I was going to dress as a pimp for Halloween tonight

[Truth2Tell]

A few days ago I found some costume makings perfect for a pimp costume... purple trench-coat, feathered hat, bling, jeweled cane, etc, and so I got the idea in my head of maybe being a pimp for Halloween. For a minute anyway. Then I thought about it. And I decided nahhh, I'll be a wizard instead.

Why did I change my mind? I guess the first reason was my own six year old daughter. She's old enough to want to know what my costume is, and I guess that makes you look at things in a certain way. I just couldn't feel comfortable at the school Halloween fest in a pimp costume, and I'm pretty sure not everyone would be down with it. And that's OK. I think that's as it should be. Pimps really aren't at all cool.

But none of that is the point of this post. The point of this post is what this little pimp costume experience made me ask myself next: If I and so many other people I know would be uncomfortable with a pimp costume on Halloween, why are we not equally uncomfortable with costumes featuring guns, hatchets, gore, death, soldiers, murderers, etc...???

Why do we work to teach our children about respect for others in so many ways and yet surround them continually with casual depictions of violence? Come to think of it, I'm not sure this post has a precise point. Just Halloween and a full moon making me think about America. :)

[Nikki Stone1]

1. Just the fact that you would THINK about a pimp costume when you have a daughter

Just scummy.

Unrec.

[Truth2Tell]

4. That's pretty harsh.

Do you think a pimp costume would be inappropriate at an adult costume party? How about an axe murderer costume? Or a Hitler costume?

Do you think the context matters, or is a pimp costume always wrong? Because when I considered the context I chose not to go there tonight. But I guess I'm scummy.

[EFerrari]

2. This holiday is about rule breaking, maybe controlled rule breaking.

It's not Christmas with its attendant narrative about a holy family or the Fourth with its celebration of nationalistic icons.

So dressing as a pimp on this holiday is not an endorsement of pimphood in any way. It's actually more of a measure of our repudiation of pimps normally. It's carnival, where things are upside down.

[woo me with science]

24. +1 nt

[valerief]

3. When I think of Halloween, I think zombies. You can have zombie ballerinas,

zombie soldiers, zombie accountants, zombie superheroes, zombie doctors, zombie puppies, zombie robots, zombie anythings!

Treats could be tins of sardines, cuz fish is brain food.

Hell, we're already teevee zombies. Why not celebrate it?
:shrug:

[gmoney]

7. save it for your next trip to the Acorn office near you!

[waiting for hope]

8. I hear ya -

A neighbor of ours dressed like a stripper .. she has three boys, oldest one is 7. I had to question her judgment on that one, what kind of message does that send her sons?

[Truth2Tell]

9. yea, I might be willing to go as a pimp

to an all adult costume party.

[waiting for hope]

10. Lots of things you could go as at an

adult party .. but walking around the neighborhood trick or treating with your kids? Eh, not so good.

[Truth2Tell]

14. Yet how about walking around the neighborhood

trick or treating with your kids as a storm trooper or an axe murderer? Why is that also not generally considered eh, not so good?

[waiting for hope]

19. Unfortunatley, some of those costumes

are in with the current fad that is out - Star Wars I don't have a problem with only because it's a character and one that does not exist. Axe Murderer though .. I find that to be a bit ghoulish.

[sandnsea]

11. Halloween is kind of about gore and death

I think the sexy/funny stuff came later. I also think there are probably some gorey costumes that might be too much for a school event too.

[Truth2Tell]

15. Why are we so much more comfortable

with an entire holiday about gore and death than we would be about a holiday about sex?

[valerief]

5. Fundies love gore. Hate (fear?) sex. nt

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

12. They sure like to have kids. Kind of hard to hate sex and have lots of kids.

[dysfunctional press]

6. you haven't heard of valentine's day...?

huh...i thought everyone had. :shrug:

[REP]

13. Perhaps you should educate yourself about the history of this festival

Gory, gruesome costumes are far more appropriate than 'nice' ones. Read a little; learn a lot.

[bumblebee1]

16. I met a couple who went to an adult Halloween party dressed as a pimp and ho.

She was the pimp, he was the ho. I put on his makeup while she dressed.

[lapfog_1]

17. We had a haunted house this year

Complete with vampires and Freddy Kruger and me (mad scientist), along with assorted corpses and ghouls.

It's a small town in a very red state, but I'm still surprised at the number of 9-14 year old boys that come as GI Joe or Army Ranger or Sniper guy or something like it.

Only one Darth Vader (on a very small kid).

Lots of little girls dressed as Tinkerbell or Princess or similar.

Some animal costumes, especially for the really young set (3 and under).

Usual assortment of witches and vampires (pre-teens, I guess New Moon and those movies had an effect).

No pimps. Even among the older teens.

Number of older teen girls dressed like they could be hookers or street walkers, but that's not the "official" theme to their costume, just how they dressed (micro minis and Vicky's Secret).

[Joe the Liberal]

18. Because In America, violence is ok and sex isn't......

It's ok for little billy to see some guy get his head chopped off with blood spouting out of his throat like a fountain but god forbid he should ever see a little nudity.

Same with video games, little billy can play some of the most violet and gruesome games out there but just make sure there is no nudity in those games or else everyone panics and DEMANDS they get pulled off the shelf.

[Truth2Tell]

20. I agree.

although on a side note, a pimp costume really isn't about sex at all. It's much more a costume about violence and subjugation of women. Quite different than nudity or sexuality. More equivalent to an axe murderer costume IMO. So I guess my question is why would most people seem to agree that the pimp costume should be a no-go around children, but an axe murderer costume around kids seems to raise few eyebrows?

[Withywindle]

22. Well, it's also a kind of masculine fashion.

The pop-cultural idea of the "pimp" and the costumes that go with that really comes from 70s movies, and what it really does in that context is give straight men an opportunity to wear purple glitter and leopard print and feather boas and fanciful hats and the like WITHOUT having their all-important heterosexuality questioned. (Don't get me started on the racial issues....no, really, don't.)

[rpannier]

21. Can't endorse you going as a pimp

I have higher standards than to dress up as Mitch McConnell or John Boehner even if it is Halloween

[Historic NY]

23. Could have been a pimp lobbyist.

[lillypaddle]

25. You'd think that many here had never had a bad idea

but then thought better of it. At least you were thinking.

[NuttyFluffers]

26. because halloween is the liminal night of the year; rules fade, logic blurs, morals questioned...

and all in the name of good clean fun! :evilgrin:

it's the most wonderful time of the year!

i wish autumn and October were year round. i wish we had more than one night for Halloween. i wish that delightful liminal space could invade and corrode all the stifling and boring structure we have to endure the rest of the year. horror, fear, the unknown, supposed "rules breaking", etc. is all good for the soul when we have it in a ritualistic format. the rituals give mental and social framework to explore darker manifestations of our character and come away with a richer awareness of who we are and why we behave in certain ways. by being the 'other' for a moment, even a malevolent other, allows us to build empathy while indulging already accrued pathos.

it's a delightful thing and wholly cleansing for everyone involved, if you can get into the spirit of it.