31 October 2007

The Ghost in the Shell

It seems lately I keep getting into discussions about why Halloween is so appealing - specifically why it's so appealing for members of the fairer sex to dress in far more revealing clothes than normal. It seems as though we're still wearing the costumes of our youth, only updated for adults. Alice in Wonderland becomes Slutty Alice in Wonderland. Indian Princess becomes Slutty Indian Princess. Ronald Reagan mask is replaced by Slutty Ronald Reagan mask. You get the picture.

The appeal seems obvious to me - it's the generic appeal for everyone on Halloween. It's a night to get a free pass.

It's a night where we are specifically instructed not to be ourselves. Now, I won't get into how silly it is to have a socially sanctioned night to go against social sanctions, but for the most part, we're supposed to act differently. We are supposed to let loose and be someone else, live for one night as a vampire, a mummy, an abstract concept. Our behavior changes along with our outfit.

Today is a day of release. It's a day where mischievous behavior is acceptable and even expected. It's a day where all of the sins committed are not even written down or recorded. A day with no authority figure.

So why do some girls dress like Disney-themed prostitutes on this night? Because they're allowed to. Like we're all allowed to play a part - because humans need to not be themselves every once in a while. And we're such pack animals that we only feel safe stepping outside that boundary when the rest of our society says it's alright too.

I remember when I put on my pink polo, popped the collar and borrowed Taylor's Croakies and sunglasses to go to Target. I wanted to experience life differently. I wanted to have people judge me differently based on my appearance. When I dressed in Hunter's clothes for Christmas Dinner - it was a similar situation.

So my question has never been why people dress radically but why they need permission to do it. Why do we insist on only stepping outside our norms when its socially acceptable? Doesn't that sort of negate the entire thing? We cannot really step outside ourselves unless its marginally unsafe. Halloween offers a safe environment for experimentation. But the experimentation is limited by it. To really toy around with being someone else, you have to do it without the net. In order to be seen differently by people - to experience what it's like when you dress a different way or act a different way - their reactions can't be watered down by the social acceptability of it all.

Go trick-or-treating on May 4th, and you'll see what I mean.

The day that we're allowed to dress like freaks is arbitrary anyway. It could have been any day. It could still be any day. Fifty years from now, we might be celebrating a different holiday on a different day that celebrates wearing masks and playing dress up. We should be challenging - or at least playing around with - these human constructs. Talk to people you've never met. Introduce yourself in the elevator. Don't blend into the background of people who are awaiting permission to act oddly. Live your life based on whims. Wear a mask next week. Experience life through the eyes of someone else - real or imaginary. Be homeless for a week. Take a road trip without telling anyone. Paint a picture. Go build a house. The world is not set in stone. It's been defined, but it can be erased and redefined and redefined again.

What does this have to do with dressing appropriately inappropriate? I'm not sure. But I think it's telling that when given permission to go crazy, we usually do.

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