originally published October 27th, 2010…but it’s been updated for 2013!
Cady’s thoughts: in the real world Halloween was a time for little kids to dress up in scary costumes. in girl world it was the one night a year a girl could dress like a total slut and no other girls could say anything about it. The hard core girls just wore lingerie and some form of animal ears. unfortunately no one told me this rule so i showed up like this.
I remember the first time that I first heard this quote from Mean Girls and thought, “Wow. Someone really captured what I have been seeing over the years.” I remember our church had an alternative halloween event for youth where you had to dress as your favorite biblical character. Of course 98% of the girls chose Esther, but then there was always that one girl who chose to really live on the edge and don a bathrobe portraying Bathsheba. Nope—that wasn’t me. I always liked to pick the obscure people like Rhoda the servant girl. (look her up–she’s real.)
My church leaders never began a top 5 list of biblical costumes that girls should not be allowed to show up to do the apple dunk in. Just for kicks,this is what I think that list would have looked like:
5. Rahab
4. Bathsheba
3. Woman at the well
2. Potiphar’s wife
1. Eve before the fall
I hope that our readers will choose to speak into the lives of girls this Halloween to begin some conversations regarding their costume choices. Or perhaps we can just hope the coolest girl in school latches on to my 2013 secret Halloween viral campaigns:
“Hazmat suits = the new bunny costume”
“covered head to toe is the way to go”
“mummies & modest monsters= eye candy”
Or maybe the following web badges will start spreading onto the “cool girl’s” facebook profile pics:
But in all seriousness, here’s an activity you can do with some of the girls you mentor to begin talking about Halloween Costumes:
Have girls use markers, pencils, glue, and old magazines to design a halloween costume for each member of their family—including pets.
Use those drawings to begin to talk about why they chose those costumes.
ASK: Did those costumes represent something about that person?
What do you think your costume represents about you?
Why do you think girls choose to wear costumes that are often innapropriate?
What do you think the message is regarding those costume choices?
How does Ephesians 3:5 impact the costume we may choose to wear?
What a huge help this was to me today! I’m doing a talk Friday morning to a group of girls about modesty and was struggling for right now examples because the clothes are a bit more covering now than during spring and summer. I’m thinking we’ll have a race to make modest mummy costumes out of tp. Thanks, again!
Kate,
Thanks–I’m glad it was helpful. I saw your blog and site. Very cool! I would love to interview you for a segment on here sometime if you would be interested.
Great idea about The Freshmen 15:)
A great site I’d like to recommend on Modesty-www.ModelingChrist.com. A professional fashion model and Bible school grad that teaches the importance of modesty in today’s society as a speaker and author. (She’s also my wife-shameless plug!) Modest is Hottest!
I agree with you one hundred percent. Why do girls feel the need to wear as little as possible on Halloween? I also wonder how parents let their daughters go out into the chilly night without the proper attire. I think that talking to the girls is a must because we have to be good role models for them. However, I think that parents need to be reminded that it’s okay to say no to a skimpy outfit. Parents these days see skimpy Halloween costumes as a fashion trend that everyone seems to be following; but they should keep sure to feel comfortable about what their child is wearing and that it’s their right to say no to an outfit that is unacceptable.