Superhero V Princess Costumes: Commentary on CNN Story

By Surya Cherian

This post is a commentary on the CNN article "Halloween costume showdown: Superheroes beat princesses this year"

If you haven't read this article, I'll save you the trouble. It announces the new trend for superhero kid costumes over princess costumes. After about a paragraph on that, the article continues to explain how gender bias in costumes is the bane of Halloween's existence and that soon the world will topple because Spider-Man costumes do not say "Gender Neutral" on them. It's a very eye-roll inducing piece.

Now, I'm all about females being powerful, but I won't be angry about girls wanting to be princesses for Halloween. I mean, at least some kids really wanted to be a princess considering it was the top children's costume for 11 years. However, I do agree that girls should have a larger variety of options when it comes to outfits because not all little girls like dresses. My biggest thing is letting your child decide who/what they want to be and supporting them.

Since working at Wonder costumes, I've seen that there is a decent amount of variety of outfits. Could the Halloween industry expand and produce more options? Of course! But, I wouldn't say they have zero options as the persons quoted in the CNN article seemed to relay.

Thanks to the popularity of Marvel and DC movies, superheroes are on the rise. I, myself, own an Iron Man pillow and DVDs for all the movies. Would I dress up as Iron Man? Sure. Would I opt against it because the costume says "men" on it? No. If your child wants to be a superhero and there are no options for their gender, take it from the other gender. Don't complain about how "it shouldn't be just for boys", but tell your children to rock everything they wear and be confidant.

As for powerful women characters having skin-tight clothing, it's not too far out there. It's pretty hard to fight crime with baggy clothes. I mean, even Batman and Superman wear spandex. However, I can agree on the sexy factor needing to be toned down a bit. These women are smart and intelligent in their own right. They don't need to add anything on top of that to be liked. I also agree with the article, CW's Supergirl is a great role model for little ones.

Society may market princesses for girls, but society is also changing. It may be slow, but considering how long women were expected to be the dainty damsel-in-distress, the progress is good. You can't expect change overnight and you have to be open minded. The number of strong female characters is steadily increasing. In a decade, the number of female superheroes might just level the number of male superheroes.

This CNN article was definitely not my favorite, though there were some points I agree with. Costumes are what you want them to be. Halloween is just one day and if your child wants to be an opposite gender character, forgo what the label says and get them the costume. Also, don't persuade them to change what character they want to be because you feel uncomfortable or dislike the character. Let your children be who they want to be.

Once again, I'm all about female empowerment, but I think it's important to NOT be mad about girls liking pink and fluffy things. I want everyone to be happy with their choices and more importantly HAVE the ability to pick their choices. If a kid (regardless of their gender) wants to roll in the mood, good for them. If a kid wants to throw a tea party, good for them. All that matters is that the little ones are happy.

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