Does your kid want to be Moana for Halloween? Pocahontas? Mulan?
Did you maybe want to spice it up this year yourself and try a Day of the Dead costume?
Well, thanks to the left, you won't be getting many ideas for those costumes on Pinterest anymore. That's because Pinterest has decided it is their job to educate you on "cultural insensitivity," and how turning a person's identity into a costume is just plain rude.
If you search for "culturally insensitive" costumes on Pinterest you'll be greeted with a link to a page where you'll be given a nice little lecture on cultural appropriation. It's so dumb, I don't even want to quote it. So here it is.
Pinterest is obviously saving the world here; and you can help. If you see anything on the site that is culturally insensitive—such as a prisoner costume, which may be offensive to criminals, or a "Joy Behar wearing black face" costume, which may be offensive to Joy Behar—you can report it to Pinterest, and they'll look into it. Thank goodness!
Alright, almost done, let's define cultural appropriation real quick. According to dictionary.com, cultural appropriation is:
"The adoption or co-opting, usually without acknowledgment, of cultural identity markers associated with or originating in minority communities by people or communities with a relatively privileged status."
To me—and correct me below if I'm wrong—this DOES NOT include Halloween costumes, because ... IT'S A HALLOWEEN COSTUME! You're SUPPOSED to be dressing up as something you are not. THAT'S THE POINT! Not to mention, it's FULLY acknowledged that you are pretending to be that person. Come on people!
And here, this is interesting: I tried to figure out sort of where Pinterest draws the line when it comes to cultural appropriation, so I looked up hillbilly costumes. And guess what? NO LECTURE! Which is weird because Pinterest's lecture clearly states, "As a platform for positivity, we want to make it easy to find culturally-appropriate Halloween ideas, and bring awareness to the fact that costumes should not be opportunities to turn a person's identity into a stereotyped image." But for some reason hillbillies apparently are not people and don't have feelings at all. And for the most part hillbillies are white, so they don't really deserve any sympathy anyway. So go get your kids some of those jacked up teeth and teach them how to play the banjo. Pinterest will help you out with that! Great work Pinterest!
So go on over to Pinterest and see for yourself. I tried searching for cowboy costumes: no lecture. I tried nerd costumes: no lecture. Old man costumes: no lecture. See what else you can come up with, you filthy animal.
So thanks Pinterest, now I know I shouldn't dress up as any person who has skin any darker than mine this Halloween. Though it kind of feels like you're being a little ... uh ... racist?
