Calling time on the Halloween ‘not like other girls’ and their internalised misogyny

Every year, women are confined to two separate categories dependent on their Halloween costumes: the funny girls, and the hoes. Funny girls will dress up as anything from Teletubbies to bottles of ketchup, whereas hoes will wear their lingerie and dress as devils, vampires, and cats. This has been an issue for as long as we can remember, but what is it with the current climate of girls shaming other girls for their choice of costume?

Whether you're dressed in an Ann Summers bodysuit and devil horns, or you've decided to go dressed as a Teletubby, your costume is equally valid and should not be used to reinforce some patriarchal Madonna/whore dichotomy.

better the devil you know

We're used to the banal and blatant misogyny of men pissed off that the women dressed in a sexual and provocative way have no intention of sleeping with them. Corporations refused to make Halloween costumes anything other than hyper-sexualised (how could we forget the sexy Ebola costume?), and now that women have reclaimed their sexuality, men aren't too happy about it.

But we can ignore the clearly bitter and sexually frustrated boys who bought a £4.99 Purge mask from eBay as their costume (because quite frankly we shouldn't care less what they think). Less easy to ignore, however, are the women who think they're somehow special or kooky for not dressing up in an overtly sexual way.

You've seen the tweets. The incessant "I'M NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS" narrative which only further perpetuates the virgin/whore perception. It's a lose-lose situation, dividing and shaming women as a product of internalised misogyny. Whether it's jealousy or snobbery, why do these girls want to ruin other girls' nights out? A funny outfit is still funny without shaming anyone else.

your internalised misogyny is showing hun

Feminism is about choice. The choice to embrace your sexuality (or reclaim the one thrust upon you), or to make a lighthearted joke about your love for a certain fried food. If women can't be encouraged to choose by their own fellow women, we know men definitely won't.

Whether you're dressing up as a chicken dipper or a plastic surgery patient, post your photos on Instagram and Twitter, but find a caption other than "other girls vs me".

Because, in the words of Mean Girls, "Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it".