Bedsider

I’m Only A Slut on Halloween

Originally published on SexReally.com on October 29, 2009.

Halloween, the one night of the year when women can unabashedly flaunt whatever they’ve got in the name of “costume.” Or, as Lindsay Lohan’s character learns, rather traumatically, in Mean Girls,”the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” Seems like there’s a lot of speculation about why women wear sexy costumes (as for children’s costumes, I’ve decided just not to go there this year). Is it the pressure of knowing all the other women will go sexy/slutty and a purely scary or silly costume could seem drab in comparison? Is it the pressure of the other 364 nights of the year to come across as respectable and “good”? Is it every woman’s true exhibitionist nature rearing its sexy head? Or an opportunity to compete with the hyper-sexualized models and actresses worshipped by popular culture?

In my research I’ve come across some really interesting analyses and theories, and some great ideas for alternatives to the standard sexy-costume theme, which is practically impossible to avoid in mainstream costume shopping (click the links to see some of my favorites). Yet I found relatively few (one, to be precise) first-person accounts of why women feel compelled—or inspired—to prefix their costume, whatever it may be, with “slutty” or “sexy.” So fess up. Who’s ever worn (or gone out with a woman wearing) a sexy/slutty Halloween costume? How’d it feel? Why’d you (or she) do it? Did actual sex have anything to do with it?

I must admit I’ve never gone the themed-bikini route—it’s bad enough wearing a bikini on the beach, let alone on the street at night in late October—but I can by no means say I’ve never played the Halloween-costume-card as an excuse to wear a corset and fishnets. I also admit that the handful of times that I’ve worn a sexy Halloween costume when I was in a relationship (and on the same continent as my boyfriend), the costume definitely added spice to the night.

So…tell us your stories…what do you look for in a Halloween costume? Has a Halloween costume ever affected your sex life or your relationship? Can “couples costumes“ be a turn-on, or a turn-off for that matter?

Alternately, do you think the sexy-costume craze is just another indicator of societal pressure on women to objectify themselves, or, conversely, an indicator of societal pressure on women to repress their sexuality in everyday life?

What’s your take on sexy Halloween costumes?

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Liz Sabatiuk is Social Media Manager for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. When she’s not blogging about birth control and relationships, she dances and teaches Argentine tango and spends a little too much time on Facebook.