THE WHORE SHIP LOLLIPOP

Wonder Woman and Hawk Girl costumes

The Today Show ran a story this morning about the provocative Halloween costumes of little girls. One mother interviewed felt strongly that her child’s Wonder Woman costume required a turtle neck beneath it in order to be G-rated. They also showed Hawk Girl as one of the offenders, as was the French maid, the midriff-showing cheerleader, and a witch in high heels.

Just for a little bit of perspective, I offer these pictures of this little Brittany “see my cooter” Spears-esque darling from the 1930’s. If I can see Shirley Temple’s underpants, then the hooker must have bad parents? Perhaps, we are over-demonizing just a bit. Not that I want my child to dress like a Bratz doll or a French maid, but have these people been to White Water lately?



The truth is, appropriate dress is more about context than absolute rules. What we wear to White Water or the Table Rock Lake is not what we should wear to school. What we wear on Halloween is not appropriate for a wedding. It’s all about context. Halloween is about costumes, about being someone else, about fun and acting and playing dress up.