# Damn PC crap (Halloween related) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 30, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584 "2002-10-30T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/41 "2002-10-31T13:57:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rushgeekgirl \* > \*\* > > I suppose I should clarify. IF a student had on any costume that wasn’t “Career Wear” they were sent to the office. \*\* Someone should go with shoulder-high rubber gloves and go as one of those people who masturbates bulls 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/42 "2002-10-31T14:47:02Z")
My son’s school is having a Halloween parade and party; they alwasy have. They just said (this year-new principal) no masks. I believe this is probably because its hard to see very well with a mask and on the stairs, you know. This is my son’s favorite Holiday. Its fun, you can just feel the party atmosphere in the air (though here the high will be 44, so the air is chilly). We are definitely going out tonight. Boo! ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/43 "2002-10-31T15:32:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ivylass \* > \*\*The whole thing is so stupid. “Character from a Book” costume. Come on now. If you’d had them dress up on Sept 22 that would be one thing. But you’re having them do it on October 31. So you can call it whatever you want, it’s still a **HALLOWEEN** costume! > \*\* Screw 'em, I’d dress my kid as a Nazgul from LoTR and tell the school to kiss my ass. ---
**Author:** ![Macro\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Macro\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macro_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/44 "2002-10-31T15:32:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tisiphone \* > \*\* > > Cool. > > No more Disney Aladdin or Jasmine costumes! No Disney Pocahontas! No ninjas or samurai! > > Arguably, no pirates, as it shows insensitivity to seafaring cultures! No princes and princesses, as it implies feelings of superiority! No knights, as it reinforces a culture of violence! > > As I said, I can see banning blackface, but holy smokes, let’s keep some perspective here.\*\* If we can accept parodying one culture, why not another? Why can’t I dress up in black face, with a bucket of chicken under one arm and a watermelon under the other? Seriously, why is one an “homage” and the other offensive? Most black people don’t fit into this stereotype, but then again, most Japanese people aren’t ninjas, and most “indians” (native americans) don’t dress up in full ceremonal garb. And yet, otherwise logical people draw distinctions between these culural stereotypes. Not that I ever would want to dress up in blackface. I just think it’s hypocritical to distiguish between the cultures. BTW, I’m not against parodying all cultures. Quite the opposite. I think all cultures should be fair game for parody. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/45 "2002-10-31T16:00:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Why can’t I dress up in black face, with a bucket of chicken under one arm and a watermelon under the other? Seriously, why is one an “homage” and the other offensive? Well, some of the other imitations of perceived culture can also be offensive (warbonnets and painted faces with a bow and arrows, for example), but the reason that blackface/watermelon/chicken are offensive is that they were used with the _intent_ to be mocking and offensive in public performances for well over 100 years (and have continued to be used with the _intent_ to be insulting in private fora for a further 30+ years). If one sets out to be offensive, people are liable to associate that act with being offensive. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/46 "2002-10-31T16:02:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PunditLisa \* > \*\*My kids go to parochial school, so they are allowed to actually celebrate Easter and Christmas and wear Halloween costumes on Halloween. The administration sent home a note saying that the kids cannot wear costumes that depicting violence because it’s a Christian school. Which is a tad ironic because every classroom has a crucifix…In any event, I wonder what would happen if a kid came dressed as Jesus during the Passion or Ste. Joan of Arc?? \*\* In Catholic elementary school we did not dress up for Halloween, but we did come in dressed as our patron saint (usually who you are named after) on All Saints Day (November 1). Joan of Arc would be a fun one. Mine was an abbess so I got to wear a brown nun-type outfit; my brother is Justin so he wore a Roman robe type thing. All Saints is a holy day (Mass required) so all the kids went to church in their outfits so it was kind of fun and special even though it was the day after Halloween. I’ve thankfully blocked out most of high school (Catholic with dress code) but I vaguely remember that people may have worn costumes without restriction. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/47 "2002-10-31T16:14:38Z")
There is nothing happening at my son’s school. Not a Harvest Anything, no Halloween, no costumes, no candy, no nothing. Just another day that fundies suing schoolboards have taken from the children - a lot of whom already don’t have a lot of joy in their lives. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/48 "2002-10-31T16:17:48Z")
I grew up in a very very conservative Christian family, and the only rule on Halloween was that we couldn’t be a devil or a witch. Anything else went. Our house was always decked out to the gills, mom and dad dressed up, we had parties, made costumes from scratch and went trick or treating, late into the night with…and follow me here… NO ADULT SUPERVISION. It was a glorious time. I fear so much that when I finally have kids, trick or treating and the halloween I remember will be all but gone. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/49 "2002-10-31T17:14:54Z")
Also Christian and raised as one, and there were no restrictions on what costumes we could wear at all. I was a devil one year, a ghost another. Of course, look how I turned out, so be warned. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Kwyjibo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/59ef9b/32.png) [@Kwyjibo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kwyjibo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/50 "2002-10-31T17:38:20Z")
Somebody…please wake me up…this sort of thing CAN’T be happening… ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/51 "2002-10-31T18:07:52Z")
