Halloween Should Be Fun, Not Racist
With the peak of spooky season approaching in a week, Youngmi Mayer reminds people it’s possible to dress up for Halloween and not be racist.
The New York comedian shared her thoughts about dos and don’ts for dressing up as a character in the popular Netflix series Squid Game. The series is about a mysterious invitation for money-hungry contestants to play children’s games for a chance to win big. It comes as no surprise that people will show up to parties in the infamous turquoise tracksuits or as the scary childhood doll. The series has blown up into a national sensation and rolls out perfectly in time for Halloween. The only concern is those who are not Asian dressing up as Asians.
Squid Game has officially reached 111 million fans — making it our biggest series launch ever! pic.twitter.com/SW3FJ42Qsn
— Netflix (@netflix) October 12, 2021
Mayer created a comedic relief on her TikTok of this exact scenario. She introduces two characters: a “nonasian person” and herself as the Asian representative. The nonasian person wants to dress up as a person from Squid Game but is afraid of Asian people being upset. Mayer, confused at why Asians would be upset, explains that it’s okay to dress up like an Asian person from Squid Game. But the next frame quickly cuts to the nonasian person wearing a black wig and tapping back their eyes to create a “slant eye” look, which is extremely offensive to Asians.
@youngmimayer it’s totally ok to put on a tracksuit and a wig just don’t get racist with it
♬ original sound – youngmi
Mayer’s TikTok caption reads, “It’s totally ok to put on a tracksuit and a wig just don’t get racist with it.”
While the video is comedic, the message is serious that Halloween costumes take a quick turn from fun to cultural appropriation and racism. Currently, the video has 6.7 million views and over 7000 comments supporting Mayer’s message.
Now, you may be asking yourself, “What can I dress up as?” Finding a costume should not be the issue. There are so many people, things, even places you could be. If a child can get creative with some cardboard, so can you. Someone can still dress up as a character from an anime, Korean drama, etc. But when they do offensive things like imitating an Asian accent, taping or pulling back eyes to represent Asian eyes, or participating in yellowface, it’s 100% racist.
If you are unsure about your costume being potentially racist, ask a friend from the culture you are impersonating or just think of a new costume. How about a cat or superhero?
In addition, the same controversy for dressing up as a Squid Game character relates to the “fox-eye” trend that circulated earlier this year in Hollywood. The makeup trend glorified elongating eyes with a swift eyeliner look and also took the form of racism because it is a genetic trait that Asians are bullied and abused for.
“why are you so mad about it?”
— emersyn/zae :3 (@mafia0_o) February 17, 2021
like i said many times before, it mocks asian eyes. but also because i, along with many other asians, have been made fun of because of our natural eye shape; but when a white person does it, its “trendy”
Here’s something to keep in mind. While people are blinded by the societal trends of what is “in and not,” there is a group of people being beaten and discriminated against based on their culture that others use for clout. Halloween is not an excuse to forget how to be respectful of someone’s culture or identity. Let’s get back to the kind of Halloween that involved candy, scary movies, and pumpkin carving.
Mayer also has a wonderful podcast called Feeling Asian, which talks about the experiences of being Asian-American.
Content Writer
