By Alexa Faria
Contributing Writer

As Halloween approaches, people brainstorm costume ideas. During this process people think of anything and everything to be.

These ideas can be anything from absolutely terrifying to more promiscuous. Many social stigmas are created during Halloween.

These costumes can often be controversial. Halloween originally consisted of more scary costumes; however, traditions have changed. The controversy occurs when people are not wary of who they could be affecting when choosing their Halloween costume.

By wearing something as a costume for Halloween it signifies that the person, or thing, you are dressing up as, has some value that makes it scary, funny, or even just socially acceptable to joke about.

Halloween costumes often victimize those with mental illness. If people wear straitjackets on Halloween it instills this idea of fear, or insanity.

People that have to wear straight jackets on a regular basis are usually suffering from an unpleasant illness that does not allow an individual complete control of their own body.

If an individual experiences mental illness it is not pleasant, and it is not something to mock.

Dressing up as someone who is mentally ill for Halloween reinforces the social stigma that these individuals are “crazy.”

People suffering from these diseases already have a difficult time acquiring help for their illness. The additional stress and mockery from Halloween costumes does not help with this stress.

An individual should not dress up as a person with a disease for Halloween, along with many other things.

People experience many different things throughout their lifetime, so it is important for individuals to be cautious and respect other people, as well as with themselves.

Another common social stigma that affects mostly young women is the idea that their costume needs to be sexually revealing.

This means that if a young girl wants to be a dog for Halloween, this costume may be a fitted dress, and heels, with the addition of ears.

Halloween expectations change depending on an individual’s age, which correlates to the evolution of the costumes individuals choose to wear.

Although as people get older they have the choice to wear whatever they want, it is important to be respectful.

During this time it is important to be cautious of the social stigmas that have been created over time and how they are truly hurtful.

Halloween is supposed to be in good spirits, so do have fun, but make sure you are respecting everyone’s identities and individual life experiences.