Hmm. Well here’s an opposing viewpoint. (Not specifically to the OP because I agree that it’s incredibly stupid to do everything to celebrate Halloween except call it Halloween.) I don’t participate in Halloween anymore. I don’t think there is anything good about the holiday. I don’t agree with the focus on horror and killing and previously dead things that are trying to harm you. I’m trying to focus my kid on the meaning behind holidays. I can’t see anything good about this one that she could focus on, therefore we don’t do it. **gobear** and **jayjay** , it is perfectly possible to not celebrate Halloween and not shield a kid from all of life’s unpleasantries. For instance, my daughter has experienced the death of her maternal grandmother from cancer. We’ve dealt with that and she’s fine. Her paternal grandmother, who lives with us, suffers from lupus and occassionally becomes violently ill and debilitated unexpectedly. The kid is not sheltered from this. It is a fact of like to her that people get sick and sometimes they die. But just because she’s encountered death before is no reason for us to cheapen it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@The\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tim)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/52 "2002-10-31T18:15:13Z")
Won’t somebody please think of the children!!! ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/53 "2002-10-31T19:31:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mornea \* > \*\*Hmm. Well here’s an opposing viewpoint. (Not specifically to the OP because I agree that it’s incredibly stupid to do everything to celebrate Halloween except call it Halloween.) > > I don’t participate in Halloween anymore. I don’t think there is anything good about the holiday. I don’t agree with the focus on horror and killing and previously dead things that are trying to harm you. I’m trying to focus my kid on the meaning behind holidays. I can’t see anything good about this one that she could focus on, therefore we don’t do it. > \*\* From _The Nightmare Before Christmas_, one of my kids’ favorite movies: “Life’s no fun without a good scare…” ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/54 "2002-10-31T19:59:09Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t agree with the focus on horror and killing and previously dead things that are trying to harm you. I’m trying to focus my kid on the meaning behind holidays. I can’t see anything good about this one that she could focus on, therefore we don’t do it Well, I’m not one to butt in on parenting techniques; I just think that if you try to make each and every occasion a Serious Event To Meditate on the True Meaning of the Day, you’re going to suck the joy out of some of life’s happiest moments. Look at the Mexican holiday of _El Dia de los Muertos_. There’s no killing, no horror. Mexican families gather together to remember family members who have passed on and go to their ancestors’ graves to clean up, bring flowers, and remember their loved ones, plus the kids get to eat candy skulls. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/55 "2002-10-31T20:11:11Z")
I sort of agree with gobear here. When you’re an eight year old kid, the “meaning” of Halloween is playing dress up and getting to wear makeup and getting gobs and gobs of what kids can only dream of: FREE CANDY. Nothing more, nothing less. My sister and I, completely of our own volition, never dressed in scary costumes. We were always fantasy creatures or funny things. My friends and I went as Christmas Carolers one year. It was a blast…no horror or death to be found. The day is what you make it. Just like any other holiday. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/56 "2002-10-31T21:31:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vunderbob \* > \*\* > > Screw 'em, I’d dress my kid as a Nazgul from LoTR and tell the school to kiss my ass. \*\* Um, you ARE aware that LotR is literature, right? :smack: I went to a Catholic school-and there were no rules on what costumes you could wear. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/57 "2002-10-31T21:33:54Z")
Where I live, the “meaning” of Halloween is teenaged council estate kids in shellsuits turning up at your door and demanding money. No costumes, nothing. I usually turn the lights off and the TV down all night, or plan to be out somewhere (like tonight, although that didn’t stop them coming into the pub and trying to collect money). ---
**Author:** ![SparrowHawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SparrowHawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SparrowHawk)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/58 "2002-10-31T22:28:53Z")
I think “Book Characters” is a great idea in the school context. The Hawklette’s school has always done that. The cool thing is that you _can_ be just about anything from Frankenstein to a Fairy Princess, a Nazgul to a Nene, depending on what you like to read. Their superintendent (who is male) used to dress up as Viola Swamp, the witchy substitute from “Miss Nelson Is Missing!” What a hoot. I think the intention is simply to connect reading with a cool, fun thing (dressing up). Nothing wrong with that. After all, it is still school. The high schoolers can dress as whatever they want and she swanned off this morning in full Elizabethan, complete with farthingale, bum roll, boned bodice and French Hood. Which she says she will have to take off in class because it’s a “hat.” Is a French Hood a hat thing or a hair thing? [It’s not exactly a snood](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=139502&perpage=50&pagenumber=1), more like a glorified headband with a veil. Taking it on and off will be a pain in the patootie, but it’s a toss-up if it will be worse than trying to use the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/59 "2002-10-31T23:20:36Z")
Well, with the book characters-that’s an educational thing, really. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584/60 "2002-11-01T00:17:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > \*\* Well, some of the other imitations of perceived culture can also be offensive (warbonnets and painted faces with a bow and arrows, for example), but the reason that blackface/watermelon/chicken are offensive is that they were used with the _intent_ to be mocking and offensive in public performances for well over 100 years (and have continued to be used with the _intent_ to be insulting in private fora for a further 30+ years). > > If one sets out to be offensive, people are liable to associate that act with being offensive. \*\* 'Zackly the difference I was unable to articulate. Thanks, **tomndebb**. On the other hand, a few years ago, I saw a guy that looked to be a dead ringer for Mr. T…until you saw his shirt rolled up and realized he was a white guy. Now that’s just cool. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-pc-crap-halloween-related/134584.md?page=4)