costume

‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Harley Quinn’ Are the Most Searched for Costumes of 2017

Google has released their list of most searched for Halloween costumes this year, and comic book hero “Wonder Woman” tops the list, followed by villain (or antihero) “Harley Quinn.”

“Princess,” which has ruled the list of most popular costumes for more than a decade, didn’t even crack the top 10 on Google’s list, landing at number 11.

  1. Wonder Woman
  2. Harley Quinn
  3. Clown
  4. Unicorn
  5. Rabbit
  6. Witch
  7. Mouse
  8. Pirate
  9. Zombie
  10. Dinosaur
  11. Princess
  12. Moana
  13. Ninja
  14. Superhero
  15. Mermaid
  16. It
  17. Batman
  18. Monster
  19. Vampire
  20. Doll
Photo via halloweencostumes.com

Google also broke down the list state-by-state. Wonder Woman was the top choice in 24 states, while Harley was the top choice in five states and the District of Columbia.

Alaska: Ninja
Alabama: Wonder Woman
Arkansas: Clown
Arizona: Wonder Woman
California: Wonder Woman
Colorado: Wonder Woman
Connecticut: Wonder Woman
District of Columbia: Harley Quinn
Delaware: It
Florida: Wonder Woman
Georgia: Harley Quinn
Hawaii: Wonder Woman
Iowa: Wonder Woman
Idaho: Rabbit
Illinois: Wonder Woman
Indiana: Dinosaur
Kansas: Wonder Woman
Kentucky: Clown
Louisiana: Wonder Woman
Massachusetts: Wonder Woman
Maryland: Wonder Woman
Maine: Superhero
Michigan: Wonder Woman
Minnesota: Zombie
Missouri: Clown
Mississippi: Mouse
Montana: Dinosaur
North Carolina: Wonder Woman
North Dakota: Unicorn
Nebraska: Wonder Woman
New Hampshire: Rabbit
New Jersey: Wonder Woman
New Mexico: Harley Quinn
Nevada: Wonder Woman
New York: Wonder Woman
Ohio: Harley Quinn
Oklahoma: Wonder Woman
Oregon: Unicorn
Pennsylvania: Harley Quinn
Rhode Island: Witch
South Carolina: Harley Quinn
South Dakota: Witch
Tennessee: Wonder Woman
Texas: Wonder Woman
Utah: Witch
Virginia: Wonder Woman
Vermont: Catwoman
Washington: Wonder Woman
Wisconsin: Zombie
West Virginia: Clown
Wyoming: Joker

Story via Vogue.

Target Gives Captain Phasma An Accidental Sex Change

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Target is having a rough month when it comes to gender and toys. After a fantastic announcement that they were removing gendered signs from the toy department, they flubbed badly by releasing an exclusive Star Wars action figure set that left out Rey, the main character, and Captain Phasma, the menacing female hench(wo)man in exchange for a generic Storm Trooper and Tie Fighter Pilot. This was quickly tied to a long pattern of Target excluding female characters from action figure sets.

Still, after all the furor, it was still surprising to see that — while they offered a dress-up costume for bad-ass female villain Captain Phasma — they put it in the boys department labeled Star Wars: Episode VII Boys Deluxe Villain Trooper Costume.

It would be easy to place this as yet another slight by Target against girls and women, but honestly, it is so puzzling that I think I’m going to use Hanlon’s Razor to determine their motivation.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

I can’t imagine they wanted the backlash from girls and women on this sensitive topic. And they certainly don’t want to hear from the parents of boys when they find out they were accidentally cross-dressing.

We got a screenshot of the costume on Target’s website below before they inevitably fix it.

Target promotes cross-dressing? How progressive.
Captain Phasma costume

h/t to Troy Freund

Costumes So Cute, It’s Scary

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We went to the local Halloween superstore for some supplies. While we were browsing, my wife Patti noticed they had a “Boys Career” section, complete with doctor, fireman and astronaut costumes.

We thought it would be interesting to compare the boys’ choices with the choices the girls were given in their career section. Would the girls get equivalent options? Or would they be offered nurse, secretary and cheerleader instead?

Halloween_Boys AisleThe good news is that I was wrong. The girls were not saddled with nurses and secretaries as their only career paths. The bad news is there was no “Girls Career” section at all. None.

They did, however, have an entire section – I am not making this up – labeled “Flutter Fairy”. This was separate from the regular fairy section. I’m guessing because there is more “fluttering” involved.

What message does that send to girls about who their heroes are? About whom they should aspire to be?

Looking more carefully at the costumes, we compared the “Boys Fright” section the “Girls Fright” section. The boys were given some truly terrifying options. Freddy Krueger, Jason, Bloody Skeleton, and more.

Over on the girls’ side, there was literally nothing that was legitimately scary. From “Feisty Fairy” to a tutu-clad “Zomberina”, real terror was in short supply.

I mentioned it to Patti, “None of these costumes are scary in any real way. They all are cute.”

Halloween_Girls Aisle 2A passing employee chimed in, “Most of the scary costumes involve a mask. Girls don’t like to cover their face.”  She added helpfully, “They want people to see them.”

The superheroes aisle was not much better. Spider-Girl wore a tutu and had a “princess wand”. Batgirl was clad in head to toe HOT PINK. There were dozens of choices to help a girl look cute. But what if she wants to look tough? What if she wants to look scary? What if she wants to look professional?

It was easy for me to draw a line in my mind connecting row after row of costumes that tell little girls that the only thing that is important is that they look “cute” to the row after row of costumes that tell young women that the only way society values them is if they look “sexy”.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love the spookiness, the costumes and the creativity. I’ve dressed up in everything from silly, to creative, to scary. Hell, if I could pull off sexy, I might go for that, too – but I really appreciate the fact that when I go to the store, I have other choices.

I hope that someday my girls will be able to say the same.