Halloween costumes

Halloween in Shanghai was interesting this year, as a fair number of young people chose to wear costumes that delivered not-very-subtle insults to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, including dictator Xi Jinping.

An Ohio sheriff’s office has come under fire for dressing their horses up like “ghosts” for Halloween that were eerily reminiscent of the KKK.

A Seattle elementary school has canceled its Halloween “Pumpkin Parade” because the school district says black males do not celebrate the holiday and feel marginalized by it.

Party City is reportedly working to remove Civil War kids costumes from its franchise stores following complaints last week from a mother in Arlington, Virginia.

Michigan State University has been displaying costume sensitivity flyers in dormitory hallways in order to caution students about how their Halloween costumes may be perceived by others.

One of Kamala Harris’s (D-CA) presidential campaign staffers is taking Halloween to an entirely new level when it comes to political rivals. 

A presenter at a workshop hosted by Maryville University made the case that “cultural appropriation” on Halloween amounts to “cultural genocide.”

Dickinson College officials created a set of Halloween costume guidelines that are designed to stop students from engaging in “cultural appropriation.”

A Rutgers University professor recently published a column in the Philadelphia Inquirer that makes the case that certain Halloween costumes, like the “Sexy Mr. Rogers” costume, reinforce “gender norms.”

An Idaho school district is conducting an investigation after a photo of teachers dressed for Halloween as Mexicans and the border wall went viral.

Two LGBT groups condemned Amazon for selling a Caitlyn Jenner parody Halloween costume this week, with LGBT rights organization Stonewall encouraging Amazon to take it “off the shelves.”

Entertainment streaming platform Hulu reminded its customers to wear “culturally appropriate” Halloween costumes this year in order to be “respectful to others,” in a tweet that has since been deleted.

Fashion brand Yandy posted a “brave red maiden” costume based on the dystopic Handmaid’s Tale book and television series but removed it under a tsunami of criticism.

Colleges around the country are gearing up for Halloween by warning students about the consequences of wearing “offensive” costumes.

In a latest measure to create a “safe space” for students, a number of universities have issued “costume protocol,” banning such un-PC Halloween costumes as Arab turbans, feathered Indian headdresses, Japanese Geisha outfits, and Caitlyn Jenner costumes.

According to a blog post from administrators at the University of Florida, students offended by insensitive Halloween costumes are being provided with around-the-clock counseling services.

The Washington Post has published a piece questioning whether costumes worn by dogs at Halloween are sexist because they perpetuate gender stereotypes.

The heated battle over cultural insensitivity at Yale University has a new victim: Science.

A twisted string of allegations about racism on the campus of Yale University led hundreds of students to protest Monday, just days after a conference on the future of free speech was disrupted by allegations of racism and two weeks after protests against alleged racism and cultural insensitivity were held over student Halloween costumes.

A growing trend among Christian families is dressing children as saints for Halloween, rather than as ghouls or witches, to take back the celebration of the “Hallowed Eve” of the Feast of all Saints.