Racist Costumes

So, it's Halloween, and I've been bombarded with images of racist costumes. Luckily, because I've been around grad students (who study critical race theory and hopefully get it), as well as anarchists, I haven't really seen any overtly racist costumes. I'm not saying that these folks are not outside of having racial prejudices, acts, or behaviours (because none of us are beyond that), it's just less likely that blatant stereotyping would happen within these communities (racism within these communities is much more covert than that). Anyway, more to the point, these costumes exist and are for sale all over the internet. If I went downtown, I'd probably see more than my fair share of these costumes. Not to mention, my friend once told me that at a summer camp at the University, the camp leaders decided to dress up as stereotypical Mexicans and 'Indians.' Really, these things are common practice and deemed acceptable, especially around Halloween when people can brush off these racist acts as "having fun," or "dressing up because everybody knows that it's not real..."

Why is dressing up as an "Indian" or a "Mexican" or a "geisha"racist? It's all the in the fun of Halloween, right?

Wrong.

In many ways, I find racist costumes to be worse than culturally appropriative acts. You're not just taking one thing (for example, a war bonnet) from another culture, you're trying to mimic an entire group's racial identity when you 'dress up' as them. These costumes are often borrowed from pre-set stereotypes about what another culture "looks like," how they dress, and how they act. What people fail to understand is that these stereotypes are not benign. They have real, material affects on people lives and their ability to move throughout the world. They both reinforce and are embedded in relationships and histories of power. The production of the stereotype is accompanied by the idea that we "know" the individuals that we're stereotyping and that we can classify them into groups that, in our observations, have common traits. Yet, this is done with little to no interaction with these individuals at a horizontal level. It is done through assumptions and prejudices about certain groups of people. It is done to produce identifiable traits of "Otherness," where, in many cases, "otherness" translates into "less than" and subordinate to ourselves. It's not just a matter of 'knowing' who they are (which, often robs people of their personhood because who they are becomes constructed as a single, monolithic image of the "Native" person, for example), but it allows people to define themselves (as being 'progressive' individuals with freedom of identity and choice), whereas folks who are stereotyped are pigeonholded into a static cariarcture (sp?) of the Western (and mostly white) imagination. In other words, not only does it reiterate the idea that white folks can be individuals (because nobody dresses up as 'normal' white folks), but that there's a common costume that you can wear to lump entire groups of people into their race.  Even further, dressing up as someone proves that you have an assumption about who they are and because your costume will most likely be recognized by other folks (through the various racial signifiers of otherness), you're reinforcing the potency of those stereotypes by repeating a common sign of that racialized individual. Even though the image is often constructed, through its repetition, the image, or the stereotype, often displaces the individual and they become nothing but the stereotype.

The production of the stereotype often has dire consequences. Black face and stereotypes about black people, for example, legitimized the institution of slavery. When black people were stereotyped as "animalistic," "simple," and "sexually loose," slavery became legitimized because black folks were not seen as people. Black women were raped by their white slave owners because they were stereotyped as being "sexually loose," and women, like Sartje Baartman were fetishized and put on display because it was believed that her "large bottom" reiterated the 'fact' that again, black women were sexually (and therefore morally loose and inhuman). Today, the stereotyping of women of colour as being sexually loose (and therefore, sexually available to white men), has created a culture in which women of colour are more often the targets of sexual assault and violence by white men. Because these stereotypes promote the belief that women of colour aren't 'real women' and are therefore not subject to the same standards of femininity as white women (this has dated back to 19thC conceptions of 'womanhood'), it has been deemed more acceptable to sexually exploit and abuse women of colour. Especially with the racial dynamic and the belief that white men are superior, wealthier, and less violent than men of colour (because, men of colour are apparently, the 'backwards patriarchs'), it is believed that women of colour desire to be sexually submissive to white men. They are thankful to have the kindness of white men, and are willing to do anything (i.e. fuck them) to be saved. This is where institutions like the sex tourist industry, racialized fetish porn, and the existence of the comfort women have been legitimized through ideology. I also shouldn't fail to mention that there is a disproportionate level of abuse that native women experience by white men (though, it is often more acceptable to talk about how Native men abuse native women). And lastly, the rape and conquering of women's bodies have consistently accompanied colonization (as both metaphor and display of the colonizer's power) - see Ann McClintock's Imperial Leather.

So, when you put on a racist costume (especially sexy 'ethnic' costumes like the sexy Asian girl costume), you're speaking back to histories of colonization and exploitation and you're reinforcing the ideologies that legitimize violent institutions that abuse and sexually exploit women of colour (though, racist costumes speak to a history of colonizing and othering people of colour in general). Whatever your intentions, by sexualizing a different ethnic group, you are saying that it's okay to fetishize certain groups of people and you're reaffirming that they are, in fact sexualized and consumable beings. You may think it's fun, funny, or even ironic, but you probably haven't experienced the effects of these stereotypes.

 I have.

I have been approached by men who've claimed that they have "yellow fever." I've heard jokes about Asian women saying things like, "me love you long time." I've had to second guess if a person really liked me, or if I was being exoticizied based on my race. I've felt scared not only because I was a woman, but because I am a woman of colour, that I would experience violence because of my race. I've felt trapped in an identity based on my race. And, to be honest, I'm probably a lot more privileged than other women in terms of having to suffer the effects of your actions and your reaffirmation of stereotypes.

If it doesn't hurt you, it's because you have privilege. You have no right to do things that hurt other people just because they don't hurt you. So please, reconsider before putting on a "Sexy Asian girl" costume, or a "Sexy Indian." It's not just offensive, it's dangerous.

This is not okay.