Ten years ago, children donned costumes galore and filled the neighborhood streets. Outfits ranged from ghosts and wizards, to more gender-specific getups, such as princesses and knights in shining armor. What was not seen? Sexy hamburgers.

As young adults, men find it far easier to pick a costume that is not geared toward sex than their female counterparts. Even the most innocent of cartoon characters, such as Elmo, have been sexualized, as demonstrated online by a young woman wearing little fabric and bearing little resemblance to the beloved puppet.

Venturing into the 21st century, costume manufacturers have transgressed beyond the limits of what it means to make an appropriate Halloween costume. Skin-tight dresses mimic slices of pizza and cartons of French fries—sad attempts at costumes that are actually nothing more than skimpy strips of cloth.

“

Costume manufacturers should trade their fabric scissors for a sewing machine, adding more cloth to costumes.

— Kendall Tipton, 12

Variety for women’s costumes is little to none, with suggestive choices outnumbering the more comical or frightening selections. Girls and women who aspire to terrify their unsuspecting friends with bone-chilling costumes will definitely scare their companions, but with plunging necklines and dangerously short skirts as opposed to fake blood and gore.

Women who do not feel comfortable in this clothing might find it difficult to find a costume, choosing to bypass the holiday instead of purchasing an outfit that is by no means weather-friendly to the chilly autumn air.

Of course, adults are adults, and they should have the opportunity to make their own decisions, but the decision should not have to be between “sexy nurse” and “stimulating skeleton.” Choices should range from humor, such as a fluffy giant squirrel, to the standard vampire, classic and ever effective.

Costume manufacturers should trade their fabric scissors for a sewing machine, adding more cloth to costumes. Otherwise, the real Halloween nightmare will be the future generations of girls dressed in football pads and mini-skirts calling themselves “foxy fullbacks.”