing. Looking at these I was thinking I would wear them out to a Halloween party, but would I allow my 11 year old daughter if I had one? hell no!

[Trinity]

oh almost forgot my youngest finally decided to be a werewolf with the mask and matching gloves. It turned out quite cute, well for a werewolf. I'll post pics later, right now got to go help out with his class party.

[retiredman]

I have seen the articles about these costumes, but, since my youngest is a freshman in college, I really am not in the market for them so I cannot say whether or not they are even IN our stores here, or whether parents are buying them if they are. I will be sure to look at the trick or treaters coming to our door this evening to see if I can detect a trend towards more risque costumes from previous years. I have to say that, unless this is some new thing that appeared out of nowhere this year, I have not witnessed any noticeable movement in that direction in the past. Witches, princesses, superheroes totally sans sluts have paraded past our house in recent years.

[glockmail]

I have seen the articles about these costumes, but, since my youngest is a freshman in college, I really am not in the market for them so I cannot say whether or not they are even IN our stores here, or whether parents are buying them if they are. I will be sure to look at the trick or treaters coming to our door this evening to see if I can detect a trend towards more risque costumes from previous years. I have to say that, unless this is some new thing that appeared out of nowhere this year, I have not witnessed any noticeable movement in that direction in the past. Witches, princesses, superheroes totally sans sluts have paraded past our house in recent years. When its 30 degrees on halloween night in fucking arctic Maine I doubt you will see any skin. But go ahead and imagine that if that's what you're into.

Fucking pedophile. :slap:

[PostmodernProphet]

there was someone talking about this on the news the other night.....Jon Stewart did a segment on him.....he said they were dressing kids up as Prosti-tots.....I thought it was a good line....