Halloween: an Orientalist's Holiday

In my opinion, it is very clear that Americans are commonly stuck in an Orientalist mindset. Although this is very unfortunate, I think it is painfully clear. Surprisingly, I think that this mindset becomes clear on a holiday that is an American favorite, Halloween.

On Halloween, some Americans accidentally display their Orientalist mindsets with their costume choices. In recent years, the cultural appropriation that occurs in Halloween costumes has begun to gain some media attention. Many Americans have began to appropriate cultures other than their own in their offensive Halloween costumes.

For example, a common Halloween costume that shows the Orientalist mindset is the "genie" costume. This shows the Orientalist mindset of many Americans who choose this costume because they are taking an aspect of another culture and turning it into a costume for them to show off on Halloween while knowing nothing of true value about the culture that they are appropriating.

Another example of an offensive and Orientalist costume is the "geisha" costume. Some Americans choose this costume without knowing what a traditional Geisha is or the culture behind them. Similar to the genie costume, this shows the Orientalist mindset because Americans take this aspect of Japanese culture and manipulate it into a costume that demeans the culture and tradition.

Although Halloween is a fun holiday for adults and children alike, Americans need to become more aware that they may be appropriating and manipulating for a costume without being educated on the culture behind their costume.