You’ve got a great costume planned for this Hallowe’en - but is it respectful?

Many costumes are culturally appropriative, racist, sexist, etc. and there are growing lists on the internet of costumes you should not wear this Halloween.

Gender and Halloween costumes is a particularly challenging topic for three main reasons: (1) costumes are often gendered which reinforces gender roles and stereotypes, (2) sexualized costumes marketed toward young women reinforce their value as sexual objects, (3) transness, both the unique experience of transgender folks exploring their gender and cis folks using Halloween as an excuse to perpetuate stereotypes and make fun of transgender people and their experience.

In this article, I am going to be talking about transness and drag around Halloween. I would like to note that I am a transgender guy who identifies as queer but I do not speak on behalf of the transgender community. This article is based on my opinions as well as research and the opinions and input of my peers.

Halloween and Transness: Is it okay to dress in drag for Halloween?

When it comes to the question ‘is drag okay for Halloween?’ the answer is not straightforward. Yes, it is okay to experiment with gender, and for some trans folks, Halloween is an opportunity to explore their gender or dress in a way that aligns with their gender when they otherwise may not be able to. That being said when planning your costume this Halloween consider exactly that, is it a costume? Woman is not a costume and if you're a cis man (particularly a straight cis man) and want to dress up as a woman because you think it will be funny DON'T. Putting on a dress and some makeup is not imaginative and honestly not funny. If you do think that dressing up as a woman funny, consider this what is funny about being a woman? Just sit with that thought for a moment.

In contrast, f you want to dress up as an iconic character who happens to be a woman, like Cher or Amelia Earheart I say go for it. Women are amazing and inspirational, but be aware of how you can do it respectfully, ie. dressing to their likeness.

Drag has become more mainstream since the beginning of Ru Paul's Drag Race. As a queer and trans person, I love seeing queer culture reach more people, especially when it brings about real discussions of queerness and gender. So, I do want to say that we should be looking to play with gender more and allowing ourselves to have more freedom to explore our own gender even if we are cis. Conforming to strict gender roles and expectations only perpetuates stereotypes. That being said, there is a fine line and there is a lot of grey areas.

So, I caution people who are considering dressing up in drag for Halloween (not as a character but just in drag) as even though your intentions may be good, there is the possibility of offending people.

Before choosing to dress up in drag consider asking yourself these questions:

Have you been to any drag shows? 

Do you know any drag artists? Would you feel proud of your costume in their company?

Are you just doing this for laughs? What’s funny about your costume other than gender, because if you are cis and straight, it’s not appropriate to use punch down humour out of laziness

What stereotypes are you tapping into for your costume?

Have you googled the history and context of this type of drag? We have some facts in our Commercial Drag article here.

Do you have some basic ideas of how to execute your idea in a way that empowers the community you are taking ideas from?

Also, consider how you would react if someone LGBTQ+ or someone who is a drag performer wanted to make you aware of something obvious or nuanced that you may have missed. Even if your intentions are good and you put thought into your costume there could be something you missed and it is important that you take LGBTQ+ people, especially trans people and drag artists, thoughts, opinions, and feelings seriously. Take it as a learning opportunity.

Drag for exploring gender

As I mentioned previously drag may be used as a way for people to safely explore their gender, especially children. It is important to give children these opportunities to explore so parents should be open to letting their children dress up as whatever they'd like, regardless of gender. Queer savvy parents (those who are queer themselves or are knowledgeable about queer issues) have the opportunity to use Halloween as a teaching opportunity for children. Have a conversation with them about why “girls” costumes are princesses and witches, etc. while “boys” costumes are warriors and superheroes.

Final Thoughts

So, when it comes to Halloween costumes gender can be complicated. But for children gender isn’t complicated yet and we should avoid making it complicated. Let children have fun and explore and dress up as whatever they would like regardless of gender. As adults, we have to be more cautious about how we are choosing to represent ourselves. In most cases, it is okay to dress up as a particular character regardless of gender as long as the intention is respectful and not punch down humour. If you’re thinking about dressing as a woman or simply in drag be cautious, carefully consider your intentions and ensure you are doing so in a respectful and appropriate manner. Also as always be aware of assuming someone’s gender and their pronouns. When someone is in costume it may be harder to tell what pronouns they use, but really we shouldn’t be making assumptions about pronoun use any time of the year, so introduce yourself to new friends with your pronouns and allow them to tell you theirs.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

Written by Emory Oakley

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