Discrimination Issues Appearing during Halloween

Another example mentioned by the Vice article in 2015 shows a group of UCLA students “wearing blackface and wearing baggy clothes at a ‘Kanye Western’ party on campus.” When this incident spread on the news, major protests arose with the theme statement “Our Culture Is Not a Costume.” Clack, the author of the article, also mentions that similar blackface and brownface “parties” were thrown at fraternities and sororities in Arizona, California, Florida, and South Carolina. What is interesting is that the majority of these recent blackface incidents involved white people, just like in colonial America. These modern recent examples from just these past few years show how long the negative stereotypical practice of blackface has unfortunately stayed alive throughout American history.

Every year millions of kids get dressed up, knock on doors, and beg for candy. With Halloween just around the corner, you all are probably wondering where this strange tradition came from. Every year I have experienced this holiday and have done research on this topic. According to a 2014 Smithsonian.com article, stated by Natasha Geiling, in just one year Americans spent over six billion dollars on candy, costumes, and ghoulish decor in anticipation for Halloween. Many people think all Halloween is about dressing up and going trick or treating but there's more to it than that. The roots and variations from all around are what makes Halloween what it is today. In order to understand this holiday, we will go into the history of Halloween, how it's celebrated around the world, and superstitions revolving it.

Thesis Statement: How Halloween has evolved from what it once was to what is now.

The fear of Halloween can stem from a dislike or fear of the holiday's history. The root word of samhainophobia is Samhain, which is a Celtic word meaning summer’s end. They celebrated Samhain with huge bonfires where crops and animals were sacrificed. The Celts believed that on Samhain the veil between the land of the living and dead was thin, which allowed for ghost, spirits, and the devil himself to pass through to the land of the living. It was also believed the Druids-the Celts priest-could predict the future on Samhain. The Celts wore costumes both as disguises and for performing the sacrifices at the bonfires. Eventually Rome conquered the

The catholic, mexican holiday, Day of the Dead and the very westernized holiday Halloween may seem very alike with their traditions and themes, but in retrospect, they are very different and have very different origins. Halloween and Day of the Dead happen at the same time, end of October and beginning of November. The background of these two holidays are very spiritual and they have an interesting story of how the Halloween and day of the dead was created. In this essay, I will be talking about the how Halloween and Day of the Dead are celebrated , the origins of Day of the Dead and Halloween, and decorations and celebrations of Day of the Dead and Halloween. Both Day of the Dead and Halloween deal with spooky traditions but they are very different than the stereotypical thought that they are just weird, scary holidays but after reading some background to these two holidays, many people realize there is a lot more to Halloween and Day of the Dead.

Celebrated on October 31st, the festival of Halloween (also known as Samhain) includes dressing in costume, trick or treating, and decorating. Tracing back in history Halloween is considered to be one of America’s oldest holidays, and is still celebrated today. Halloween is believed to come from Celtic rituals. Celtics believed the cosmological myth of Saman (Lord of the Dead). Saman would call on the souls of the people that passed away that year to take them to the afterlife or underworld; the Celtic underworld identifies with the Christian Hell. In order for the spirits to believe they were on their own, the living would wear costumes and mask their identities, along with fairies, witches and demons. This functions as a cosmological myth because it provides a creation story and framework in which this universe occupies and includes many other realms of existence. Another tradition that followed was to give food to the Saman, to persuade him to be more tolerant while he judged the dead ancestors of the living, which he would chose to take to the underworld. In this essay I will further investigate what the origins of Halloween consist of and how it offers reasoning for trick-or-treating. Also I will examine how trick-or-treating, which is still continued today, is connected to ancient Celtic festivals.

Entering the taboo world of mental illness, stigmatized as the crazy and psychotic by decades of

When one is exposed to a different culture, he or she may experience a deviance. An example of a deviance behavior that is violating a culturally practice is wearing a Halloween costume to a grand business meeting. In any business meetings, the ideal attire is to dress up and act in the professional you want to be (Shandrow, 2014). Men are suppose to dress clean and be crispy looking from head to toe by wearing a suit, tie, black pants, and shiny shoes while women are dress with a blouse, blazer, and dress pants or a skirt that isn’t too short. Mainly, one should dress up appropriately to who the audience is. In contrast, dressing in a Halloween costume is

Have you ever heard anyone talk about blackface? This paper will break down all the parts and history about the researcher's topic. The white people thought of black people, how they used, and how black people reacted to it. It was a very inappropriate thing for black people. There was no reason for the harsh cartooning. Blackface was how white people set a reputation for African-Americans. Lots of people say it was made what white people saw in African-Americans. Blackface took over the entertainment industry, but ended because of the reaction from African-Americans all over the United States.

“Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” This quote comes to us from one of the main characters in the hit movie Mean Girls (2004). Even though this line is in fact quite satirical, unfortunately in our society today it also could not be more accurate. We are long past the days of Halloween being scary and we are certainly past the days when Halloween was a remembrance for loved ones who have been lost. Looking sexy and feeling sexy is now the common goal for many. By examining Halloween throughout the past decades we can see how this holiday, and the costumes that now accompany it have been morphed into the money making, sexualized and sexist holiday that we know

C. Thesis Statement: Going from what the meaning of Halloween is in America today and looking back at it’s roots, it has evolved dramatically. And just recently we have been seeing a comeback from one of those roots, but do we know it’s real cultural significance?

Mise-En-Scene - Costume The aspect mise-en-scene that I have chosen to analyze in the movie City of God is the Costumes. The filmmakers utilized the costumes of the characters to show a growth of the characters; one that goes from good to bad or vice versa. Throughout the movie, there is a reference to God and to the name of the city which is the 'City of God'. To establish a difference between the innocent people of the city and the hoodlums of the city the filmmakers designed the costumes of the innocent to be more bright and white whereas the hoodlum's costumes wore dark solid colors often times very dirty and disheveled.

Today in America, the tradition of wearing costumes on Halloween is more about fun, and going door to door to collect candy instead of hiding from sprits that were once thought to roam

In response to the article about Halloween costumes, I agree Halloween is meant for fun, but people should be able to wear whatever costumes they want. However, I do realize costumes that are of murderers, using blackface, and blatantly racist costumes are in no way acceptable. Costume that copy cultures with no malicious intent are in no way offensive.

In contrary to popular belief, costumes aren’t only for superheroes and Halloween. Costumes communicate something about the person wearing it. It also communicates something about the role they’re playing. People form impressions based on what they glean from the costume. The same way good-looking people are seen as kind, and well groomed job applicants as more competent, we see Superman, with his square jaw, his powerful posture, and his colorful latex suit as a superhero. Similarly, people tend to view old and unattractive people as unfriendly, the same way they see, say, nose-less Lord Voldemort as the epitome of unfriendliness. Catwoman, in her daunting leather suit, communicates style, sensuality and