“In the real world, Halloween is when kids dress up in costumes and beg for candy. In girl world, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it,” Cady Herron from the movie Mean Girls said.

When did Halloween become the acceptable time for girls to show off everything they got? Don’t get me wrong all of my friends and I have fallen into the trap of Halloween. Sophomore year my friends and I wore pencil skirts claiming to be different animals.

“Just girls being girls,” Sam Kozak (’18) said.

In the age of feminism with so much pressure on girls being equal, what makes Halloween a hall pass day to lose the progress many female activists work for the other 364 days of the year? I am not a female activist in the least; I am simply playing devil’s advocate as I watch myself along with the majority of other girls put on a tight outfit and claim to be a “cat” for yet another year.

I read Instagram rants frequently complaining about the degrading of women by men but are we just setting ourselves up for this? What makes it okay for us to prance around in costumes displaying our bodies?

I, along with many other girls, feel comfortable in my body and want to wear what makes us feel good. Sometimes a cute top and a skirt gives you this feeling and there is nothing wrong with that.

The problem occurs when girls complain about being sexualized for how they dress. Life isn’t fair, if you are showing maximum amounts of cleavage you are going to be looked at. I don’t make the rules, I’m just saying the sad reality. You are naive to think boys aren’t looking at your assets. Either be okay with it or stay covered.

“I think it’s the one time of the year where girls have an excuse to dress however they want and if it’s slutty then go for it because its ‘just a costume’ and it ‘doesn’t mean anything’,” said Lindsey McNicholas (’18).

Whatever you decide to do is okay I just don’t think girls should be hating on girls or being appalled by the fact that men will be commenting on how you look.

“I don’t really care what [girls] dress up as but I guess it could get to the point where you are revealing too much, but that rarely happens,” said Jack Drury (’18).

Courtney Butz (’20) questioned how girls don’t “die of frostbite” as many Halloween festivities occur outside here in the Zone.

A lot of girls wear costumes that are harmless or funny but, revealing too much does occur otherwise it wouldn’t be used in a popular cinema, mean girls.

I challenge girls this year to dress how they want but, to be confident and to not get upset when guys comment on how they look.

It may be the 21^st century but boys are still going to check girls out and people need to accept that. If you are trying to avoid being sexualized don’t put yourself in that situation for Halloweekend this year.