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OPINIONS.

 

Hallo-wear what you want

[ts your prerogative

| Natalie
Serafini
Assistant Editor

assistant@ theotherpress.ca

t's a well-known and oft-
joked about subject that
Halloween brings together two
such juxtaposed images: young
children running around in
pursuit of candy and young
women in costumes that reveal
more than they conceal. Being
the vociferous society that we are
when it comes to slut shaming,
of course these sexy costumes
have attracted the leers, guffaws,
and judgement of many—those
perpetrators of risqué dress can’t
possibly expect anything else!
Some of this judgement
originates from a concern for
young women’s safety. While
I acknowledge that rape and
sexual assault are extremely real
concerns, directing judgement
at women for what they wear—
even from a well-intended place
of concern—doesn’t make sense.
You cannot blame a victim for
the actions of a perpetrator of
violence. To place judgement
or blame on someone for being
raped (“If you hadn’t worn
that...” “If you hadn’t been
out alone at night...” “If you’d

been more aware...”) is to
absolve the actual guilty party

of any wrongdoing. It’s not the
victim's fault that they were
assaulted. It’s the rapist or sexual
assaulter’s fault for being a
sexual assaulter.

Let me put it another way:
so-called appropriate attire is
subjective, and the line between
sexy and skanky differs for
everyone. I don’t care where
that line is. Clothing—or lack
thereof—doesn’t give anyone
licence to mistreat you. Rape

being. In fact, I'd say they’re a
pretty awful human being.
Since we've established that
rape is inexcusable even if the
victim was wearing a practically
non-existent bumblebee
costume, let’s move onto the
assumptions about women and
their sex lives. Unless you’re in
a relationship with the person,
you're not in a position to make
judgements. This is because you

know nothing about their sex life

and it’s none of your affair.
Circling all of these

think comments, judgements,
abuse, or assault are justified,

or that there is an asterisk for
revealing Slave Leia costumes.

I also don’t think so-called
promiscuity—whether actual or
supposed—says anything about
a person’s worth.

One concern attached to a
woman “not respecting herself”
by wearing revealing attire is
the unsolicited concern that
the woman won't be respected
by men: she'll find herself in a
series of one-night stands; no

lt assumes a womans reputation from Halloween will follow her throughout
her life, and that shell be a social leper as a result. A costume doesnt define
who you are—if anything, its an opportunity to not be yourself for a night.

predates the miniskirt. Sexual
assault has nothing to do with
what the victim is wearing and
everything to do with power.
Regardless, even if rape were
something that could be avoided
simply by covering up, that
still says nothing about the
victim and everything about
the perpetrator of violence.

If someone’s being decent is
contingent on what I wear,
they’re not a decent human

unjustified assumptions—that
sexual assault is excusable if
the victim didn’t wear enough
clothing, or that leering
bystanders have the right to
talk about another person’s sex
life—is the idea that a woman
must have no self-worth if she
appears to be promiscuous.
Because society assumes that she
has no self-worth, it becomes
acceptable to trash-talk, abuse,
and even assault her. I don’t

man will put forth the effort
to get to know her as a person;
they'll never introduce her to
their parents; she won't even be
a bridesmaid at other women’s
weddings; she'll die alone, a
destitute alcoholic.

Bullshit. That logic assumes
a woman’s reputation from
Halloween will follow her
throughout her life, and that

she'll be a social leper as a result.

A costume doesn’t define who

you are—if anything, it’s an
opportunity to not be yourself
for a night. But let’s say you

are the sort of person who

likes to wear fun and risqué
clothing on a daily basis: this fact
won't set your life on a tragic
track towards dead, destitute
alcoholic.

I’m planning on being a
mermaid for Halloween. This
will likely mean exposing a
substantial amount of midriff
and back, leaving little to the
imagination. I’m not doing
it because I've suffered some
emotional trauma. I’m not
doing it because I don’t respect
myself. I’m not doing it because
I’m “asking for it.” I’m doing
it because it’s Halloween, I like
to dress up, and IJ think being
a mermaid will make for a fun
and cheap costume. As the great
Britney Spears once said, “that’s
my prerogative.” But suppose |
had suffered emotional trauma
or I didn’t respect myself: why
should that make me the topic of
criticism?

Returning to Spears and
her prerogative, I leave you
with this thought: “Everybody’s
talking all this stuff about me,
why don’t they just let me live?
I don’t need permission, make
my own decisions. That's my
prerogative.”

 

Giving the reins to our politicians

Have the youth given up?
Sarah Khan, Contributor

s a naive youth, I often

feel I have no choice but
to passively watch as our
politicians run our province.
Theoretically, my views should
be at least somewhat reflected
in our democratic state, but they
aren't always.

This September, I had
the privilege of attending the
youth forum for Charting
BC’s Economic Future. Hosted
by SFU Public Square’s
Community Summit, the
forum's purpose was to engage
the youth from secondary
and post-secondary schools,
policymakers, politicians, and
other stakeholders, and to come
up with solutions to social,
environmental, and economic
challenges.

I went into the forum feeling
guilty that I didn’t actually
know a lot about BC’s economy.
I felt like an intruder as I helped

myself to free food. However, as
I began talking to other youth,

I realized that most of us only
had a rudimentary knowledge
of economics, yet we were all
driven to make a difference in
our community.

Our first speaker, Matt
Hern, challenged us to rethink
economic growth. As a PhD
lecturer on Urban Studies and
Education, Hern insisted that
a country’s gross domestic
product (GDP) cannot measure
levels of happiness among its
citizens. However, western
capitalism assumes that people
are more prosperous—and by
extension more satisfied—with
more wealth, because economic
growth fosters a better standard
of living. Are we truly happy if
we jeopardize our environment,
community, and our natural
resources along the way?

Hern said that prosperity
and happiness lay in
strengthening our communities
by sharing ideas, tools, and
resources in an organized way.
It’s true that we don’t all need a
lawn mower if individuals can
borrow one from a hardware

rental store or even a neighbour;
but do we want to bother

our neighbours with a petty
favour? We should. We need to
reintroduce the idea of sharing
and building relations with our
neighbours that goes beyond the

superficial pleasantries. This idea

forces us to think about saving
by utilizing all the existing
resources that we already have
at the tips of our fingers.
Hern’s presentation
was truly inspiring and
revolutionary, because it forced
me to look beyond the economic
figures of an economy and
into the purpose of economic
growth. We need to rethink
politics and economics, but
we cannot do that if we don’t
tweak the mindset behind the
use of our daily necessities.
And let’s not undermine the

significant role the youth have to

play. This forum reminded me
of the importance of how our

generation needs to stay civically

engaged. We are the present and
the future of our province; who
else should decide our fate but
us?

 

ast

Photo illustration courtesy of Joel McCarthy

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