Last year, we brought you 10 Awesome Feminist Halloween Costume Ideas, and since it’s that time of year again, we thought we’d give you an update that’s totally 2013. Check out these ideas below, and please add your own in the comments section!
1. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
This kid has the right idea! Dress up as suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Bring a friend to dress up as her best bud, Susan B. Anthony.
2. Shirley Chisholm
Get out your best 1960s professional garb, and dress up as the brilliant and glamorous civil rights activist and feminist who dared to run for president despite the odds.
3. Female Robin Thicke
Draw your inspiration from these feminists who parodied Robin Thicke’s sexist Blurred Lines and dress up as a gender-bending feminist Thicke. Totally topical!
4. For groups: Cindy Sherman’s Film Stills.
As a student, photographer Cindy Sherman created the legendary “Film Stills” series in which she plays the roles of various established female film troupes. Although the artist does not identify as a feminist, Art history students and scholars like CUNY’s Jessica Holt believe that “Sherman’s multiple identities illustrate how easy it is to obscure a woman’s true identity behind a social construct of cliches.” For a clever and stirring cultural critique, take a group of your girlfriends and dress up as Sherman dressing up as these iconic ladies in film!
5. Virginia Woolf’s Orlando
Woolf’s novel spans five hundred years and traces the life and loves of Orlando, a cis-man who transforms into a female overnight and navigates the complexities, heartaches, and thrills of living as both genders.
6. A Comic Book Hero Like Captain Marvel or Storm
These female superheroes are totally badass and relevant. Hop on the Captain Marvel bandwagon before everyone else (her popularity is skyrocketing!)
7. A Work by Georgia O’Keeffe or Judy Chicago
Last year, we suggested dressing up as a vagina. This year, why not dress up as a work of art meant to illustrate (or interpreted as illustrating, as is the case with O’Keeffe’s work) the beauty of the vagina and clitoris?
8. Feminist Taylor Swift
Feminist and Swift fan Clara Beyer created Feminst Taylor Swift Twitter account, a creation that reworks Swift’s lyrics to exude a sense of empowerment and equality: “She wears short skirts / I wear t-shirts / Neither of us is asking for it,” reads one of her literary gems. Her icon is Swift dressed as Rosie the Riveter, so get out your bandana and your work boots, but don’t forget your curling iron or red lipstick! Bring along a guy friend or boyfriend/husband as Feminist Ryan Gosling.
9. The Pill
Easy as pie! Support reproductive rights by painting yourself blue (or whatever color your pill of choice might be) and writing some numbers and letters over your outfit (you can even bring a placebo-costumed friend)!
10. A Sexy Feminist
Put an end to slut-shaming with this sassy get-up, courtesy of Genetic Mishap!
Have a happy Halloween, feminist friends!
Images via Buzzfeed, PBS, Slate, Women’s Work, Tate, Sarah Ruhl, MovieWeb, Twitter, GeorgiaOKeeffe.net, and Psychology Today
