Gender and Halloween
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FALL 2013
ROBERT WONSER
Halloween Costumes: Then and Now
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Halloween Costumes: Then and Now
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Halloween Costumes: Then and Now
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Halloween Costumes: Then and Now
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Boy and Girl “Toddler” Cookie Monster Costumes
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Gender and Kids Costumes
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 Boys will be boys and
girls will be girls….
When Sexy Overtakes All Reason
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 Sexy Chucky
 Sexy Nemo
 Sexy Brian
 (from Family
 Guy)
 Sexy Crayon
Sexy Femininity and Gender Inequality
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A Halloween Gender Binary
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How dressing up at Halloween becomes a way to ‘do gender’.
A Halloween Gender Binary
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A Halloween Gender Binary
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A Halloween Gender Binary
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A Halloween Gender Binary
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Sexy ‘Body Bag’ Costume
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 Although she doesn’t have much of a
personality, she is still drop dead
gorgeous in this body bag dress, I’m
sure you have the personality and in
this you will be gorgeous. Stretch satin
mini dress with hood and a two way
zipper front which can zip all the way
up the hood, this is sleeveless and has
a vest style finish at the back. One
breast has an outline of a body printed
on to it an PROPERTY OF THE
CORONER. Pack includes Coroners
name tag fitted to a choker Jane Doe
and matching fingerless gloves. (3
piece set). Fabrics are listed as 95%
polyester and 5% spandex. and other
accessories are available separately.
The Sexualization of Children: Harem Girl
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 What?!
What Do Sexy Halloween Costumes for Men Look Like?
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 Rest Assured men:
… the joke is that he is a
perfect candidate for casual
sex (the “one night stand”)
What Do Sexy Halloween Costumes for Men Look Like?
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 While women’s
sexy costumes are
typically decidedly
sexy (tight with
lots of exposed
skin), these men’s
“sexy” costumes
are simply
suggestive. In two
cases, they
“suggest” that men
should be sexually
serviced or played
with (the
“breathalyzer” and
the “ring toss”):
What Do Sexy Halloween Costumes for Men Look Like?
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 The “Hustler”
Men Dressing up as Fat Women, cuz it’s hilarious?
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“Sexy” What?!
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 Snow Owl
 Gnome
 Sexy Maccaw
More “Sexy” What?!
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 Sexy Ernie
 Sexy Hamburger
 Sexy
 Chinese
 Take-out
Archives: Halloween
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 More Halloween Costumes!
 http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2007/10/30/
halloween-costumes/
Heteronormativity and Halloween Costumes
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“heteronormativity” refers to a persistent privileging
of “opposite”-sex couples and the relative invisibility of
people who partner with others of their “same” sex. For
people who aren’t heterosexual, these Halloween
costumes are just one more example of how they aren’t
recognized or validated by our society.
Vintage Ad
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 While certainly
encouraging women to
play to the male gaze,
suggested bewitching
men instead of exposing
as much flesh as possible: