Kmart removes "beyond inappropriate" costume after backlash

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

In fact, you could make a pretty decent argument that dressing up at Disney characters for Halloween is offensive. For example:

• Goofy - physical disabilities (clumsy, always falling down, etc.)
• Donald Duck - mental health problems, rage, temper tantrums. He should probably be put on a watch list.
• Mickey Mouse - naive, too much of a Pollyanna, makes kids believe that everybody is your pal
• Minnie Mouse - absolutely no feminist spirit there at all, which opens up a treasure trove of #woke
• Elsa - OCD and control issues, could trigger people with anxiety and panic attacks
• Anna - too accepting of others, naive, got stuck in an abusive relationship with a boyfriend who wanted to kill her
• Snow White - sends wrong message to young women because she's willing to work for free for a bunch of short men, cleaning their laundry, cooking for them, basically being an indentured servant

etc.

If that ain't the best way to say "Childhood Ruined" I don't know what would be

 

[NotUrsula]

In fact, you could make a pretty decent argument that dressing up at Disney characters for Halloween is offensive. For example:

• Goofy - physical disabilities (clumsy, always falling down, etc.)
• Donald Duck - mental health problems, rage, temper tantrums. He should probably be put on a watch list.
• Mickey Mouse - naive, too much of a Pollyanna, makes kids believe that everybody is your pal
• Minnie Mouse - absolutely no feminist spirit there at all, which opens up a treasure trove of #woke
• Elsa - OCD and control issues, could trigger people with anxiety and panic attacks
• Anna - too accepting of others, naive, got stuck in an abusive relationship with a boyfriend who wanted to kill her
• Snow White - sends wrong message to young women because she's willing to work for free for a bunch of short men, cleaning their laundry, cooking for them, basically being an indentured servant

etc.

Yep.

The ironic thing is that in the West, at least, the population most likely to be promoting child marriage is a population that REALLY despises Halloween celebrations and refuses to have anything to do with that holiday. (For the most part, the same people also do not care for the Disney company..)

 

[ChrisFL]

girl dressing up as a bride for halloween - fine
girl dressing up as a bride with some adult male as the groom for halloween - NOT fine


context matters

 

[L&Lfan]

Yep.

The ironic thing is that in the West, at least, the population most likely to be promoting child marriage is a population that REALLY despises Halloween celebrations and refuses to have anything to do with that holiday. (For the most part, the same people also do not care for the Disney company..)

What religion is anti Hallowieen and pro child marriage? I’ve never heard of any religion ( in the west) promoting children getting married. I have heard of certain Christian denominations and certain non Christian religions who refuse to celebrate Halloween. I don’t get the connection with underage brides and grooms. When I was an aide in public school, I knew of several Muslim and Jevohah’s Witnesses parents who opted their kids out of the Halloween costuming and party day. But you could find parents who would opt out of just about any event for one reason or another.

 

[ronandannette]

Alberta must purge a major part of its economy. So says an "visitor."

Won't be an issue. After Monday's results it's practically purging itself as we speak. Pray for us.

...And, for what it's worth, I saw the black jack o'lanterns as painted & decorated to look like skeletons.

I have a set of black flamingos in my yard right now w/ white skeletons painted on them to look like skeleton flamingos & the black pumpkins w/ white faces made me think of my skeleton flamingos... because it's Halloween.

See, the skeleton thing is exactly what I though too, and I was further confused by posts that said black jack o'lanters without the white markings were OK. I've since seen a few posts that I think are referencing minstrel shows but honestly, that was waaaaay before the time of most of us and I wouldn't ever have naturally made the connection.

My kid is going to be a zookeeper for Halloween.

I guess I'm promoting child labor?

Nope. Speciesism.

I would say definitely not... until someone points it out or lets them know that jazz hands are also triggering, of course.

But I think "jazz hands" are the same as the sign language symbol for applause?

Uh huh, and when they know better, they'll do better, right? Some of the posts in this thread have been good for a chuckle but in reality, it's starting to feel like the whole world's gone mad.

 

[Colleen27]

Am I the only one who opened this thread expecting the offending costume to be something along the lines of "slutty Big Bird"? I'm so disappointed.

 

[Colleen27]

In fact, you could make a pretty decent argument that dressing up at Disney characters for Halloween is offensive. For example:

• Goofy - physical disabilities (clumsy, always falling down, etc.)
• Donald Duck - mental health problems, rage, temper tantrums. He should probably be put on a watch list.
• Mickey Mouse - naive, too much of a Pollyanna, makes kids believe that everybody is your pal
• Minnie Mouse - absolutely no feminist spirit there at all, which opens up a treasure trove of #woke
• Elsa - OCD and control issues, could trigger people with anxiety and panic attacks
• Anna - too accepting of others, naive, got stuck in an abusive relationship with a boyfriend who wanted to kill her
• Snow White - sends wrong message to young women because she's willing to work for free for a bunch of short men, cleaning their laundry, cooking for them, basically being an indentured servant

etc.

I think my personal favorite was getting called out for loving Beauty and the Beast and being excited that my daughter does too, because apparently Belle is a kidnapping and abuse victim with Stockholm syndrome, or at the very least, a representation of the destructive fantasy that a good woman can "fix" an abusive man. I think I unfriended more people on FB that day than on any other... except maybe when some "friends" launched into a diatribe about cultural appropriation when I posted a picture of my (blonde, white) daughter in her yukata, a going-away gift from her Japanese host mother, giving a presentation on Japanese culture to elementary and middle school classes at her sister's school.

What religion is anti Hallowieen and pro child marriage? I’ve never heard of any religion ( in the west) promoting children getting married. I have heard of certain Christian denominations and certain non Christian religions who refuse to celebrate Halloween. I don’t get the connection with underage brides and grooms. When I was an aide in public school, I knew of several Muslim and Jevohah’s Witnesses parents who opted their kids out of the Halloween costuming and party day. But you could find parents who would opt out of just about any event for one reason or another.

I'm aware of religious groups in the U.S. that condone or encourage young/teen marriage, and I do think there's a lot of overlap between those faiths and the ones that oppose Halloween, but I wouldn't equate them with the problem of child marriage in most of the rest of the world. They're damaging but in a different way, even though there are some similarities, and I think it minimizes the horror of child marriage in the developing world to paint them with the same brush.

 

[RedAngie]

Am I the only one who opened this thread expecting the offending costume to be something along the lines of "slutty Big Bird"? I'm so disappointed.

 

[NotUrsula]

What religion is anti Hallowieen and pro child marriage? I’ve never heard of any religion ( in the west) promoting children getting married. I have heard of certain Christian denominations and certain non Christian religions who refuse to celebrate Halloween. I don’t get the connection with underage brides and grooms. When I was an aide in public school, I knew of several Muslim and Jevohah’s Witnesses parents who opted their kids out of the Halloween costuming and party day. But you could find parents who would opt out of just about any event for one reason or another.

I'm going to say this carefully, as I don't want to cross the line on religious topics. There are several fundamentalist Christian sects, particularly in the US South, that feel that Halloween gives positive attention to matters that they consider Occult, and they strongly disapprove of celebrating it. Some of the same sects also prefer parent-arranged courtships and marriage, and believe that it is best for younger women to marry older men. Girls in these groups often marry starting at age 16.

 

[sailorstitch]

I find both the bride costume and the pumpkins ridiculous.

But this one I'm torn on.

https://people.com/food/massachusetts-mcdonalds-removes-halloween-decoration-person-hanging-tree/
I don't have a problem with that sticker being on the market for sale. But I feel like Halloween decorations at McDonald's should be more family friendly. With the sticker being on the front of the counter it right it the line of sight for 2-5 year olds. Even if it doesn't scare them, it could prompt questions parents don't want to deal with.

 

[luvsJack]

I'm going to say this carefully, as I don't want to cross the line on religious topics. There are several fundamentalist Christian sects, particularly in the US South, that feel that Halloween gives positive attention to matters that they consider Occult, and they strongly disapprove of celebrating it. Some of the same sects also prefer parent-arranged courtships and marriage, and believe that it is best for younger women to marry older men. Girls in these groups often marry starting at age 16.

I have lived in the deep south my whole life and while I do know certain churches that are anti Halloween (and those are individual churches within a faith, not always the whole faith) but have NEVER known any faith that prefer parent arranged anything or child marriage. Not saying they don't exist but I have not come across one in 56 years. Perhaps you have come across these in a different part of the south?

 

[EMom]

I have lived in the deep south my whole life and while I do know certain churches that are anti Halloween (and those are individual churches within a faith, not always the whole faith) but have NEVER known any faith that prefer parent arranged anything or child marriage. Not saying they don't exist but I have not come across one in 56 years. Perhaps you have come across these in a different part of the south?

Lived in the South for 5 decades. Never heard of it either. I wonder where Not Ursula lives that she has familiarity with such people?

 

[L&Lfan]

I lived in the south for 22 years and never heard of child/ arranged marriages. Sounds cultish to me not mainstream Christian. I’ve known couples who got married at 19, 20 or 21 back in the day but that was pretty standard in American culture back then.
I’ve known plenty of Christians , both Protestant and Catholic who avoid the more occultist/satanic/evil aspects of Halloween. I’ve never connected them to child marriages.

 

[Wendy31]

Another southerner here that's lived in the south my whole life, & both my parents & both sets of grandparents have lived/lived in the south their whole lives.

Where I live has often been referred to as the "Buckle of the Bible Belt" actually.

I also attended a private independent fundamental Baptist Christian school from 1st-12th grades & have been a member of a few different Baptist churches.

While I am VERY familiar w/ the idea of not celebrating Halloween for religious reasons, not celebrating Halloween has never been in conjunction w/ any arranged child bride marriages.

(And, again, as another poster noted, just because one church in a particular faith may not celebrate Halloween doesn't mean all the churches in that same faith look at Halloween the same way. Even the Christian school I attended did different things over the years - no costumes to Bible characters only to no scary costumes, etc. Some churches do Trunk-or-Treats while some churches do Fall Festivals or Hallelujah Festivals; some churches do whatever they're going to do on the actual day of Halloween while others do whatever they're going to do on a different day. None of these churches also promote child brides.)

I'm not saying there's not some religious sect that arranges marriages involving child brides & maybe also coincidentally doesn't celebrate Halloween, but I don't think that ideology would only be limited to a particular southern religion.

In thinking about it, I'm sure the Duggars in Arkansas don't celebrate Halloween, & they talk about courtship rituals instead of dating. I don't think they're into child brides though.

 

[hereyago]

How I miss the good ole days where people didn't twist everything to be sinister and other people caved because of it.

 

[fly girl]

I don't live in the south, but when I read that post I went immediately to cults -- like the Branch Davidians or Warren Jeffs (which is in Utah, so not even the south). I don't know of a mainstream church that promotes children marrying older men. I think there would be outrage if there were such a thing. IDK

 

[DuskKodesh]

I do believe that post was pointing towards a certain ummm... group that is prevalent around Utah. Not the south. (I'm trying not to break board rules! ) I used to bump into a few in Oregon and they scared the bejeezus outta me. Then again I prolly scared the same outta them being all goth/punk XD

 

[EMom]

I do believe that post was pointing towards a certain ummm... group that is prevalent around Utah. Not the south. (I'm trying not to break board rules! ) I used to bump into a few in Oregon and they scared the bejeezus outta me. Then again I prolly scared the same outta them being all goth/punk XD

Goodness, how far north does one have to live to consider Utah “the South”?

 

[EMom]

I don't live in the south, but when I read that post I went immediately to cults -- like the Branch Davidians or Warren Jeffs (which is in Utah, so not even the south). I don't know of a mainstream church that promotes children marrying older men. I think there would be outrage if there were such a thing. IDK

Isn’t it funny how the actual Southerners on the board have no knowledge of these Halloween hating, child bride marrying churches? Please NotUrsula, please advise us where they are, so we don’t inadvertently visit one some Sunday.

 

[Colleen27]

I'm going to say this carefully, as I don't want to cross the line on religious topics. There are several fundamentalist Christian sects, particularly in the US South, that feel that Halloween gives positive attention to matters that they consider Occult, and they strongly disapprove of celebrating it. Some of the same sects also prefer parent-arranged courtships and marriage, and believe that it is best for younger women to marry older men. Girls in these groups often marry starting at age 16.

The groups that come to mind for me are not particularly associated with the south. One has an association to Utah, though I know it isn't the mainstream church but rather splinter factions that still engages in the worst practices, but the others... I think they're scattered here, there and everywhere, mostly in rural areas, "independent", insular churches that reject mainstream religion in favor of a more "traditional" or "Bible based" (their words, IME) interpretation and way of life.