“In girl world Halloween is the one time of year a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it,” Cady Heron once said in “Mean Girls.”

Whether it’s because women want to dress cute for themselves, or to impress others, the standards placed on women for Halloween are continuously unattainable. Based on the women’s costumes sold in stores across the country, women are expected to dress sexily every Halloween night. This perpetuates the idea that a woman’s singular purpose on Halloween is to be desired.

Sexy nurse, sexy cowgirl, sexy studded gladiator and sexy pirate are just a few of the costumes offered for women each year. Women are expected to dress sexily on Halloween, to the point that it’s easier to find costumes with the word “sexy” in the title than it is to find one without.  

However, there is an element of hypocrisy in society’s standards for women on Halloween. For years women have been judged for their choice of Halloween costumes. If we choose to dress scary, showing little to no skin while wearing a freaky mask, we are weird prudes who don’t know how to have fun. But, if we decide to dress revealingly in fairy wings, lingerie and sparkly makeup we are just looking for attention.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because I love dressing up in a cute outfit and doing my makeup in a way I have never tried before. But as I get ready each Halloween a feeling of doubt and insecurity lingers in the back of my mind.

What if I look stupid? What if people think I’m a whore? Is my costume just an invitation for objectification?

The interesting thing about these questions is that there’s no way to please all of society’s expectations in one night. In all actuality, people are always going to have something to say about the way women dress on Halloween, so give them something to talk about.

If dressing in lingerie and wearing a pair of bunny ears is what feels best on Halloween night, embrace the judgmental stares and questions about what you are. Wearing a Scream mask and a long black robe is another way to prove the fact that women can be whatever they want to be on Halloween.

No matter what women wish to be on Halloween, it’s going to come with backlash and questions about why women also dress slutty on this holiday. So, wear the sexy costume, or cover yourself in fake blood and dress in the ugly witch wig and poofy dress.

Chloe Robertson is an opinion writer. Contact her at [email protected]