Costume controversy: historical oppression vs. individual freedoms

Leading up to Halloween, many advocates weighed in on the issue of Halloween costumes. Some voices fell on the side of cultural sensitivity; saying we should avoid costumes that represent other cultures or gender identities. On the other hand, some argue that these costumes are protected by our freedom of expression.

During Cross Country Checkup, dozens phoned in to share their perspective. Listen to two callers, Adam Mohamed and Khalid Madhoun express their perspectives to host Duncan McCue:

Cross Country Checkup6:19October 30, 2016 - Adam Mohamed and Khaled Madhoun

Adam Mohamed says as a Muslim, people are overthinking when it comes to Halloween costumes. Khaled Madhoun joins the conversation and disagrees with Mohamed, saying a lot of cultures have been oppressed and made fun of.

Duncan McCue: Do you think we're over-thinking Halloween costumes?

Adam Mohamed: I think so, in many ways. We should all see this as a holiday of fun. A day when there's no restriction on what we can dress up as.

I heard one of the ladies who called in earlier and said that we should only dress up as the culture we belong to. I'm from Fiji. In our culture, we're all warriors. The only costume I would have is a suit of leaves. In this weather, I cannot dress up like that: half-naked with a skirt of grass.

DM: It's a bit chilly around here!

AM: Last night, we had a party, and I dressed up like Edward Scissorhands with make up, leather: the whole nine yards. Now, I'm brown in complexion. If I didn't put any makeup on me, how do you think I would look, dressed up like him? There's no chance I can't dress up like him.

Now I also heard somebody said, "Oh you can't dress up like a Muslim." Why not? There's no Muslims objecting.

DM: Well there may be some Muslims objecting but, I guess your point with Edward Scissorhands is that there are so many other characters that you could dress up as that are not going to be putting on another culture, wouldn't it?

AM: It's not what we dress up as it's our action that counts. If somebody wants to dress up like Donald Trump, it's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you see the person dressed up as Donald Trump harassing women the way he did now that's the problem.

DM: Adam, do you mind if we bring in another caller to join us right now?

AM: No, not at all.

DM: Khalid Madhoun is calling from Gatineau, Que. Are we over-thinking costumes, Khalid?

Khalid Madhoun: I don't think we are because there is a history behind it. If we take the example of colonial France in the 1900s where they used to have these human zoos called Exhibitions where they would have people from other cultures in cages, and French people dressed up as those people. I think that is a very demeaning historical fact; it tokenizes and objectifies those other cultures and those people.

I think what happens with Halloween is that we continue that history. Dressing up or taking someone's ethnic or cultural garb as a costume, this is when it becomes problematic because you're you're not appreciating their culture anymore but you're using it as a costume.

When you tell a small girl that she can dress up as an Indigenous girl, as Pocahontas or whatever, I think this is where you plant the seeds of harm and ignorance.

I think this is especially pronounced with the costumes of the historically oppressed. I'm a Muslim Arab and sometimes I'm on the streets and I see people dressed supposedly as Arabs or Muslims and screaming, "Allahu Akbar" because that's their costume and I find that extremely offensive.

DM: Are there other costumes that concern you?

KM: I think it's mostly when it is ethnically tied and references groups that are historically oppressed. An example is the Mexican sugar skull. I think that painting your face as a sugar skull completely diminishes the meaning and and the whole cultural significance behind it.

Adam Mohamed's and Khalid Madhoun's comments have been edited and condensed. This online segment was prepared by Ayesha Barmania.